Anyone have experience with Benchmade's LifeSharp service?

T

Tsuki no Hikari

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Apr 19, 2009
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One of my Benchmade 940's (in S30V) recently got a few small chips in the blade (can't imagine how since I've only cut paper). I've been considering using Benchmade's LifeSharp service since I've never sharpened a knife before.


Does anyone have experience with this service? Would getting the blade sharpened get rid of the chips? They say to send a $5 check or money order, but would they accept cash as well?
 
Yes. Yes. And Yes.

I would also mention how the blade has chips even though you didn't use it, maybe they have to do another heat treat or replace the blade.
 
I don't have anything to service yet, but I have couple of questions for the future:
1) What if I don't have a receipt. What if I bought it new from internet, or from another forum member, or bought it used. Will they still service it, sharpen it? What if I need more than sharpening? Maybe omega spring replacement....
2) If I have 10 knives that need sharpening. Can they be send in together along with just $5 M/O, or should I include a M/O for $50 (10 x $5)?

I'm pretty sure that those question can be answered by calling BM support, but I thought maybe somebody already knows the answer.
 
I sent a sharp knife to them for a scale replacement. I had dropped my yellow minigrip. I included $10, just to make sure I was being fair. They replaced the scale. To my suprise, the knife came back 1/8 inch shorter. They sharpened the heck out of it, and took off more tip than I would have taken in a decade. It just didn't look right to me anymore. If my knife ever goes back for warranty repair, I will put tape on the blade that says "Don't sharpen".

I know it doesn't hurt it too bad, but I've kind of retired it. They wasted a whole lot of steel when the knife was sharp anyway. I guess they thought they were giving me my money's worth. Some dufus out there who doesn't know how to sharpen a knife probably would never know the difference.

It was a bit upsetting. It sits in the drawer now.
 
S30V is known to sometimes slightly chip with minor use at first, after a couple sharpenings it should be fine.
 
I sent off my already really sharp mini grip to have an omega spring replaced and it came back ridiculously sharp, so I definitely recommend the service.
 
effer said:
I don't have anything to service yet, but I have couple of questions for the future:
1) What if I don't have a receipt. What if I bought it new from internet, or from another forum member, or bought it used. Will they still service it, sharpen it? What if I need more than sharpening? Maybe omega spring replacement....
2) If I have 10 knives that need sharpening. Can they be send in together along with just $5 M/O, or should I include a M/O for $50 (10 x $5)?

I'm pretty sure that those question can be answered by calling BM support, but I thought maybe somebody already knows the answer.
Click to expand...

There's never a dull moment with a Benchmade... That's right! We will gladly re-sharpen your Benchmade knife to a factory razor sharp edge (service does not apply to any serrated portion of the blade). If you prefer us to sharpen your blade, or if you may have neglected to maintain your edge for a while, simply ship your knife to us. We'll not only sharpen it, but we will also inspect the knife for any warranted repairs and "tune" the knife for optimum performance. Simply ship the knife to the Benchmade address, postage paid and insured. Please enclose your return shipping address with $5.00 for first knife and $2.50 for each additional knife, to cover handling and return shipping charges.
 
Roger999 said:
There's never a dull moment with a Benchmade... That's right! We will gladly re-sharpen your Benchmade knife to a factory razor sharp edge
Click to expand...

Thanks Roger.
Any comment about the need of original receipt?
Or should I take it as [No Receipt] = [No Service] ?
 
Roger999 said:
There's never a dull moment with a Benchmade... That's right! We will gladly re-sharpen your Benchmade knife to a factory razor sharp edge (service does not apply to any serrated portion of the blade). If you prefer us to sharpen your blade, or if you may have neglected to maintain your edge for a while, simply ship your knife to us. We'll not only sharpen it, but we will also inspect the knife for any warranted repairs and "tune" the knife for optimum performance. Simply ship the knife to the Benchmade address, postage paid and insured. Please enclose your return shipping address with $5.00 for first knife and $2.50 for each additional knife, to cover handling and return shipping charges.
Click to expand...

Are you a representative from Benchmade's New South Wales field office?:D
 
For what it's worth, another option is to learn how to sharpen a knife. There are so many excellent tools/aids for sharpening (Sharpmaker for example) that make it easy for anyone to do. To own a tool and not be able to maintain and care for it seems a bit odd. BMs service is great but send it in for a snapped tip or broken spring, not for minor chipping. Just my .02:thumbup:
 
BenchmadeBoy said:
For what it's worth, another option is to learn how to sharpen a knife. There are so many excellent tools/aids for sharpening (Sharpmaker for example) that make it easy for anyone to do. To own a tool and not be able to maintain and care for it seems a bit odd. BMs service is great but send it in for a snapped tip or broken spring, not for minor chipping. Just my .02:thumbup:
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbup:
 
I have a Skirmish 635 that had the blade hitting a back spacer when it closed.
I sent it in with a note explaining what was wrong (just a note. No money. Didn't call first or email).
They fixed it and sent that sucker back super sharp.
 
I'd learn to sharpen it myself, but it's a bit of a money issue right now. $10 to send it to BM (shipping included) vs. however much a sharpener would cost, which, I assume, would be a lot more than $10.

Besides...if I'm going to learn how to sharpen a knife, I'm not going to use a BM 940 as my test subject >_>
 
Silverdagger said:
To my surprise, the knife came back 1/8 inch shorter. They sharpened the heck out of it, and took off more tip than I would have taken in a decade. It just didn't look right to me anymore.
Click to expand...

What a horror show, that would have definitely pee'd me off. I keep all of my knives touched up regularly using a very fine abrasive. An 1/8 of an inch sounds like 5 - 10 years worth of sharpening to me :mad: Heck that's even enough that the primary grind might need to be tweaked a bit to get the most performance. Did you consider complaining to them?
 
theonew, I am not really a complainer by nature. When I got the knife back, it had wonderful new handles, and appeared to be more fine tuned than when bought new. I couldn't believe how nice it looked. Then I noticed, something doesn't look right. It appears shorter and the grind appears thicker.

I am a good Benchmade customer, so I thought, well, I'll use this as an excuse to by the black one I've always wanted. I did. That is when I discovered the reason that the yellow 556 looks so bad. I stood them up on their points, and the yellow one is some 1/8 inch shorter. The only thing I can think of is that I had put a 30 degree edge on the yellow one, and when they took that off, and put their standard 40 degree edge, it took off a ton of steel. At any rate, it still should not have pulled of 1/8 of an inch.

It doesn't hurt the usablilty of the knife too badly, but it sure does suck. It looks like I've used the knife for 10 or so.

I thought I would swap blades from time to time, but they did such a good job refurbishing, they put locktight. So I'm stuck with a yellow knife with a short blade.

Do you all think it's worthy of complaining, or should I just use it? This happend back on December of 08.

The refurbishing was first rate, and the knife is sharp as a razor. It's just no longer 2.91 inches, it's more like 2.75 inches.
 
I'd probably just use the knife, but if it really bothered me, I'd contact Benchmade. Letting them know in a calm fashion that you are not pleased with the work is not complaining.
 
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