Benchmade 440C what gives?

B

brianNH

Joined
Dec 16, 2002
Messages
537
I purchased 2 BM Griptilians in 440C and have been very disappointed. I cannot put a good edge on either of these knives, they dont cut worth a darn, and any edge I put on doesn't hold up at all.

I recently purchased a Griptilian from Cabellas, plain edge in D2. The thing came shaving sharp, and slices through anything. It holds and edge extremely well and I can bring the edge back to shaving sharpness with ease using a Spyderco Sharpmaker or the back of a leather belt. I like it so much I purchased a second one and cant reccommend it enough.

As far as the 440C, what I dont understand is that I've had knifes from Buck in 420 stainless (although it was HC), I've had knives from Cold Steel, Sog, and a variety of others in lesser grades of stainless steel yet with all these knives I was able to get them very sharp with ease and they performed relatively well as far as holding an edge. What gives? Is this as good as 440C gets? Could BM have had a bad run of blades? Am I just spoiled now by the
D2??
 
All I know is I bought a knife of 440C in the past and will never again, I could'nt put a good edge on mine and it wouldn't cut worth a darn either.
 
I liked their 440 C. Easy to sharpen, I thought. Held it fairly well.

Good stuff.

Phil
 
Maybe there was a bad heat-treatment in the batch? My Griptillian gets very sharp using every method I've tried.
 
thombrogan said:
Maybe there was a bad heat-treatment in the batch? My Griptillian gets very sharp using every method I've tried.
Click to expand...


Exactly. 440C is one of the better stainless steels available. If yours is having problems, then it must be a heat treat issue. I have had plenty of 440C knives with razor sharp edges. In fact I have an old one right now, survival knife hollow andle in 440C (what I was told anyway) and it is razor sharp.
 
440C is awesome and now looked down upon for no good reason. It should sharpen to a razor edge and exhibit excellent toughness (won't roll too badly, or chip). It will need a swipe on a strop or superfine stone now and then, but that's it. Yours must be a bum one. My 440C grip is in my top 5 for sharpness and ease of maintenance.
 
EVERY Benchmade knife I own that's made out of 440C (right now, 6 of 'em) is razor sharp, holds an edge very well, and is easy to re-sharpen.

You either got a bad one, or need to brush up on your sharpening skills.
 
My EDC is Grip 551 with 440C and I am also using Sharpmaker to sharpen it. My knife is razor sharp. I like it a lot. It could be heat treat problem or defective material. I am working for last 15 years in manufacturing, we are using various steels and I saw both problems. Even best suppliers sometimes have failures. Sometimes quality departments will not detect them also.
Sorry.
 
My 551SBT in 440C is "okay" - it gets an edge fairly easily, but I've had trouble keeping the edge for any period of time. I mostly use it for cutting boxes...I've used SAKs and VG-10 blades (Delica) that hold up better.
 
It could just simply be an issue with edge geometry, the edge could be too thick or too obtuse.

-Cliff
 
Every Benchmade 440C knife I have ever owned had some of the scariest factory edges I have seen.

Benchmade does have a "lifesharp" programs, have them sharpen them at least once and see if they come back any better.
 
The edge could be too acute, and the wire edge is folding over. If that's not it, go for the Lifesharp program and see what they can do for you.
 
I well known custom knife maker told me that there is not a nickel's worth of difference between ATS 34 and 440c.

I think 440c gets a bad wrap because it was before the revolution in the steel world.

Though I love VG10 and won't purchase a knife in 440c unless it was awesome.
 
I'll second or third that on the "heat treat". I've had the same steels sharpen and wear very differently from each other. Gotta be the heat treat.

Keyman
 
My experience with 440C has been positive. I've had 2 440C Griptilians, and both held thier edges well and were easy to sharpen. I've had the same experience with the older Buck 110s in 440C. In fact, with just a little stropping, I find 440C is particularly easy to get to hair-splitting sharpness.

I did have 1 Benchmade knife (710HS) that came with an obtuse edge that was greater than 40 degrees inclusive, so the Sharpmaker did nothing to it until I reprofiled it. So, in addition to bad heat treat, another possibility is an obtuse edge. You can determine whether your edge is > 40 degrees by marking the edge with a magic marker, then doing a few passes on the Sharpmaker. If the edge is too obtuse, then you will see the Sharpmaker remove the marker ink just above the edge, but not at the very edge. In other words, it will show you that the Sharpmaker is not touching the very edge of the blade.
 
My 555 mini grip is my main edc. I've carried and used it daily for about the past year now and I think that it is a fantastic little knife. I've never had any problems getting it shaving sharp on my sharpmaker. It has also keep a pretty good edge for me. I think, as the others said, you may have just gotten a bad one.
 
My D2 minigrip (not my D2 41MC) came only reasonably sharpened, but the edge retention was stellar so it didn't bother me. The 440C minigrip Elizabeth has came very sharp, holds an edge well and sharpens easy. Really a great steel all around. Even my ancient Pacific Cutlery 440C is pretty good.
 
your gonna get bad vibes started by trashing 440c........trust me i know, i posted something about why premium knife makers are putting out crap steel and i got attacked every other post over on the glock talk forum, ill post a link...but yes its a shame you pay good money for a knife and get crap steel, and no its not always about the heat treat..............thats why this was my latest bm purchase and i am compleatly happy with it.......
Picture121.jpg


http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=468273
 
You don't like the Griptillian in 440c, then buy one of the several other Griptillians in another steel. I have a Benchmade FB in 440c that holds its edge reasonably well and is easy to sharpen on my sharpmaker. Grew up using knives that were 440c when it was considered "the" steel to use, no complaints. Right now I only own that 1 knife in 440c while I have several knives in other steels, yet for what I use knives for that 440c knife does just as fine a job. All comes down to personal preferance. I know this is a Sin against Bladeforums but I am not a big fan of the Griptillian - I'm a heretic I know. Yet there is apparently several Bladeforum members who are. Difference is I have not made a post about it because its my personal preferance and I know others knife preferances will differ.

440c crap steel? No. Is there better steel? Well there is steel out there that holds an edge longer (S30V), Rockwells higher (Zdp-189), is more Rust Resistant (H-1), and so on. Define better. Then look at what your personal needs are in a knife. Once that is done then buy the knife that fits the job. I like carbon steels but living in the humid south and rainy camping/hunting trips are not the ideal climates for a carbon steel knife. As such I own fewer carbon steel knives with those exceptions mostly being D-2 by Bob Dozier & Jimmy Lile.

Bkkd - directing people to the Glock thread is a bad idea. From reading it I can't really see anyone of those posters deserving of the comments in your last post there. In it you resort to sarcasm, terms like "Slick" and "Anal Retentive" which make you look like a angry child name-calling. You also say you like AUS-8a which I have always been under the impression is nearly the same as 440c. I think the explanations given about Heat Treat and Edge Geometry are probably the root of the problem you had with that Griptillian in 440c. As others suggested, send it to Benchmade with an explanation of the problem and see if they take care of it. Or just get the Griptillian in D-2.

In the future when you post something like this asking for feedback be prepared for criticism and arguement. Also be prepared to actually listen to what is being said and argue in a constructive manner. Just my thoughts - take them or leave them.
 
The 440C in my 42MC that I carry every day is I think just a wee bit brittle/overhardened, but all my other 440C Benchmades (at least the ones I've actually used) are fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top