Benchmade 67 Bali-song Questions

Varekai

Varekai

Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
18
Hello all, I just received my benchmade 67 that I ordered from knifecenter.com. This is my first good knife (meaning I spent more then $30 on it) and my first balisong. I have a few concerns tho, one being if this is really a benchmade or a knock off. I read reviews on knifecenter before ordering and they seemed to have great reviews, however the quality on this knife does not seem that great. For starters, the handles are loose. I don't know if they're supposed to have some wobble room or not, but they do. Second, it's not very sharp. I can't slice down a piece of paper without tearing it. Third, the t-latch. I have to use a good amount of pressure to lock it when closed, but trying to lock it when open? I almost need a third hand. I actually thought that maybe it's not supposed to lock open, but I looked up the 67 on youtube and I saw some reviews where people locked it while open without much difficulty. I don't know if needs to be 'broken in' or not. Last, knifecenter and benchmades site both claim it comes with a nylon pouch, but all it came with was a microfiber drawstring bag, something like a pair of sunglasses would come with. Any suggestions on any of this?
 
Knifecenter.com is reputable so I wouldn't worry about it being fake.

It's all personal preference but yes usually there is a little bit of play in the handles otherwise they bind when flipping and slow you down. There is a very general test you can do to see if there is too much play, open the knife and grab the handles and gently shift them away from each other, the channels should not completely cross past each other. Hopefully this makes sense. If you feel the handles are too loose tighten the torx pins little by little until its how you like it, make sure to test it as you go so that it's not too tight and binds. The handle should drop down without any friction.

The edge Benchmade puts on knives is pretty bad so I'm not shocked to hear it isn't razor sharp. I'd just be happy if the bevel was at least mostly even. You can send it in to have them sharpen it if you want but I would suggest to just touch it up yourself. I use a Sharpmaker which is super easy...

Also the issue with the latch being hard to lock should loosen up with time.

If you are still having issues once it's broken in call Benchmade and send it in they will fix it up for your you.
 
Thank you for the reply. I'm surprised you said that about the edge not being good out of the box, one of the reasons I went with benchmade was because of the rants of them coming razor sharp. But then again I can't be that surprised since mine really isn't sharp. The play isn't that bad, I just didn't know if there was supposed to be any at all. And also thank you for clarifying that the latch should loosen up. I already contacted knife center asking if the nylon sheath was supposed to come with it since it's pictured with it on the site. Thank you again for your response.
 
I personally think Benchmade puts a very Steep edge on their blade compared to other some other makers but that's my preference. I've had some come sharp enough to shave, some could just slice printer paper, some neither. It's hit or miss. It used to bother me but it's so easy to touch up to make shaving sharp and you'd have to anyway sooner or latter as they don't hold a razor edge forever if you actually use your knife.

Just mention both my Manix 2 and Para 2 I got from Spyderco could barely slice paper. So it's not just Benchmade...

Also mentioning the sheath, my Model 42 I bought back way back when came with a sheath. The Model 32 Morpho I bought this year came with only a silk bag. I don't know if the 67 is supposed to or not, maybe call Benchmade and ask.
 
Good to know. I did look at a couple Spyderco's on arizonacustoms, but I like the long blade of a balisong. Had I lived in a state where carrying a bali was illegal, I would have gone with the sypderco.
 
Just an update:

I contacted knifecenter about the sheath and they said that apparently this batch of B67's didn't come with it, so they immediately shipped it out. Love that for them.

As far as it being so difficult to lock, I filed down the two zen pins just a bit, too flatten them out, so now I can lock it one handed upside down, and it's still very tight.

Going to order my Sharpmaker here in a couple days.
 
Varekai, like redmasta said, knifecenter is good to go. No worries about fakes there. While I don't own a Benchmade Bali, please be careful filling on the zen pens. It is super easy to take to much metal off and have the blade bang into the backspacer/barrel spacers. That would really mess up the edge. I had a Svord pesant knife that wouldn't close and I took way to much metal off of the tang. It closes all the way to one of the metal pin that hold the knife together. Speaking of edges, I haven't found a knife company yet who has a truly good factory edge. A hand done edge beats factory every time.
 
I only filed the side of the spacers that hit when the blade opens, not the side where the blade would hit them to close.
 
Oh, all good then. Sorry 'bout that. Enjoy your knife! May it give you many good years of service!
 
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