Benchmade 940 Broke TWICE!

A

Antonio K.

Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
73
I'm extremely frustrated with benchmade. When I first got my 940 (Aluminum Handle) it came with an uneaven grind on the edge and was un centered, mind you this is my second knife I've owned and is the most expensive I've ever spent on one. I sent it in and they put a new blade for me. I the. Got it back and the knife was still un centered! I'm usually not this anal on knifes but when I spent $90 on a spyderco endura 4 and have it for 2 years and still keeps its center and then spend 180 on a benchmade I expect good quality. I sent it in again and they fixed it this time. Great!

So fast forward 2 months later and I go to flick it and the spring on the knife broke. I was pissed to say the least! Again going back to the fact that my "Plastic" $90 endura is going strong after 2 years of abuse I expected better. So I sent it in for the third time and they actually paid for the shipping their which was pretty nice of them. I get it back and read the note and said "rebuilt replacement knife." It seemed to have fixed the problem until three months later I go to play with it after it being in my desk for about a week and we are back to square one. Sorry for the novel but I just wanted it to be detailed😬 Is there something I'm doing wrong? I've read about people breaking their springs but say it is a rare thing. Do me and springs just not mix?

Thanks if you made it this far!
 
A lot of people like Benchmade and that's cool, but for me personally I've had bad experiences with them as well in recent years. I bought the 943BK "Osborne" and what a waste of $190 it was. Cheap in hand, the Axis lock spring was always getting stuck and felt it would break or just die in there if it was used regularly...the blade was also un-centered when I got it (brand new) just like yours. It had a giant burr all up and down the edge with two different angles depending on what part of the bevel you checked, as well.

Not only that, four or five of my friends had different iterations of the 943 and their blades were also horribly un-centered and tough to fix. I just thought it was really disappointing. Spyderco PM2 was much better, S110V version. I use it all the time and it is still going strong. So based on the experiences of mine and five other 943 Benchmades, I'd say it's the knives not you.
 
Thanks for the reply! It's a shame my $90 spyderco is more reliable than a $180 benchmade. I really like the design and weight as I bought it for when I'm dressed decently. I'll give bemchmade another chance. I've been looking at the blue PM2 as it looks awesome!
 
If I had that experience I would definitely be done with benchmade, as I rarely give second chances. My bad experience was with spyderco in the 90's, and my life has been just fine without them. Now, what exactly are you looking for?
 
i have owned several benchmades ( grip, triage and 940) and have never had any issues but these things are mass produced to some extent. i have also owned fairly expensive knives $500 to $1000 that have had issues as well but we have to remember nothings perfect but quality from all manufactures seems to slip at times.
 
lovescamaros said:
i have owned several benchmades ( grip, triage and 940) and have never had any issues but these things are mass produced to some extent. i have also owned fairly expensive knives $500 to $1000 that have had issues as well but we have to remember nothings perfect but quality from all manufactures seems to slip at times.
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stonproject said:
Out of the 3 940 variants I've owned I've never had an issue. Strange that you all have
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This is what's strange to me. Many of the threads I read have people with benchmades for years that have never had a problem and some that can't go a month (me haha) without breaking. I'm tempted to take it apart but afraid in wont be able to put it back together plus I'm pretty sure benchmade won't like that. I wonder if the quality of steel used in the springs have gone down?
 
Antonio K. said:
Thanks for the reply! It's a shame my $90 spyderco is more reliable than a $180 benchmade. I really like the design and weight as I bought it for when I'm dressed decently. I'll give bemchmade another chance. I've been looking at the blue PM2 as it looks awesome!
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When I got my first 940 it was off center also but after polishing the washers and tweaking with the pivot screw I finally got it to where I liked it. I agree that it should be a little more "perfect" for the price but there is nothing out there that's perfect. Also have never had an issue with the springs in my axis locking knives.

On another note this is another reason I love Benchmade. Their customer service is one of the best out there.
 
Bad to hear man!
I still own my first ever 940, going on 5 yrs now, and besides re sharpening it...no issues at all. I've also bought a partial serrated version and black coated version without a problem. Guess it's the luck of the draw somewhat. I've never owned a 943 so can't speak on that model.
 
I never had problems with axis lock and I've one of them since 2008. But my friend had 2 springs broken in his Griptilian. Fortunelly that part is free from Benchmade and easy to replace.
 
ourgon said:
I never had problems with axis lock and I've one of them since 2008. But my friend had 2 springs broken in his Griptilian. Fortunelly that part is free from Benchmade and easy to replace.
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Not for those of us in the USA, we are forced to send the entire knife in as they will not ship omega springs out to customers domestically.

Many here resort to making their own from piano wire.

As with any spring it's cycles that will kill it, if you are someone who does therapeutic flipping while watching tv every night, it would not surprise me that you may have a failure. Axis is a proven durable design, but it isn't designed to be constantly flipped over stressing and over heating the rather thin omega spring. A spring of that design is not intended for high cyclic rates, even HK has had some issues with a similar design spring in their firearms.
 
But if you live in USA it's easier for you to send knife to them.

One guy from my local community easily made custom springs to his axis and they're far better.
 
Over the lifetime of the knife, at least one Axis spring is bound to break. Bad lock design.

That's why I don't buy them.
 
I've broken one in 15 years of owning tons of axis lock knives. I feel like the smoothness and speed of the lock easily makes up for a possible spring failure.
 
I have at least 20 BMs and haven't had one issue with any of them.
I flick them incessantly and they're all still centered without any broken springs.
I know it's a pain sending the knives in, but the longest I have ever waited was 2 weeks.
If I were the OP I would call them and explain what's going on.
I found you get much better service when calling, not so much with e mail.
Joe
 
I have over a dozen axis lock knives, one that I carried for three years straight and another that I carried for four, and I haven't had issues with them. Great knives that I've worked hard.

People throw FUD about the springs all the time, as if it's some huge deal when it's not. I've had more issues with Spyderco knives failing (not throwing shade, I love Spyderco) than I have with my Benchmades, but every company puts out some lemons. They have support departments for a reason, sometimes things will go wrong. I once handled a handful of brand new Strider knives at a dealer and three out of four of them had lock rock, and the fourth had lock stick so bad it took two hands to close it. Knife problems happen, and good companies resolve them. If you do break one spring, the knife still works. Contact Benchmade and they'll replace it.

But what if you're stranded on a desert island with only an axis lock knife and the unthinkable happens, both springs break? A ridiculous worst case scenario, to be sure, but easily handled. Put the knife in the open position and jam a twig behind the axis bar and the knife will still work just fine.

If you want to hate on them, hate on them for how overpriced their knives are for what you get. On that point you'll get no argument from me.
 
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symphonyincminor said:
Over the lifetime of the knife, at least one Axis spring is bound to break. Bad lock design.

That's why I don't buy them.
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I question that, the Omega springs are unquestionably the weak point of the Axis lock, but I'm a serial flipper and I've never had one break. I don't doubt that others have, and I think it's justifiable to avoid them due to that fear, but I think you're significantly overstating the problem.

That said, I really do feel like Benchmade's quality has gone downhill. There was a time when every one I bought was dead, nuts centered and I definitely regarded their F&F as a clear step above that of Kershaw and Spyderco. Now, between the spotty QC and high prices I just never bring myself to lay the money down. I was exceptionally excited about the Crooked River, and I still think it's extremely handsome and just a very cool design, but I'll put it in my cart and can't quite bring myself to check out with that price point and my lack of faith in the end quality of the product.
 
I've never had a spring break but some of my BMs have been horribly off center and dull out of the box. I'm down to 2 BM products, Adamas and HK 14715. I like them but no more. I've owned grips, mini grips, barrage, benchmites, and a few others and I moved them all over time. I'll stick to ZT and Spyderco.
 
a more complicated mechanism failed and a simpler knife did not? That's the knife life. Things break. Things wear out. Does that mean your knife was a bad knife? No. It just means what can happen eventually will happen.

Insipid Moniker said:
I question that, the Omega springs are unquestionably the weak point of the Axis lock, but I'm a serial flipper and I've never had one break. I don't doubt that others have, and I think it's justifiable to avoid them due to that fear, but I think you're significantly overstating the problem.

That said, I really do feel like Benchmade's quality has gone downhill. There was a time when every one I bought was dead, nuts centered and I definitely regarded their F&F as a clear step above that of Kershaw and Spyderco. Now, between the spotty QC and high prices I just never bring myself to lay the money down. I was exceptionally excited about the Crooked River, and I still think it's extremely handsome and just a very cool design, but I'll put it in my cart and can't quite bring myself to check out with that price point and my lack of faith in the end quality of the product.
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I gotta be honest. I have been seeing most American made companies take a dive in quality. Not by huge amounts but it seems every company is cutting a corner hear or there. Whether its simplifying designs, lowering the quality of materials or letting things slide that they once would probably have tossed in a trash can. I'm honestly not sure what I would want a 20% price increase or knives that for better or worse aren't my idea of perfection. I was pretty darn disappointed to find my new ultratech had a cerakote type finish rather than dlc. But to tend to that wound I just told myself "well, at least it aint plastidip" DONT GET ANY IDEAS MICROTECH.
 
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My BM 940-1 had a spring break. I sent the whole knife to Benchmade to get serviced. No big deal, but it did make me reconsider the overall durability of the lock.

Frame locks and their variants are a simpler design and are easier to service. Just compare a disassembly video of a Griptilian as compared to one of a Sebenza.

I still like my 940, but for the long term, I think other designs are more reliable and serviceable.
 
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