Benchmade out of the box sharpness

Hermes Trismegistus said:
My final input on this matter is this, its really very simple, Benchmade has a demonstrable history of very poor quality control, its not necessarily that the designs are bad, many of which are really quite nice, some like the Sibert knives are superb, its in the execution! The reality is this, if they shipped a knife that was not properly sharpened, then the odds increase(substantially)that they skimped in other areas as well! I would not be surprised in least to discover OP's knife blade way out of center, perhaps rubbing on scale or liner, and gaps in construction. Speaking for myself, I would never buy a Benchmade knife for two specific reasons, the above quality issues, and the just as important political orientation of the company which is decidedly to the left of center. Compare almost any Civivi offering with that from Benchmade, $40.00/$95.00 for Civivi's to well into the multiple hundreds for many Benchmade models, its a real eye-opener....
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Are you seriously comparing the "political orientation" of an American company to that of one in the Peoples Republic of China?
 
Hermes Trismegistus said:
My final input on this matter is this, its really very simple, Benchmade has a demonstrable history of very poor quality control, its not necessarily that the designs are bad, many of which are really quite nice, some like the Sibert knives are superb, its in the execution! The reality is this, if they shipped a knife that was not properly sharpened, then the odds increase(substantially)that they skimped in other areas as well! I would not be surprised in least to discover OP's knife blade way out of center, perhaps rubbing on scale or liner, and gaps in construction. Speaking for myself, I would never buy a Benchmade knife for two specific reasons, the above quality issues, and the just as important political orientation of the company which is decidedly to the left of center. Compare almost any Civivi offering with that from Benchmade, $40.00/$95.00 for Civivi's to well into the multiple hundreds for many Benchmade models, its a real eye-opener....
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And here is the real problem. You have made some assumptions about the politics of Benchmade and are looking for reasons to attack them. I smelled it in your first comment but had to wait until you confirmed it. Did you throw all your benchmades into the ocean when they cut up the guns that were going to be destroyed anyway? Lol.
 
This Benchmade politics argument is such a reach I still don't get it to this day. I am as pro private ownership of firearms as they come, but as far as I can tell this entire squabble is based on a single social media post from years ago where Benchmade agreed to help the local police department to cut the receivers of some firearms seized from convicted criminals. Further, my understanding is that local or state law prevented the police department from selling the firearms back to a dealer or to the public as other departments do. Frankly im not sure what benchmade was supposed to do here. Tell the local PD to go pound sand for no reason?
 
Update: Thanks everyone for the comments. I cannot fault the alignment of the blade or the build quality. Initially opening the blade was a bit rough and scratchy. It was the black powder coating on the butt of the blade wearing against the locking mechanism. Now that the coating has worn smooth (and I blew the worn powder coating out) the knife action is flawless. Also the angles seem okay to my eye. I decided to keep the knife and learn to sharpen (it seriously could not cut my skin) rather than send back a mechanically good knife and risk getting something else back. I do think I will stay away from the sharpening service unless it really needs to be seriously reground - thanks again
 
Redbackaround said:
Update: Thanks everyone for the comments. I cannot fault the alignment of the blade or the build quality. Initially opening the blade was a bit rough and scratchy. It was the black powder coating on the butt of the blade wearing against the locking mechanism. Now that the coating has worn smooth (and I blew the worn powder coating out) the knife action is flawless. Also the angles seem okay to my eye. I decided to keep the knife and learn to sharpen (it seriously could not cut my skin) rather than send back a mechanically good knife and risk getting something else back. I do think I will stay away from the sharpening service unless it really needs to be seriously reground - thanks again
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Good luck and check out some of the threads on sharpening here they can be a good resource to find a system that best works for you and the steel that you have. You dont need to break the bank to get a perfectly adequate sharpening set up and the forums are a great wealth of knowledge to pull from.
 
Redbackaround said:
I decided to keep the knife and learn to sharpen (it seriously could not cut my skin) rather than send back a mechanically good knife and risk getting something else back. I do think I will stay away from the sharpening service unless it really needs to be seriously reground - thanks again
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If you practice enough and use the right equipment, you'll probably be able to handle any sort of reprofiling you'll need to do. Luckily, the right equipment won't break the bank either! Check out the WorkSharp Precision Adjust if you want a simple to use guided system. I got one a few months ago and I've been loving it. Benchmade's S30V was a bit of a challenge to sharpen on my Sharpmaker, especially when the edge angles didn't match the Sharpmaker's angles. The Worksharp makes easy work of S30V and anything else I sharpen on it.
 
Buy a product because it is good, that’s how everyone gets better! Were it not for Toyota in the ‘70s, GM and Ford would have continued to produce substandard products for much longer. That’s what good competition does in the marketplace. Buying or not buying something based on other metrics has led us to a ‘woke’, or should I say broke society.
 
Lately Cold Steel has been hit or miss, at least for me. My Cold Steel Western Bowie was HORRIBLE. I could almost balance a coin on the cutting edge.
 
Silent H said:
I've had Benchmades come with some of the sharpest factory edges I've seen, and I've had some with less than average edges, but never had a new knife come out of the box that dull. The below average edges I got from them were mostly caused by obtuse grinds, or blades that were a little too thick behind the edge. My most recent Benchmade is a Tengu that I got last week, it came with a very sharp, but very coarse edge. I stropped it, and now it is screaming sharp.

Unfortunately I've had a bad experience with their warranty sharpening. I sent a 496 Vector back to them for a broken assist spring, and a custom laser mark while it was there. I forgot to check the box on the warranty form that says "Do not sharpen my knife." They took one of my sharpest (and favorite) knives and completely butchered the edge, sending it back with a major change to the blade profile, burrs on nearly half the edge, and the heel of the blade was so obtuse it was practically dull. To be fair, it is a fairly complex knife to sharpen, having a hollow ground recurve, a flat ground tip, and a tanto-like transition between the two, but the factory that produces the blades should at least be able to re-sharpen them properly (I mean, they did it right in the first place). They replaced the blade with a new one under warranty, but I still caution people about their warranty sharpening.

If I were you OP, I would sharpen it myself (if you have the right equipment), or request an exchange from the dealer.
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I sent in my 940 for centering with an untouched blade and the resharpened it with an ugly bevel that removed a bunch of metal and sharpened it all the way up the choil
 
I only own 4 Benchmade knives, all griptilians, and they’ve always seemed very sharp (aggressive?) out of the box. The only thing I can think of is that they finish their factory sharpening with a lower grit than say, ZT or Spyderco. I’m not saying sharper, just “toothier”, which makes it feel more aggressive.
 
qflite said:
Buy a product because it is good, that’s how everyone gets better! Were it not for Toyota in the ‘70s, GM and Ford would have continued to produce substandard products for much longer. That’s what good competition does in the marketplace. Buying or not buying something based on other metrics has led us to a ‘woke’, or should I say broke society.
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Yeah looks at us now. 90% of cars I see are some sort of crossover vehicle with no gender identity. Which drives the muscle car prices up even further. Yay
Back then you could get a roadrunner with a 383 4 barrel, bench seat, 4 speed and roll up windows for under $3,000. Now (men and women alike) everyone wants to be a soccer mom and drive a crossover, because they’re not sure what’s in between their legs. 😕
 
I never had any out of box sharpness problems problems with Mine ( Griptillian, lrg Onslaught and Bedlam)

Either way I always reprofile my edges (just my pref)
 
sharp_edge said:
Benchmade knives's sharpness varies. OTOH, factory edges of Spyderco and Cold Steel are consistently very sharp (shaving arm hair and slicing phonebook paper with ease), much sharper than Benchmade.
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The brands most consistent for factory edge sharpness for me have been Cold Steel and Spyderco. The worst edges, Zero Tolerance. Somewhere in between, Benchmade.
I used to always put new edges on my new knives before I started to use them. Now, if the factory edge is really good, I ll strop it a bit, then wait until it becomes dull before I sharpen it for the first time.
 
Redbackaround said:
I bought a new Bugout 535 from BladeHQ. I wasn't expecting a scalpel (I want a blade that has a reasonable level of sharpness that balances durability). However, first thing I did was try to open a box and the blade slid harmlessly off the packing tape on the top. I had to make the tape taught to push the knife through. That was below my expectations for a new knife. I did a couple of other tests - arm hair - not a chance, even with significant pressure. It struggles to slice paper (more of a mix of slicing and tearing).
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The second Benchmade I ever bought was an AFO auto. I was so excited when I received the package, but that quickly turned to disappointment. The knife was literally like a butter knife. I could saw it against the palm of my hand without cutting my skin. It was not just in need of sharpening, I had to actually grind an edge on it, before I could even start sharpening it. It was a while before I bought another knife from them.
 
2 mini bugouts w black blade cerakote finish wasnt as sharp out of box as spyderco delica/dragonfly vg10 or manbug zdp. spydercos would slice paper smoothly/clean cuts. benchmade didnt glide thru the cuts smoothly some snags the paper. maybe due to the black finish on blade?
 
Redbackaround said:
Is this normal. Is there a general expectation that Benchmade ships dull but robust edges and the user finishes them off to their own specs?
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i have purchased new blades...dull. Robust? no, not really. sharpening service is terrible...me experience.
i don't mess with bm any more...ever.
 
jng1234 said:
2 mini bugouts w black blade cerakote finish wasnt as sharp out of box as spyderco delica/dragonfly vg10 or manbug zdp. spydercos would slice paper smoothly/clean cuts. benchmade didnt glide thru the cuts smoothly some snags the paper. maybe due to the black finish on blade?
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...of course.
 
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