Smaug
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2003
- Messages
- 1,797
It was with a little trepidation that I ordered a 940 Osborne last week. I had read about bad QC @ Benchmade lately, but sometimes, things get blown out of proportion on the internet. Passed down and repeated, so it sounds like the problem is bigger than it is. That's what I was hoping for here.
Blade shape: 10/10. Love it in pix, love it in person too. I particularly like how the swedge starts narrow and gets wider. It's a really complex blade shape, but is just really attractive to my eye.
Grip: 8/10. The shape is good, but it's not exactly hand-filling, is it? Gerber, Spyderco, Buck and many others have done the shape better, although not as handsome.
Action: 9/10. I flipped it open probably 150 times to wear off any sharp edges, then applied a drop of oil to each bushing and one to each Axis lock button. Wow is it smooth now, and just the right tension on the lock. The only thing I would change is to have some kind of damping so that when the lock is pulled and blade is closed, it doesn't bounce back out. It's hard to get the closing just right: it either slams shut and bounces back out, or doesn't close all the way. Maybe with some more hours of practice. I couldn't in good conscience deduct a point for this.
Blade Steel: 10/10. I think S30V is a good compromise between hardness, stainlessness and sharpenability.
Edge Grind: 4/10. This is the one place the 940 fell right on its face. It's got the grind like a gas station knife; feathered toward one side and kind of coarse too. It took a good while to grind a micro-bevel on the cutting edge with just the medium rods on my Sharpmaker. I shouldn't have to do this on a $183 knife. Before I received it, I thought about returning the knife if it had this problem. But I couldn't do it. Everything else is just too nice. I've heard that Benchmades are mostly hand-made. I can certainly tell the edge is hand-sharpened, but this is one area they should have a mahine do it. This is not where we want to encounter human error for the sake of charm. We want machine perfection!
Flickability: 9/10. Only a balisong can really beat it here. The Axis lock does a great job of being both an opening and closing device. I find myself using the thumb stud just to do the speed flick, but in reality, using centripetal force is more practical on this knife.
Value: 3/10. At this price point, it should be about flawless and have the very best materials. Although I like S30V, I feel like up here, it should have something a bit more exotic. Or should be $60 less. Also, the edge grind. They're really feeding the copycats with this kind of pricing vs. workmanship and materials. I can spend 1/3 this amount on a Spyderco, and everything is perfect.
Fit & Finish: 8/10. Minus a couple points for the bevel grind and a bit of crunchiness in the action at first. This may seem nitpicky, but other companies' knives come super smooth, right out of the box.
Clip: ?/10. WAY too tight, at first. It's noticeably better after an overnight clipped onto a magazine. I don't mind that it's shallow carry. It seems to be a proper spring steel. I'll reserve judgment on this until it has seen some more hours.
Looks: 9/10. MAN does it ever look The Business.
Cutting: ?/10. It's a little early, but it sure did a fine job on my pot roast last night! I'll update this later, when I turn it into a full-on review.
Overall: 8/10. For now. We'll see how she holds up over time!
Pictures later. I gotta hit the shower and bed; it's too late...
Blade shape: 10/10. Love it in pix, love it in person too. I particularly like how the swedge starts narrow and gets wider. It's a really complex blade shape, but is just really attractive to my eye.
Grip: 8/10. The shape is good, but it's not exactly hand-filling, is it? Gerber, Spyderco, Buck and many others have done the shape better, although not as handsome.
Action: 9/10. I flipped it open probably 150 times to wear off any sharp edges, then applied a drop of oil to each bushing and one to each Axis lock button. Wow is it smooth now, and just the right tension on the lock. The only thing I would change is to have some kind of damping so that when the lock is pulled and blade is closed, it doesn't bounce back out. It's hard to get the closing just right: it either slams shut and bounces back out, or doesn't close all the way. Maybe with some more hours of practice. I couldn't in good conscience deduct a point for this.
Blade Steel: 10/10. I think S30V is a good compromise between hardness, stainlessness and sharpenability.
Edge Grind: 4/10. This is the one place the 940 fell right on its face. It's got the grind like a gas station knife; feathered toward one side and kind of coarse too. It took a good while to grind a micro-bevel on the cutting edge with just the medium rods on my Sharpmaker. I shouldn't have to do this on a $183 knife. Before I received it, I thought about returning the knife if it had this problem. But I couldn't do it. Everything else is just too nice. I've heard that Benchmades are mostly hand-made. I can certainly tell the edge is hand-sharpened, but this is one area they should have a mahine do it. This is not where we want to encounter human error for the sake of charm. We want machine perfection!
Flickability: 9/10. Only a balisong can really beat it here. The Axis lock does a great job of being both an opening and closing device. I find myself using the thumb stud just to do the speed flick, but in reality, using centripetal force is more practical on this knife.
Value: 3/10. At this price point, it should be about flawless and have the very best materials. Although I like S30V, I feel like up here, it should have something a bit more exotic. Or should be $60 less. Also, the edge grind. They're really feeding the copycats with this kind of pricing vs. workmanship and materials. I can spend 1/3 this amount on a Spyderco, and everything is perfect.
Fit & Finish: 8/10. Minus a couple points for the bevel grind and a bit of crunchiness in the action at first. This may seem nitpicky, but other companies' knives come super smooth, right out of the box.
Clip: ?/10. WAY too tight, at first. It's noticeably better after an overnight clipped onto a magazine. I don't mind that it's shallow carry. It seems to be a proper spring steel. I'll reserve judgment on this until it has seen some more hours.
Looks: 9/10. MAN does it ever look The Business.
Cutting: ?/10. It's a little early, but it sure did a fine job on my pot roast last night! I'll update this later, when I turn it into a full-on review.
Overall: 8/10. For now. We'll see how she holds up over time!
Pictures later. I gotta hit the shower and bed; it's too late...
