Ganzo G704: The Little POS That Could (lots of pics)

Seems like a nice knife.

Why call is a POS or "piece of junk" while at the same time singing its praises.

Why can't it just be a good knife?
 
Dorito Monk said:
You know how to adjust vertical blade play out of an axis lock? Cool. :thumbup:

Would you like to share? That info could come in handy. I've heard that messing around with the stop pin yielded good results for some folks, but that's never made any difference in my knives.
Click to expand...

This is OT at this point, but since it has been asked:

The blade of a benchmade axis-lock knife is supported against sideways blade-play by the pivot-washers and knife scales which can be loosened/tightened via the pivot-screw to eliminate play while maintaining low-friction rotation.
When locked open, the blade is supported against vertical blade-play by the pivot, stop-bar, and Axis-bar which transfer their loads into the liners. All three can be rotated in the event of slight deformation or excessive wear. Further, the axis-bar is designed to ride snug in the tracks cut for it in the liners, and the blade tang should be "ramped" such that the bar wedges between the tang and liners by force of the omega springs. In my axis-lock Benchmades, the axis bar does not travel the entire length of the liner-tracks when the blade is open but is brought up short. This wedge-effect secures the blade with NO possibility of vertical blade-play. As the tang/bars/liners wear down, the omega-springs force the axis-bar further up the tang along the liner tracks, maintaining that secure zero-play lock. If I flip open the knife with enough force, the axis-bar wedges tightly into place and is difficult to disengage.

If your benchmade evinces vertical play when open, first ensure that the axis bar is fully engaged, i.e. it cannot travel any further up the tang. It is possible that the omega springs are weak or broken and so the bar isn't traveling as far up the tang as it should. If the bar travels as far as the liner cut-outs allow and vertical play remains, then either the tang was improperly cut and is not meeting the axis-bar where it should OR the liner cut-outs were improperly cut and are preventing the axis-bar from meeting the tang where it should.
 
retzius said:
Seems like a nice knife.

Why call is a POS or "piece of junk" while at the same time singing its praises.

Why can't it just be a good knife?
Click to expand...

For the price, I was expecting a total piece of junk, and I even went into using it with the attitude that it was inexpensive, therefore I could just abuse it and not worry about it when it inevitably fell apart. I was surprised to find what a good knife it turned out to be, and how well it stood up to use and abuse. Hence the title, "The Little POS that Could."

never too sharp said:
Good job staying objective about the knock-off garbage, but throw it away and buy the real thing.
Click to expand...

That would be a feat. I haven't seen a real 14205 for a long time now. I mean, they were discontinued what... four-ish years ago now? I am kind of interested in finding one, given that I've grown fond of the design, and I've been keeping half an eye out for one on ebay for a while now but I haven't seen any in decent condition. Lately I haven't seen any at all.
 
chiral.grolim said:
This is OT at this point, but since it has been asked:

The blade of a benchmade axis-lock knife is supported against sideways blade-play by the pivot-washers and knife scales which can be loosened/tightened via the pivot-screw to eliminate play while maintaining low-friction rotation.
When locked open, the blade is supported against vertical blade-play by the pivot, stop-bar, and Axis-bar which transfer their loads into the liners. All three can be rotated in the event of slight deformation or excessive wear. Further, the axis-bar is designed to ride snug in the tracks cut for it in the liners, and the blade tang should be "ramped" such that the bar wedges between the tang and liners by force of the omega springs. In my axis-lock Benchmades, the axis bar does not travel the entire length of the liner-tracks when the blade is open but is brought up short. This wedge-effect secures the blade with NO possibility of vertical blade-play. As the tang/bars/liners wear down, the omega-springs force the axis-bar further up the tang along the liner tracks, maintaining that secure zero-play lock. If I flip open the knife with enough force, the axis-bar wedges tightly into place and is difficult to disengage.

If your benchmade evinces vertical play when open, first ensure that the axis bar is fully engaged, i.e. it cannot travel any further up the tang. It is possible that the omega springs are weak or broken and so the bar isn't traveling as far up the tang as it should. If the bar travels as far as the liner cut-outs allow and vertical play remains, then either the tang was improperly cut and is not meeting the axis-bar where it should OR the liner cut-outs were improperly cut and are preventing the axis-bar from meeting the tang where it should.
Click to expand...

Good answer
 
I'm bumping this because it doesn't need a new topic. I received a tan G704 in trade and would like to add my two cents.

First, the issues. My biggest complaint is my lock doesn't seat all the way sometimes. If I open it too hard, it bounces back just a tiny bit, and if I open it too slow it doesn't fully engage. But let me make it clear it does still lock and I could not get it to fold, it just has a tiny bit of fore and aft play unless I open it with sweet spot force, or reset it once open.

My liner channels are a bit gritty. It's nowhere near as smooth as my Rift was, but it is smoothing out with use.

My omega springs are stiff. Real stiff. I can one hand open it, but the lock takes enough force it's a bit annoying.

The actual studs on the lock themselves are not long enough. They sit flush with the handles and can be cumbersome with gloves on, especially with the stiff springs.

It uses teflon bushings. Teflon bushings fail. Depending on use it may take some time, but if I crank on mine prying it does have some slight wiggle. Again, that's prying and not by hand.

The good? The blade steel is supposedly 440C, but I'd guess it's 9CR. It smokes my 8CR blades in edge retention and sharpenability though.

Aside frome the lock channel, fit and finish is perfect. The scales line up exactly, the machining is all smooth and even, and the tan G10 isn't almost all resin like Sanrenmu's.

When it is fully locked up, it's solid. I spine whacked the heck out of it before I was willing to trust it and it didn't fail.


Supposedly (third hand info) Ganzo has upped their quality control. The earlier G704' s used thinner blades and liners and were apparently a lesser knife. Based on my example and the guy on the first page's, I'd believe it. I'm happy enough with it I'm actuallu buying the G716 as a gift for my BIL since he was so enamored with mine he played with it until he had blisters on his finger from the stiff springs.

I don't like that it's a knock off, and I will say it in no way compares to the real thing. For $15 though, I think you get more than you will from other $15 knives. I'm buying one of their other axis models for a gift for my BIL who doesn't have the money for a BM, and that's fine to me. He currently carries a "Tac Force" assisted POS that's outright dangerous. He doesn't know much about knives and actually enjoyed playing with my Ganzo more than my 0350. I hope it's a gateway for him.

For an actual knife guy who wants a good knife and isn't specifically wanting a cheap axis lock, I'd save up another whopping $10 and buy something else.

 
Last edited:
I've had some time now with my G710 and I don't really have anything that bad to say about it. It was stiff at first but it smoothed out after playing with it for a bit and oiling it. Opening it with the thumb studs is fine but it is kind of hard to open just with the axis lock and flicking it. I have to push it on my leg or something to be able to move the lock down because otherwise holding the blade keeps it in place. That's not really a big issue to me and I can close it one handed just fine. There are some sharp edges on the steel liners and on the spine of the blade but that's not really a big deal. There aren't really any blemishes and it was plenty sharp out of box. No bladeplay either way and it just feels really solid. I'm sure the real Benchmade is better but for $12 there's really nothing to complain about. I have a G704 coming in the mail so I'll see if I lucked out on that one too. Does anyone know if there's any truth to the claim that Ganzo got the rights to produces these knives because they produced Benchmade's red class knives? I hope so, so it isn't an actual knockoff. At least the G704 is off of a knife they don't make anymore so you don't have to feel too guilty if you want to buy one.
 
I just got mine. I was inspired by this thread to give it a shot. I have to say, it's pretty damn nice for $20. No vertical blade play and a minuscule amount of side to side that I don't really feel is worth trying to adjust out. The grinds aren't perfect but I wasn't really expecting perfection. It came reasonably sharp out of the box but after I gave it a few strokes on the course stones of the sharpmaker it's got a really toothy, very sharp edge. I'm going to beat the crap out of this thing and not worry a bit. Thanks for the review OP. :thumbup:
 
I bought the black one a few years back out of curiosity, it was $15 shipped :eek:. I was surprised that they pulled it off selling it for peanuts, actually it probably came from the same factory as the original BM Snody as the quality really is there. The Axis lock is spot on and the knife is super solid. It's not a POS at all, well maybe in the sense that it's a ripoff on many levels then yeah it's a POS that way. I much prefer to support our companies so this was my first and last. I don't know what to do with it probably give it away, I got too many knives to actually spend any time with it BUT it is perfectly serviceable as a beater.
 
I was curious about a year ago and purchased the 704 and the 710 and while fit and finish on the 710 was ehhhhh
The 704 I had was pretty solid! SMOOTH action and after sharpening it 3-4 times (from HARD use) I gifted it to my neighbor who had previously been using
some gas station knife. About a month ago he stopped by and I recognized the clip. He's carried it EVERYDAY, and used it. Seriously used it.

Took an edge quickly and shes back on the road.

I'd wager there is NOTHING even at $45-60 that comes close.
 
I've got my G704 now. I like it, but I still think I like the G710 more. They're both great for the money but I think the 710 might be slightly higher quality, or at least with my examples. When I first got the 704 the action was a little stiff but had no bladeplay. It came fairly sharp but not quite as sharp as my 710. I tried just breaking it in and oiling it but it didn't help much. I ended up taking it apart and polishing the blade pivot and liners, oiling it again and putting it back together. It's much better now. Its still not quite as smooth as the 710 but I think that's because it has a smoother blade finish overall. If I had really put work into it I could probably have gotten it as smooth but I just wanted it to be easy to flip. I'm sure it will get better over time anyway. I really like the jimping on the 704's thumb ramp. It really gives you a good grip but it doesn't seem to hurt your thumb at all. One quirk I've noticed is my 710 seems to have stiffer axis lock springs that don't go down very far, but it disengages faster while the 704's springs are weaker and the axis lock slides down all the way. It doesn't really affect the overall functionality its just kind of strange. That's just the kind of thing you deal with when buying these cheaper knives, they may be pretty good quality but each individual knife is kind of its own animal. I'm still really happy with both of them and I think the quality is pretty hard to beat for the price, even if it takes a little extra work to get it the way you like.
 
Stays Sharp said:
I bought the black one a few years back out of curiosity, it was $15 shipped :eek:. I was surprised that they pulled it off selling it for peanuts, actually it probably came from the same factory as the original BM Snody as the quality really is there.
...
Click to expand...

Erm, I don't think so.

IIRC Benchmade makes all of their knives in the US, except for some older Red Class knives which were made in China (Hong Kong).
None of the Blue or Black class knives were ever made in China from what I understand.
The 14205 and 14210 are Blue class knives.

Toshi
 
TMorita said:
Erm, I don't think so.

IIRC Benchmade makes all of their knives in the US, except for some older Red Class knives which were made in China (Hong Kong).
None of the Blue or Black class knives were ever made in China from what I understand.
The 14205 and 14210 are Blue class knives.

Toshi
Click to expand...
The Benchmade red class was made by Sanrenmu. I don't believe they have any affiliation (Ganzo and Sanrenmu) based on Ganzo using better materials, but Sanrenmu having better quality control.
 
The big name manufacturers took the technology over to China, for the dirt cheap labor, is it any wonder there's knockoffs that are decent, coming from there?
 
TMorita said:
Erm, I don't think so.

IIRC Benchmade makes all of their knives in the US, except for some older Red Class knives which were made in China (Hong Kong).
None of the Blue or Black class knives were ever made in China from what I understand.
The 14205 and 14210 are Blue class knives.

Toshi
Click to expand...

You're right, I actually thought it was a China BM/HK hence the assumption.... regardless, they got a hold of the knife and cloned it though. Good enough to seem that they came from the same factory that used to pump out China BM's. Really eye opening.
 
Sulaco said:
I have owned dozens and dozens of Benchmade AXIS lock folders and find I was able to adjust bladeplay out of all of them to an acceptable (or non-existing) level. I think the issue is more that when someone buys a $6 Chinese knock-off of an American designed and manufactured knife costing much, much more, they tend to overlook QC issues and focus on what they think can prove justification for the poor choice to begin with...
Click to expand...


There is only one flaw to your statement. I have got into it with other members over replica and clone knives. They let the ethics part of the argument overshadow and the clones are guilty right off the bat with no chance of reprieve. So I have to ask, do you have a lot of experience with clone knives? Have you bought them? used and abused them? The reason I ask is because many of the times I ask this I am met with a response that almost always resembles, "No, i have more pride. I wont buy a knife that rips of american workers and steals their intellectual property" This argument is very valid. And its respectable to boot. But the only flaw in this is that many who speak out against clone knives as not having any quality but poor quality simply lack the first hand knowledge and are condemning a product based on etthics and stigma rather than any first hand experience.

I think if people really hate clone knives as much as they do they should be doing what the chinese do and they should be learning as much about the products as they can. They arent going anywhere. They will continue to improve. And some companies are now making products rivaling our own. My fear is that like the tortoise and the hare our dismissive attitudes towards chinese quality will eventually allow them to pass us by. We should take the opportunity to learn as much about them as they are us and improve our own manufacturing if we want to stay on top. In my experience my USA made knives are across the board getting lower in fit and finish while many (not all but many) foreign products continue to improve. Im not saying USA knives suck. Far from it. But I would be lying If I said i felt most companies were putting out products up to the standards held 15-20 years ago.

Sulaco said:
I seriously doubt it. I just know how to adjust the AXIS lock.

And sure, it goes both ways but most people would send back a troublesome expensive knife.
Click to expand...

Not always. I have seen many people make excuses for usa made expensive knives. Right down to the people that make them. In my experience everyone makes justifications to an extent. A perfect example is designer clothes. The guy who brags he spent $50 on a T shirt will always make excuses for why my identical T-shirt bought at T.J. maxx or other designer discount outlet is not as good as his because I spent less money. Humans in general justify all the time. Think about it, who wants to admit they spent $250+ on a knife and it not be everything they thought it was.

TMorita said:
Erm, I don't think so.

IIRC Benchmade makes all of their knives in the US, except for some older Red Class knives which were made in China (Hong Kong).
None of the Blue or Black class knives were ever made in China from what I understand.
The 14205 and 14210 are Blue class knives.

Toshi
Click to expand...

This is correct. Benchmade product qualify as USA made. But these days its hard for me to trust anyone. I recently found a site for the company that makes the Taichung spyderco knives and they show parts that are identical to USA made buck knife handles. Knives I have not seen clones of. And knives that are supposedly made in the USA. And technically by USA law they may qualify for the title. But just because something is USA made doesnt mean it is 100% comprised of usa sourced materials. I highly doubt benchmade is using chinese production on anything but the Harley knives. But nothing would surprise me these days honestly.
 
Last edited:
I have the Ganzo 704, and it was my gateway drug into Axis locks and a whole bunch of Benchmades (including the real HK 14205 bought on the secondary market). In fact, I bought 2 704s, one of which had some minor vertical blade play, though the other was rock solid. I also have the Ganzo G710/Rift, G712/Bedlam and G711/Onslaught (and I have all the Benchmade versions of those knives also, including 2 Rifts and the large and small Onslaughts).

The first thing to remember about these knives is that they are copies -- not counterfeits. They are branded as Ganzo and don't masquerade as Benchmades, so you know what you are buying regardless of who you buy from. The second thing to remember about the 704 is that it's a discontinued model. No one at Benchmade can cry foul (at least to my mind) when they stop producing an excellent knife and someone else picks up the design. The third thing to remember is that some copies are more like the model than others. The 704 and the 710/Rift seem identical to the Benchmade versions. The 711/Onslaught and 712/Bedlam have significant differences in size and design.

And the fourth and most important thing to remember (again, to my mind) is that these are very good knives for the price and I am not in charge of Benchmade's legal department. They may have patent and trademark issues with Ganzo, but I don't care any more about those issues than I do when Apple sues Samsung for some patent violation or vice versa. I'm just a consumer in a wide-open knife marketplace, and I'll let the market settle its own issues. It may sound good to "buy American" and think you're supporting US job creation. But for all I know, putting money in the hands of a Ganzo worker means he'll buy more American goods and so support US job creation too. Kind of like when I buy a knife on the exchange here (which does the manufacturer no direct financial good) but puts money in the hands of a knife fancier who may use the proceeds in the US economy for something -- maybe even buying a new knife that DOES do the manufacturer direct financial good.
 
chiral.grolim said:
This is OT at this point, but since it has been asked:

The blade of a benchmade axis-lock knife is supported against sideways blade-play by the pivot-washers and knife scales which can be loosened/tightened via the pivot-screw to eliminate play while maintaining low-friction rotation.
When locked open, the blade is supported against vertical blade-play by the pivot, stop-bar, and Axis-bar which transfer their loads into the liners. All three can be rotated in the event of slight deformation or excessive wear. Further, the axis-bar is designed to ride snug in the tracks cut for it in the liners, and the blade tang should be "ramped" such that the bar wedges between the tang and liners by force of the omega springs. In my axis-lock Benchmades, the axis bar does not travel the entire length of the liner-tracks when the blade is open but is brought up short. This wedge-effect secures the blade with NO possibility of vertical blade-play. As the tang/bars/liners wear down, the omega-springs force the axis-bar further up the tang along the liner tracks, maintaining that secure zero-play lock. If I flip open the knife with enough force, the axis-bar wedges tightly into place and is difficult to disengage.

If your benchmade evinces vertical play when open, first ensure that the axis bar is fully engaged, i.e. it cannot travel any further up the tang. It is possible that the omega springs are weak or broken and so the bar isn't traveling as far up the tang as it should. If the bar travels as far as the liner cut-outs allow and vertical play remains, then either the tang was improperly cut and is not meeting the axis-bar where it should OR the liner cut-outs were improperly cut and are preventing the axis-bar from meeting the tang where it should.
Click to expand...

So every Benchmade axis I've own(ed)/handled must have been defective, cause they've all had some degree of vertical play. The only way I've found to not get vertical play, is to open the blade and then slingshot the axis lock into place (which then makes it difficult to unlock). Under normal openings there is always a little play.
 
SaintlyBrees said:
Nice read and review well done. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Certainly worth my time to read it. :)
Click to expand...
I'll second this with the addition, reading the title of your thread made me laugh this mornin :D
Ganzo G704: The Little POS That Could (lots of pics) ;)
 
I picked up a dark pewter grey skel. frame piece of junk with a 2" semi serrated blade at Lowe's for about 10.00. A lightweight pocket clip hanger, it replaced a heavy lockback brass and stag handle Gerber I had carried for years. That Lowe's POS got used hard and went through a number of brutally demanding construction projects with me until I finally lost it. I don't think I have bonded with a knife as well since.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top