Wood-inlay question

G

Grey Area

Joined
Dec 20, 2000
Messages
176
Hello,

I am pondering getting a BM49-01.

However, I have never owned a knife with any wood on it, and I do not know anyone who does. Therefore I have my concerns how good that wood will stand up to carrying and flipping.

Any knife I get will be used as my EDC at least for a while, no matter how impractical, and I would hate to see the inlays falling out after a month from flipping or getting ugly from touching them too often.

I realize there cannot be any long-term experiences with this particular knife, but what about the old PC / Benchmades with wood inlays?


Kristofer
 
Kristofer,

To answer your question, the wood inlay would last for a very long time in the 49-01. Because it has metal surrounding it. I know it sounds obvious, but here's the rationale.

In the past, my BM customs with any handle inserts, be it wood or micarta, would sometimes come loose and slide out of the handle. That's because they were installed with only dovetailing and some adhesive. Over time, as an EDC, all that manipulation would break the adhesive as it dries up, and the handle insert would only be held by the dovetails. Eventually they will come loose, and fall out. I've chipped or broken several of the handle inserts this way. Chipping the inserts isn't hard to do because the insert's edge is flush to the edge of the handle, and any looseness of the adhesive will allow the insert to become exposed to the impact of the other handle.

Whereas with the interframe of the 49's, you only have to worry about the wood inlay falling out completely (something I doubt would happen in a month's usage), since the only material in a handle to handle contact is metal (referenced above),and the adhesives used is much better than before. But the wood will get scratched and stained with use as it comes in contact with the oils in your hands and other objects.

BTW, just a suggestion. As an EDC the kris blade of the 49-01 is a poor choice. Sharpening that puppy is hard work. You might want to wait for the 49-02 to come out. It might just have a more useful blade. Handles should be the same design, but may have another choice of inserts.

Edited to include: Given your country's ban on balisongs, scratch the suggestion if time is a constraint....
 
Tony,

thanks for the answers. I was not aware of the specifics of the handle construction, sounds like it should stand up for a while.

Yes, that blade is probably not that useful normally. However, as a Kris-tofer I felt it was necessary to own at least one kris-blade :)

Besides, if I have to shell out that much money for a knife, I definitely want to use it, though carefully. Here in Germany with shipping from the US, bad dollar rate and extra taxes, the 49-01 costs more than the 49SPL did in the States. I want to have some fun for that money :)
The balisong-ban is strange. It could happen any time now, but it has been that way for two or three months.

Jeffrey, do you know how the 49-02 will differ from the first two?


Kristofer
 
Originally posted by Jeffrey Yao
Tony, 49-02 will have kris blade like 49-01. :) Maybe 49-03...

Jeffrey
Click to expand...
:( :( :( :( I specifically told Travis to get Vance to start making Deep Belly Bowies.... Darn!!!!
 
Kristofer and Tony, last time I was told the 49-02 will be satin finish kris blade w/ carbon fiber insert. Scheduled release date was 1/15/02 but since 49-01 was late I'm not sure if BM will change that. There will be 100 made. The project goes up to 49-07 but when I talked with BM in Sept they had not deceided on anything for 49-03 and thereafter.

Jeffrey
 
Thanks for the news Jeffrey, it sounds like BM has been doing a bunch of homework as of late. Since it seems you've got the inside track, please keep us informed of the latest revelations! ;)
 
Originally posted by Jeffrey Yao
Scheduled release date was 1/15/02 but since 49-01 was late I'm not sure if BM will change that
Click to expand...
Given that they're already 3 months behind on the delivery of the final 49-01's, I doubt we'll see the 49-02's until April. I'm up for another Kris blade, tactical this time. Would you happen to know if the handles will stay with the high polish finish? For the CF, I think a brushed satin finish would be more complimentry. My $.02.
 
Thanks for the 49 Series "Info" Jeff....appreciated!


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Originally posted by Jeffrey Yao
There will be 100 made. The project goes up to 49-07...
Click to expand...
hmm... am i not completely wrong if all the 49's will be limited to a hundred pieces? and if that's true, they'll probably be out for the same as 49-01 ($600), and if you think about this (going up to 49-07, and a hundred of each, that becomes (100*7=) 700 pieces total), they will make about (700*$600=) $420000, the 01 included. :eek:

so let's proceed. they've already made ONE SPL version, which looks like a better 01, limited to 25 pieces. if they make spl's for every new 49, all up to 07, they will have (25*7=) 170 spl's, including the first. if they sell those for $800, they will get another (170*$800=) $140000. total: ($420000+$140000=) $560000.
(all though this may not be true. maybe there will be no more spl's, or other 25limited pieces. then they'll 'only' get $420000, + $20000 for the spl = $440000.)

that raises these questions: is benchmade in hard times since they 'need' all these money? or are they simply taking advantages of the balisong collectors that simply can't controll themselves when they see a new bali?
one can really wonder... :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by ixpfah
hmm... am i not completely wrong if all the 49's will be limited to a hundred pieces?
Click to expand...
That was the understanding. No additional SPL's will be produced, as that was the introductory model. Think of it as 49-00. So there will not be a 49-02SPL. Just a 49-02.

that raises these questions: is benchmade in hard times since they 'need' all these money? or are they simply taking advantages of the balisong collectors that simply can't controll themselves when they see a new bali?
one can really wonder... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Why wonder? The people I've spoken to at Benchmade aren't real happy with the bottom line on the 49-SPL and 49-01's so far. The amount of hand labor involved has exceeded the original estimate by about 300%. Plus the 49-01 is now a 99 piece run. The entire run of the 49-SPL's was a wash for them, even at the $800 price tag.

Not all 49-xx will be priced at $600 each (although it could if the cost of the labor keeps going up). Most of that $600 was the high cost involved in bevel grinding the kris blade. So the different blade style and the the different inserts will contribute to the final cost of the future model. For example, an extra nice version of their Weehawk would require significantly less work, and so should reflect in the final cost. Since we don't know what else has been decided on beyond 49-02, it's only speculation.

And if you think a limited run of 100 pieces at $600 a piece will make or break Benchmade's bank account, you really need to do a lot more homework about how a business is run.
 
And if you think a limited run of 100 pieces at $600 a piece will make or break Benchmade's bank account, you really need to do a lot more homework about how a business is run.
Click to expand...
humm... let me just get one thing a little more clear. i did not mean everything i said in my post seriously. if i haven't been so clear, i'm sort of a 'funny man', a lot of the stuff written by me here should be read with a little irony in it. that's just they way i am, i'm sorry if i've ruined everyone's lives. (no, this is not irony.)

but then again, thanks for clearing things up for me, like why the 49-01 was that expensive (kriss blade) etc.

one thing, though. where do you get all the bm info? inside?
 
If you have a question about BM's products the best place to get answers from is BM (Travis in particular, that guy is awesome!!!). So far the kris blade is the hardest blade to grind perfectly, that is why so many people love Jody Samson and why his kris Bali-Songs are worth so much.
 
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