Benchmade remorse! Tips & Tricks to Joy!

Aside from buyers' remorse spending hard earned money on a Benchmade knife, I have gone through a few emotional journey’s when they don’t meet my expectations.
Spoiler Alert - with these simple tips, you’ll get the joy you deserve from a high end knife!
PSA for Benchmade: You should put these tips or a link to my video :-) on your web site F.A.Q.
My recent purchase of a benchmade.com custom mini crooked river 15085 & a BM 560BK-1 Super Freek, brought me pure joy on unboxing, followed by serious disappointment :-(
After a few EDC (Every Day Carry) days and lot’s of flicking open/close left me disappointed to the point that I put them in the drawer and contacted BM warranty service. But, I didn’t want to ship back a $300 knife that I expected to be perfect! Were these quality control issues at BM? Is this what I can expect from mass produced production knives from BM now?!?
I’m not handy, but I have disassembled several knives, so I did some more research on washer polishing, but I didn’t want to disassemble a new knife and risk voiding my BM warranty.
Ugh - choice of two.
But wait, I forgot all the things I did in the past to tune my BM knives to perfection that allowed me flip them open/closed over and over and have free dropping joy.
Check blade play first and start with working in your knife; open/close, lock bar rotation and spring tension thru work in - gravity and left/right side, gunk? - toothpick or q-tips, drop of oil, lock bar stick (paint & work in), and only then move onto backing off the pivot screw and/or frame screw(s), but always check for blade play.
Warranty form. Send it back for repairs or cleaning and sharpening - or do that myself - more on that in an upcoming episode)
Benchmade 560BK-1 Purchased on Amazon 01/01/2020 $191.25 :
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

[@seniorxj2931]

Jesus, 16 min just to tell us to adjust the pivot and break the lock bar in!! 😕

[@harryh1146]

The worst part is, you're not supposed to set them this loose unless your knife is just a fidget toy. The knife when this loose is dangerous to carry or drop.

[@hectorrivera6624]

Love Benchmade knives. I been lucky with most of my Benchmades.

[@bobhope6076]

I just got the Crooked Creek mini. The blade pivot was terrible. I took the blade out polished the pivot point on the blade made no difference seemed like the whole thing was in a bind. I took the wooden scales off and found the problem. The screws holding the front bolster where not even all the way tight. They left them loose on purpose because the wooden tabs that went into the front bolster where too big, and even with the screws tightened completely there wasn't room for the screw head in the cut out under the scales. I used an exacto and shaved the tabs down a small bit and opened the pocket for the screw head. The knife is now as it should be, blade pivots as it should with just a flick open or closed. The scales also fit to the front bolster better since there not forced in but actually fitted.

[@christophersegura9726]

Well said. Just experienced that disappointment. My 535-3 is very disappointing. Axis binds so badly my fingers hurt from working it. Sending back - believe it's a machining issue. Hope I can enjoy it when I get it back. Sours the situation.

[@socmonki]

I just back the pivot off until I can swing it open and shut, but it doesn't swing freely. Play with it, flicking open and closed, over and over until it either frees up or gunks up. Pull the blade, clean, oil with kpl and reinstall and from then on they're good to go. Sometimes the lockbar takes longer to break in and stop being sticky (looking at you, G10 20cv Griptilian!) but sooner or later they smooth out nicely. My G10 grip is so drop shutty now....so is my Freek. Love them. No play either. Just have to take the time to break them in and do a little tuning. My customs were pretty much perfect out of the box though, as well as my standard crooked river I sent in. Love mah benchmades!

[@Brandon-ob8ul]

Not everyone likes a free drop knife. Just adjust the pivot to ur liking and be done with it. They need to break in as well annoys me when people complain that the lock sticks slam it open for awhile and it will break in faster. All mine are perfect with a little tweaking. No company can make everyone happy.

[@Dwfshamrock]

Had the same issue with a few benchmade knives, great tips. Just finished watching the thumb stud video on the Sabenza 31. I have the inkosi and I was not too happy with the deployment method. I understand that it's supposed to be different but nothing about a knife at that price point should have any issues. Ignore the dislikes on that video.

[@JackGHobbies]

Can't thank you enough for the positive comment. Was getting a down vote 1:1 for every upvote 1:1 for a long time - hrmmm. Stay well!

[@poorboysedcandflashlights5934]

Pencil lead worked best for me. Try to write on the part that the lock slides on and the back part of the blade but the lead leaves graphite behind. Fast and easy

[@rya8391]

This is the best method and it doesn't require to keep messing with it like this video

[@antoniusblade871]

There are multiple problems with newer Benchmades. #1, the Axis Lock piece has been changed to a lighter unit that is NOT all Steel like they were in the past. The older units were like butter. That "coating" you speak of I feel like is a Moly coating. You can forever feel it grinding, and if you listen carefully can actually hear it as well. Solution- Do not use ANY oil on that area. Run it bone dry. It works better like that. Bad News? Once that coating starts to wear off take a close look at the axis lock and you will see the metal is rapidly being eaten away. They need to go back tot he all steel units with mirror polish. #2, most of them come with the pivot way too tight and full of machining fragments/dirt/grime. Clean it with 91% alcohol. Let dry, and apply a drop of light oil on each side where the washers are. That helps. But you are correct in adjusting the pivot. Most of the time it is a necessity not just exclusive to Benchmade knives. #3, The stock pocket clips are WEAK and flimsy. They bend if you look at them hard. Get something stronger. A LynchNW or MXG clip to replace it with. And lastly- it is very possible someone will receive a horribly ground blade edge from the factory. This seems to be more the new normal. But nothing acceptable about it. Buy from a good dealer with a reasonable return policy. Don't use it or sharpen or anything, just send it back until you get a good one! Best Regards

[@markpeavy4005]

I just had that problem. I got a new Crooked River full size that had a dull blade from "Benchmadeaxis". They would not take it back and gave me a hard time about it even though it was dull. I did get a partial discount and just sharpened it myself.

[@tonylinardi3089]

Love that knife!! Too bad it is discontinued.

[@actor4nyc]

My deal is this. Purchased the Benchmade Claymore and it’s SUPER SNAPPY! I mean... SNAPPY! Love it. They advertise that. $200.00. Just bought a close to $300 Benchmade Auto. Presido II, AXIS lock Auto. Not as snappy and a little bit disappointed.

[@michaelsmith8540]

I've owned the adamas and the hk action was good but the blade play was terrible I sold both

[@vikingfury2065]

I live in Canada and I'm thinking about getting the 940 but don't have the option to send the knife back to Benchmade if there are issues. The border agents confiscate any knife that can be flicked open. Have you ever had an omega spring break? I'm so nervous to have an omega spring break and don't have the confidence to pull the knife apart on my own and replace it myself.

[@-gray3472]

I've had a sequel 707 for roughly 14 years. 10 of them having it be my edc. I've used this knife hard, have taken it apart many times, not taken the best care, not letting it dry fully when getting caught in the rain or pocket sweat, and through all of this never a failure to deploy or close. The axis lock is solid. Even with oxidation on the spring it never failed me. I personally trust the design to last for a very long time. And if you had to take it apart and you were a bit reluctant to do so don't worry as there are plenty of videos on the tube that will take you step by step. After your first time you'll have the confidence to do this again and again.

[@jeremiahlerner9453]

I keep having to tighten my pivot screw on my 940 cuz it keeps getting looser and increasing blade play ant suggestions?

[@JackGHobbies]

Blue loctite. Tighten it down to where you like it on open/close then Let it sit for 24hours. Boom. Happy knife, happy life. Buy me drink some time :-) Take care

[@evanacey1414]

Loctite your pivot

[@jeremiahlerner9453]

@@evanacey1414 ya I did worked perfectly

[@120382brian]

I will never buy another benchmade knife again. I bouught the bugout and honestly i had 30 dollar knives that felt more premium. Firstly the blade play is ridicolous, it just felt cheap in the hand. If i want to go with a really expensive folder again ill prolly go spiderco or chris reeves. Ive been kinda just going for folders around the 100 dollar mark the past year or so i find that the quality is almost as good if not better then many benchmades i have seen. Granted the steel obviously is not quite as good usually in that range i find s35vn or d2 but im not a hard user like that and even if i was using as a hard use knife i wouldnt use a 2 to 300 plus bench made lol.

[@GreyRock100]

I solved my Benchmade issues by tossing it in the trash and getting a Spyderco.

[@YanDoroshenko]

I solved my Spyderco issues by tossing it in the drawer and getting a Benchmade.

[@GreyRock100]

@@YanDoroshenko To each their own.

[@-gray3472]

This video was painful to watch and to listen to. It should be titled common sense maintenance and modification for the entitled.

[@120382brian]

Also if you buy a brandnew 300 dollar knife and have to mess with it like this and replace parts on the blade that is ridicolous. You should return.

[@bigdaddypain295]

All Benchmade axis locks require a break in period. Just use it. The knife will eventually break in. Also you should always use both fingers on the axis lock, if you use one finger you will be binding up the springs. This guy is a total kook

[@Tox927]

Nice fake you got there...Lol.

[@Tox927]

That knife is a complete fake from wish and it's obvious. Either you got scammed or you want us to believe its real when it really isnt. How I know.... The S30V stamp on the blade isnt in italics and theres no patent reference underneath it. SCAMMED

[@phdcinnabar5754]

My super freek , like most knives made with high precision, have to be broke in, my super Freek is super smooth now, and you have to use the phosphor bronze washers to break them in especially if there the larger ones, you can polish and smooth them which I have done on many knives because I didn't want to break it in, I took it to 250,000 grit polish, it was drop shut after that, just be careful not to stay on the lower grits for more than a few seconds, progress through your grits fast, when you get to higher grits you can slow down and take about ten seconds per grit