Benchmade

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Benchmade Knife Company, Inc.
Type	Private
Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	California (1979)
Headquarters	Oregon City, Oregon
Key people	Les De Asis, Founder & CEO
Products	Knives, Pens, Rescue Tools
Employees	~150
Website	benchmade.com

The Benchmade Knife Company is a knife manufacturer run by Roberta and Les de Asis in Oregon City, Oregon, United States. Its products are geared toward many niche markets, such as outdoor sporting cutlery, rescue, law-enforcement, martial-arts, and military. The company has collaborated with a number of custom knife makers since its inception.

History

Benchmade started in California in 1979 as Bali-Song, changing its name in 1988 to the Pacific Cutlery Corporation. In 1990 the company moved to Clackamas, Oregon.^[1]^[2] Benchmade became known primarily as a manufacturer of butterfly, or balisong-style knives, which it continues to manufacture. These knives have been so identified with the company that Benchmade has registered "Bali-Song" as a trademark and logo.^[3] Benchmade's original Bali-Song design by Jody Samson was awarded Blade Magazine's Knife of the Year Award in 1979.^[4]

As of February 2009, the company was employing approximately 150 people.^[5] Benchmade has had several years of growth and has expanded both the variety of knives it produces and the facility itself.^[6]

Products

A Benchmade 940 Osborne folding knife

Blade steels such as 154CM, D2, and CPM S30V steel are used on many models. Benchmade is one of the few manufacturers to have offered high speed M2 and CPM M4 tool steels in a production knife.^[7]

Benchmade receives a significant amount of revenue from selling restricted-sales knives to the military and law enforcement.^[8] Benchmade produces a diverse selection of "auto", or switchblade knives, along with a range of hunting, fishing, utility and miscellaneous knives, however balisongs remain a core product.^[9]

Benchmade Bedlam Auto with CM 154 steel patented Axis Lock

Benchmade has a patent on the locking mechanism used in most of the switchblades they produce.^[10] Benchmade additionally holds an exclusive licence on use of the McHenry / Williams "AXIS Lock", a strong, spring operated locking mechanism used in both automatic and manual action models.

Benchmade has a long tradition of incorporating knife design from noted custom cutlery makers into their production models. These include Jody Samson, Ernest Emerson, Allen Elishewitz, Mel Pardue, Bill McHenry, Mike Snody, Jason Williams, Warren Osborne, and Bob Lum. Several production Benchmade models based on the work of these designers have become influential within the industry.^[9]^[11]^[12]

Location

In 1996, Benchmade moved to Oregon City. Apart from some Red Class products, which are produced in their "off shore facilities",^[13] Benchmade produces more than 90% of its knives in Oregon City, and has succeeded in bringing others back to home production.^[14] Since 2010, all Red Class production knives have been discontinued, and as such, every Benchmade labeled knife is made in the United States.

One of the reasons Benchmade is located in Oregon, as are many other knife makers, is because Oregon has very relaxed laws toward knives in general and switchblades or butterfly knives in particular; there are no restrictions against selling a switchblade-style knife to an Oregon resident.^[15]

References

↑ Lewis, Jack; Roger Combs (1992). Gun Digest Book of knives. DBI. pp. 193–186. ISBN 978-0-87349-129-7. Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)
↑ "Benchmade History Page". Retrieved 2006-11-04.
↑ Burch, Michael (2007). "Butterfly Knives Take Wing". In Kertzman, Joe. Knives 2008. F&W Media. pp. 26–30. ISBN 978-0-89689-542-3.
↑ Breniman, Aaron (January 22, 2008). "Oregon City's sharpest store". The Oregon City News. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
↑ "Benchmade Information and Company History". Retrieved 2011-01-08.
↑ Bottorff, Steve (2002). Sharpening Made Easy: A Primer on Sharpening Knives and Other Edged Tools. Knife World Publications. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-0-940362-19-2.
↑ "Benchmade 'Public Safety' Military and Law Enforcement Page". Retrieved 2006-11-04.
↑ 9.0 9.1 Dick, Steven (1997), The Working Folding Knife, Stoeger Publishing Company, p. 280, ISBN 978-0-88317-210-0
↑ "Benchmade Locking Mechanism Page". Retrieved 2006-11-22.
↑ Clarke, Christopher (1995), "Benchmade/Emerson CQC7: Double-Duty Folder", Tactical Knives 1 (3): 58–60
↑ Kertzman, Joe (2001). 2002 sporting knives. Krause Publications. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-87349-266-9.
↑ "Benchmade 'Red Class' products". Retrieved 2008-09-15.
↑ Kertzman, Joe (2007). Knives 2008. Iola, WI: F&W Media. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-87349-195-2.
↑ "Oregon Knife Club Legal FAQ Answer". Retrieved 2008-09-15.

External links

Benchmade official site

v t e Knives and daggers

List of daggers List of blade materials

Types of knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boning Boot knife Bowie Bread knife Cane knife Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Dagger Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Electric knife Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Grapefruit knife Gravity knife Gunong Hunting dagger Hunting knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kīla Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Mezzaluna Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Nakiri bōchō Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pocket knife Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Rondel dagger Sabatier Sami knife Santoku SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Tomato knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Warrior knife X-Acto Yanagi ba Yatagan

Types of daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Baselard Bichawa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Hachiwara Hunting dagger Janbiya Kaiken Kalis Kard Katar Khanjar Kris Mark I trench knife Ocean Edge Knife Parrying dagger Poignard Push dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife Tantō Marine Raider stiletto V-42 stiletto Yarara Parachute Knife Yoroidōshi

Knife manufacturers	Aitor Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Bear MCG Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Caber Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Cutlery DOVO Solingen Dexter-Russell Eikhorn Ek Commando Knife Co. Emerson Knives Erizo F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Füritechnics Gerber Legendary Blades Global Golok Hanwei Imperial Schrade J. A. Henckels KA-BAR Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives MercWorx Microtech Knives Morseth Murphy Knives Ontario Knife Company Opinel Pro-Tech Knives Randall Made Knives Ranz Rigid Knives Rösle SOG Specialty Knives Sabatier Aîné & Perrier Spyderco Strider Knives Survival Aids TEKNA Thiers Issard Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Walther arms Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Windlass Steelcrafts Wüsthof Yarara Ltd

Knifemakers	A.G. Russell American Bladesmith Society Rex Applegate James Black Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Phill Hartsfield Bill Harsey, Jr. Gil Hibben Knifemakers' Guild Zanjan Knifemakers Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless Bob Lum William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Walter Doane "Bo" Randall, Jr. Chris Reeve Jody Samson William Scagel Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler

Book:Knives and daggers Category:Knives / Daggers

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