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A most terrible tragedy

C

carbonsteelfan

Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
382
Dear fellow spyderco users ; today a most terrible tragedy occurred. I was cutting a mass of rubber with my serrated VG-10 Spyderco Harpy . Every thing went well but after l was done ; l realized that about a quarter inch of the tip of the knife had broken off. I was utterly devastated. I love that knife. The only stainless steel folders l own are all Spyderco.
And any one who has used a hawk bill knows how important the tip is for pull cuts. I was wondering if anyone else has had the tip of their Harpy break as well. And if so ; then how did it happen ?
 
Measure it in Centimeters after grinding: you'd be surprised how much blade length units you gain!
 
I find Spyderco's VG-10 to be a touch on the brittle side, especially on serrated models. Combined with the curved blade of a hawkbill (which can cause lateral loading inadvertently) and the chisel grind of serrated edges (the centerline of the edge angle is skewed from the centerline of the blade) it can result in broken tips. I lost about 1/8" from the tip of a VG-10 SpyderHawk on a straight pull cut in green wood and I've lost smaller bits from my Harpy and Merlin. I think I've even lost a bit of my Tasman, but that may have been impact with something hard, my hawkbills tend to get used ungently.
 
yablanowitz said:
I find Spyderco's VG-10 to be a touch on the brittle side, especially on serrated models. Combined with the curved blade of a hawkbill (which can cause lateral loading inadvertently) and the chisel grind of serrated edges (the centerline of the edge angle is skewed from the centerline of the blade) it can result in broken tips. I lost about 1/8" from the tip of a VG-10 SpyderHawk on a straight pull cut in green wood and I've lost smaller bits from my Harpy and Merlin. I think I've even lost a bit of my Tasman, but that may have been impact with something hard, my hawkbills tend to get used ungently.
Click to expand...

Your harpy... was it VG-10 ? How did it break ?
 
Well ; actually l listened to what you guys said. I re ground the spine using some sand paper and a file. Not bad results. Yeah ; it's not as pretty as before ; but it works. However ; l sold it off at $90 . I then used the $90 and a few extra dollars to get me a new serrated VG-10 SPYDERCO HARPY. Yeah ; l love the design that much. If my knowledge is fairly accurate then l would say that the Harpy and the police are two of Spydercos oldest models that are still in production. I think that speaks tons about its popularity. I am curious though. This tip breaking issue. Was it a fluke of some sort ? Or is this bound to happen once in a while ?
 
Since you don't seem to know how it happened, it will probably happen again. The curve of the blade makes it very easy to twist the blade hard enough to break the tip. The chisel grind of the serrated edge makes the blade tend to pull to one side instead of straight in the direction you are pulling. If you don't follow that off-center direction that the cut wants to take and instead you try to use the leverage of the blade and handle to force it to go in the direction you want it to go, the tip will break off if the material is strong enough. If you remember to keep the handle angled a few degrees to the left of the line you want to cut to allow for the serration skew, you'll probably be all right, but it is still very easy twist the blade without meaning to.
 
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