abused and broke my CS SRK, thoughts?

J

jim1000

Joined
Jul 23, 2004
Messages
39
Yes I was abusing it but I could not believe it broke. This was 7 years ago. I was using it to split some small pieces of wood (equal to spliting at most a 2x4) and hitting (not real hard) the back of the blade/spine with a hammer, suddenly I just had a handle in my hand. It broke just inside the handle. No bending no warning. Seems like this was very brittle steel. Knife was new and I could not believe it broke. Was it faulty or not? I would think a dencent knife should take this easily, I have done a lot harsher things to my old sharade fixed bade. I wish I would have sent it to cold steel for explanation, but I through it away in disgust.
 
Hitting steel on steel is never a good idea.

If you ever need to use a hammer, use a big stick or 2x4 never anything as hard as steel.
 
Very few knives should be expected to survive that hammering treatment, and certainly not for well under a hundred dollars...

Sometimes, when you hit something at just the right spot with just the right energy, or cause vibrations on a certain object, at just the right frequency, the thing goes to pieces... the same thing can happen to bridges when the wind blows just right... Can any metal experts here confirm or deny this phenomenon applying to knives?

You say you have done the same thing to a Schrade fixed blade? Please elaborate...
 
That is not really abusive to a tempered tool steel. Awhile ago I tried to break a piece of properly tempered 1095 by doing that, except I was using a sledge hammer and would put the knife on a rock and smash it. Later on I put it on a rock and hit it with another rock (~15 lbs) from about 20 feet up and throwing it down. I dented up the knife some but no gross fracture. Properly tempered simple tools steels should be insanely difficult to actually fracture.

-Cliff
 
Now that's the sign of a real knifeknut.

Even after 7 years the poor guy's still in a shock over his knife breaking. :D
Let it go Jim, let it go!
-----

The SRK is a fulltang knife, but it isn't differentially heat treated. In other words the spine is at the same relatively high rockwell hardness as the edge, which means it can't take the abuse or pounding that a spine with a lower hardness can.
And it's a medium thin 3/16 inch thick blade to begin with.

Not to mention it has a production quality heat treatment.

Can you really expect it to withstand metal on metal pounding on the spine?
Possibly, but I wouldn't have tried it with that knife.
Try a custom, I think you'll get better results.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
1. you are right, I still have not let it go, I was very shocked.
2. My sharade, and come to think of it Buck night hawk have seen harder abuse and been fine, did NOT break.
3. I think it was flawed to break that way, handle in 1 hand, est 16 oz hammer in other, and was not slamming it all that hard.

I have since wondered about this steel.
But I have a Recon Tanto, a Recon Scout, and a trail master, but have never used any of them.

Now I have a Extrema Ratio Golum(pick should have been sharpened on back too), an Entrek survivor (pick: handle too small) and am considering another knife, Tops Steel eagle with plain spine, Swamp Rat Ratwieler, Timberline Or ?
Strider, Ferhman, Mercworx too pricy, for me to use.
 
Haha, I had to chuckle as I read through that post wondering what caused it to break, and then saw "I hit it with a hammer". I would never take hammer to a knife like that, you should have used some wood. I'm no expert, but figuring knives are hardend to improve edge holding, they are also more brittle as well. So hitting them with another piece of metal could certainly have the chance of cracking the knife, especially a production knife like a SRK. Sorta like hitting a drinking glass with a hammer, wouldn't you expect that to break?
 
Send the SRK back to Cold Steel with a note saying that the damn blade broke while you were shaving with it...Maybe they'll send you a new one.:D.
 
sorry, but i'm with wadef
it's not reasonable to expect a knife to withstand being hit by a hammer and not show signs of damage
sure, some knives may be able to take it, but really, it's your fault
 
FoxholeAtheist said:
Hmm.... I've never tried that.

*goes to try the Glockman-approved "baton shaving" method* :D
Click to expand...
Actually, I use my cat (Stanley) to shave with...I hold him up to my face and yank on his tail, letting those razor-sharp claws go to work on my stubble.:D.:D.
 
WadeF said:
Sorta like hitting a drinking glass with a hammer, wouldn't you expect that to break?
Click to expand...

A knife of that type, tactical/survival should not be in the same class as glass in regard to impact toughness. Even Ontario's knives which are at the very low end in terms of materials and heat treatment can not be broken in that manner, when they get the HT right of course. Why expect less from more expensive knives. Now of course if its a fillet knife, skinning blade, etc., sure. The stock thickness means nothing either, you won't crack a $5 carbon puukko like that (1/8"), all you will do is beat it out of the handle.

-Cliff
 
GarageBoy said:
Finally found the forum? Is the SRK a full tang?
Click to expand...
This is the SRK stripped of it's handle. This was my personal carry knife in Saudi Arabia when I wasn't packing my Randall #14.

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