becker brute

J

jctrapper

Joined
Feb 26, 2009
Messages
103
i have a becker brute that snapped an inch up from the handle, it snapped while battoning. i realize they do not kake these anymore, does ethan becker handle these type issues hisself? thanks for the help
 
was it a black jack era or camillus model?

pictures please! what kind of wood were you batoning?

i wonder if the blade could be dressed up to make a shorter knife as well?


Bladite
 
It's not the ideal solution, but I had a local welding shop, best in the state in my opinion, weld a stainless blade pocket knife with a snapped blade. It's not as new, but it was a pretty darn good job, and I use it all of the time without problem, although it does not see the kind of abuse we put our Beckers through. Just my two cents, even if that's all it was worth.
 
We are dealing with a failure analysis on an important knife here in Italy too. It snapped during batoning as well.
The knife I'm talking about is going through examinations in qualified labs and experts have been giving their report on the failure. Micrographies and chemical analysis have been done on the sample of course. Still, we are far from coming to a conclusion yet (and unfortunately this eventually generated flames on the threads), but a lot of data has been gathered while waiting for the third and final lab examination, and it would be indeed interesting to see your pictures of the knife and breakage point and have a detailed description of all the variables:
- size of wood, wood type and condition (wet or dry, resinous, seasoned or green, presence of knots etc...)
- kind of "baton" used to baton the knife in the wood, weight of the aforementioned baton
- way it was used (one handed, two handed, brutally, ...)

Pictures alone could tell a lot. In summary, the two experiences could be considered as a reference of similar event for one another. I hope my English is good enough for making this explanation clear to all.

I also have to add that in trying to reproduce the same failure system, the batoning has been executed on the same wood (which was shipped to the tester) and three knives were tried: another Italian identical knife, a stainless steel but similarly shaped camp knife and a 5160 steel camp knife. The samples gave very different results. All came to breakage, but with radically different hit counts, and also showed different kinds of fractures and different deformation degrees before failure (even though they shared similar Rc values if I recall correctly).

I look forward to see some documentation on the Becker failure, may the owner be so kind to produce it "for the sake of science". ;)
 
Were you batoning a cynder block? What could you be hitting to break one of those?!?!? Unless there was a flaw in the steel????
 
akthor said:
Were you batoning a cynder block? What could you be hitting to break one of those?!?!? Unless there was a flaw in the steel????
Click to expand...

From the experiences and tests performed by our community's testers, it appears (as tests are NOT over yet) that under some circumstances ANY knife would snap. And no, no cinder blocks needed, just particularly dense wood (not hard, dense). Conditions are worse if the wood is resinous and damp. Even worse if it has twirls in the fibers' displacement. A heavy baton (4Kg for example) slammed 2-handed on the knife's spine could result in breakage of the knife given those conditions, it is not just a matter of impact but instead of torque(s). The difference between knives' thoughness seems to be in how many hits the knife can take. Just to make it clear, the 6mm n690 (stainless) camp knife snapped at the first hit. the 5160 one held more, eventually showed deformation and then snapped. The main test-knife took much more of a beating before it broke.
And to make it even more clear, the Italian knife I'm talking is 7mm thick forged steel with thoughness proved superior to Infi, at 58Hrc hardness.

I know it takes a while to accept, but really I'm not surprised about the Becker's accident.
 
chenko said:
From the experiences and tests performed by our community's testers, it appears (as tests are NOT over yet) that under some circumstances ANY knife would snap. And no, no cinder blocks needed, just particularly dense wood (not hard, dense). Conditions are worse if the wood is resinous and damp. Even worse if it has twirls in the fibers' displacement. A heavy baton (4Kg for example) slammed 2-handed on the knife's spine could result in breakage of the knife given those conditions, it is not just a matter of impact but instead of torque(s). The difference between knives' thoughness seems to be in how many hits the knife can take. Just to make it clear, the 6mm n690 (stainless) camp knife snapped at the first hit. the 5160 one held more, eventually showed deformation and then snapped. The main test-knife took much more of a beating before it broke.
And to make it even more clear, the Italian knife I'm talking is 7mm thick forged steel with thoughness proved superior to Infi, at 58Hrc hardness.

I know it takes a while to accept, but really I'm not surprised about the Becker's accident.
Click to expand...

Where would we view these tests and the results supporting your statements?
 
mymindisamob said:
Where would we view these tests and the results supporting your statements?
Click to expand...

You just need to register on MCKF forum. I warn you: all the threads are in Italian. :( Since public registrations were closed (do not ask me why, I didn't understand it really) just let me know by PM your desired nickname and your email, I will have the webmaster contact you to allow for the registration.
This is for anyone, obviously. :)
 
I have heard of a couple brute failures and unfortunatly I do not think it is covered and there aren't really any options.
 
Hey JC Trapper....

Please PM me with your phone number.....This is one I would like to talk to you about.....I will try to do something, but I will need to see the knife.....Thanks.....

All Best....

ethan
 
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