Blade Tip Breakage

B

bladeboss

Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
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I've always been VERY scared to break the tip off from one of my knives. Has this ever happened to you?
I'm scared even to use the tips on my knives I'm so worried about it. :o
Is there a general rule for the strength of them? Or is it different for every knife?
 
Never broken a tip, but then again I use my blades as cutters and slicers. I always carry small leatherman just in case I get the urge to pry.
 
Different for every knife.

Steels come in differing degrees of brittleness (or toughness as it is often referred to.)
Even within a specific type of steel you will see differences based on the quality of the heat treat and grind.

But I wouldn't worry about it too much. Use them, don't abuse them.
 
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Thats why you buy Scrapyard or Bussekin :D. Ok actually if you are afraid your tip is going to break during a task don't use the knife for that task. I dont pry with my folders though.
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I actually laughed at all of the CS stuff. :)
I didnt necessarilly mean prying. (But some of that info was helpful)
I mean like poking through hard plastics and into wood.
Will that round out the tip?
 
bladeboss said:
I actually laughed at all of the CS stuff. :)
I didnt necessarilly mean prying. (But some of that info was helpful)
I mean like poking through hard plastics and into wood.
Will that round out the tip?
Click to expand...

Nah, they stab through car hoods all the time and never damage the tip:D

-sh00ter
 
Poking through plastic isn't going to hurt the tip at all or round it. Use knifes as cutting tools and not screw drivers and you won't break a tip.
 
bladeboss said:
I actually laughed at all of the CS stuff. :)
I didnt necessarilly mean prying. (But some of that info was helpful)
I mean like poking through hard plastics and into wood.
Will that round out the tip?
Click to expand...
It depends on a whole host of factors,
Type of steel, thickness, heat treatment, the amount of force involved, any torquing or bending that may occur, density of the material being 'poked' and so on...

In general, I wouldn't worry about it. Unless you are trying to use the tip as a screwdriver or pry bar, odds are good you wont break the tip off of any decent quality blade.

If you absolutely insist on performing these tasks, there are knives out there that will fair better than most at them.
 
Just use common sense man. If it feels like it's gonna break then back off. If it doesn't and whatever task you were performing goes well, you know the limits of your knife that much more.
 
It's all about knowing the knife, and how to use it. I have used knives with very thin, "fragile" tips for different sorts of prying action. But I'm fairly comfortable with what they can, and can't achieve. I generally tell people DON'T EVER PRY, simply because I don't trust them, meanwhile I do, in very certain scenarios, and haven't damaged a knife yet. Obviously if I did damage it, I would consider it 100% my fault.

Used my Case Swayback Jack to pry out hard rubber grommets from very small openings at work today, where a burlier knife's tip would never have even reached into because they were so tight. Took a decent amount of force, but I knew its limits and it did just fine.
 
To add, I have damaged the very edge of the tip on a couple folders being careless/stupid. Back when I was newer into knives. But after some sharpening sessions most people would never know.
 
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