Broke my Caly 3 a While Back...

Dave Rishar

Dave Rishar

Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
3,178
Some time back I broke my Caly 3 through stupidity. I angrily tossed it in a box and forgot about it. After a move and some cleaning it's turned up again. I remember it as being a damned nice knife so I'd like to save it if at all possible. First, the damage:

zdp.jpg


It's a bit tricky to see but if you look closely at the notch, you can see that a crack extends out of the top of it. Fortunately the lamination did its job and the crack appears to stop there. With other hard steels (including unlaminated ZDP) that tip most likely would have gone flying.

That having been said, it's not safe to use in this condition. My initial thought is to cut or snap the rest of the tip off along the fracture and grind the spine down to make it "flow" into the new tip, which will begin where the edge ends. If anyone has any better ideas I'm all ears.

(And before anyone asks, I haven't done anything like this since. This lesson was expensive enough to learn the first time.)
 
I wonder if it stoping at the softer steel is in fact why the crack line stoped there?

If me, I would check into buying a new blade since its the very nice carbon fiber model. If they have them that is, you could go back with the ZDP, or the cheaper but still great VG10.
 
I have ground down blade tips from the spine side to repair broken tips. It is easy enough to do on a bench grinder if you are careful not to overheat the blade. Unless their policy has changed in the last couple of months, Spyderco does not replace blades, so if you send it in they are just going to regrind the tip anyway. Either way, you'll end up with a good knife with a shorter blade.
 
I would grind it down and make a reverse tanto. That way you keep most of the belly of the blade and also retain some point for puncturing.
 
harkamus said:
I would grind it down and make a reverse tanto. That way you keep most of the belly of the blade and also retain some point for puncturing.
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What is "reverse tanto" ? :confused: Do you mean a standard clip point perhaps?

I'd say grind it, but be careful not to take much up otherwise it will poke out of the handle. You could also try someone like Tom Krein or STR if you aren't skilled with a bench grinder.
 
Josh K said:
What is "reverse tanto" ? :confused: Do you mean a standard clip point perhaps?

I'd say grind it, but be careful not to take much up otherwise it will poke out of the handle. You could also try someone like Tom Krein or STR if you aren't skilled with a bench grinder.
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Reverse tanto is like the Osbourne 940 and 950. It's really just a tanto that's reverse where the triangle tip is on the spine side and unsharpened.
 
harkamus said:
Reverse tanto is like the Osbourne 940 and 950. It's really just a tanto that's reverse where the triangle tip is on the spine side and unsharpened.
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Oh, so it's a clip point with a brand new marketing name. Gotcha.
 
Thanks for the advice. Grinding it down seems to be the way to go.

I know absolutely nothing about how much heat ZDP can take without going wonky. Will I be safe with the rule of thumb? (If it starts burning my thumb, stick it in the water bucket.)
 
Dave Rishar said:
Thanks for the advice. Grinding it down seems to be the way to go.

I know absolutely nothing about how much heat ZDP can take without going wonky. Will I be safe with the rule of thumb? (If it starts burning my thumb, stick it in the water bucket.)
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Just take your time doing it and cool it down periodically. Don't grind it down all at once without cooling it down, IMO.
 
My thumbs get uncomfortable around 140 to 150 F, which is way too low to affect a heat treatment. Just remember, the thin steel heats up very fast, so you can burn the edge or the tip before the part you are holding gets warm. Go slow, dunk often.
 
if you want to trade it for something i might oblige.
if not
be sure to not, i repeat do not push the blade hard into a grinding wheel. way to much heat created doing this.
go easy. a light touch will do the job when grinding
buzz
dip the blade often into the cool water
 
Josh K said:
I don't see any difference except for the funky grind on the back. Almost looks like a drop point.
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Quite reasonably different to me. The clip point is shaped with that "curve" at the top much more horizontally, and the tip is obviously more pointy.

And like you said, the "reverse tanto" ones resemble drop points, but with a "twist," I guess.
 
THG said:
Quite reasonably different to me. The clip point is shaped with that "curve" at the top much more horizontally, and the tip is obviously more pointy.

And like you said, the "reverse tanto" ones resemble drop points, but with a "twist," I guess.
Click to expand...

The "reverse tanto" is, in fact, simply a modernized spin on the classical spey blade.

gbs.speyblade.jpg


Image taken from Mr. A.G. Russel's excellent glossary. :)
 
yablanowitz said:
Just remember, the thin steel heats up very fast, so you can burn the edge or the tip before the part you are holding gets warm. Go slow, dunk often.
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Amen ... the thinnest parts will heat up quickly ... how hard you press against the wheel, and for how long will determine how quickly it heats up ... watch for any discoloration ... if it starts to turn golden brown you toasted it ... dunk more often and take it past the discoloration should you happen to do that.
You'll be fine, the rules are pretty simple really :thumbup:
 
It's a moot point. The resurrection was unsuccessful. It's a goner now. :( In hindsight, the Caly/ZDP combination was probably not the best fit for how I use knives.
 
send me what's left.
if it is ressurrectible i'll swap you a decent Spyderco

don't trash it.
i'll send an email with my addy

buzz
 
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