Broke tip of Para Military now what?

[Scott321]

I was a clutz today and dropped the knife onto a ceramic bowl from about a 4 foot height. The very tip broke and bent. Not too big of a deal, but now I have an excuse to mess with the knife some more (I already sanded the corners of the G10 handle for better feel).

So... any suggestions for re-profiling the tip so it has a little more strength? Should I re-profile the bevel up? Should I drop the point by grinding the spine near the point? Does it really matter either way? Should I send it in to Spyderco and pay to have the blade replaced? Ideas or suggestions?

 

[Ken44]

So... any suggestions for re-profiling the tip so it has a little more strength?

If you broke the tip off you will now have a thicker stronger tip.

Just put an edge on it while sharpening(if no grinder) in a new tip and you should be good to go. You'll have to remove a lot of steel and add more belly, so it could be a job.

How much did you break ?
Pics ?

You could also just send it to one of our local(BF) sharpeners and let them do it. That's probably what my lazy self would do,lol.

 

[Riz!]

I was a clutz today and dropped the knife onto a ceramic bowl from about a 4 foot height. The very tip broke and bent. Not too big of a deal, but now I have an excuse to mess with the knife some more (I already sanded the corners of the G10 handle for better feel).

So... any suggestions for re-profiling the tip so it has a little more strength? Should I re-profile the bevel up? Should I drop the point by grinding the spine near the point? Does it really matter either way? Should I send it in to Spyderco and pay to have the blade replaced? Ideas or suggestions?

I repaired a buddies native and dropped the point as well as reground the edge bevel higher. He couldnt even tell it was modified. For a PM2 I would probably just drop the tip. Give it a profile similar to a delica/endura tip.

 

[Mickey]

Do you have a picture?

 

[dcmartin]

I've been doing a lot of these lately... What I've done is grind the edge along the belly to meet up with the leading edge on the spine.
It's important if you use a belt sander or grinder, with every 1 pass you should dip into some water. Just so you don't loose the temper.
Let me know if you have any questions

The spine on a Para 2 is very linear, I would suggest not grinding on that as it would dip the spine line and make it into a reverse tanto (sort of). Unless you're into that look Lol

I wouldn't replace the blade, you can get it to look almost 100% like before with a little time and effort

And the big reveal

 

[Scott321]

Wow, thanks all for the suggestions. DcMartin, I feel silly for even mentioning this now comparing my situation to the broken tip in your pics. It's a tiny break, about half of the original bevel line. It's nothing I can't handle with a little stone and ceramic rod time. I just thought I'd ask for suggestions from people like you all who are more experienced with this sort of thing. It's hard to get my phone's camera to focus (it has no macro setting), so it's a little fuzzy:

 

[vanslem6]

I feel your pain. I still haven't done anything with it yet, but I cringe looking at it still.

 

[Scott321]

I feel your pain. I still haven't done anything with it yet, but I cringe looking at it still...

If you don't mind me asking, how did you break that tip? I have the 940-2 and the 943 also (I usually carry the 943 blade in the 940-2 handle).

 

[bearfacedkiller]

That is minor. Tape a sheet of 100 grit sandpaper to your workbench or kitchen counter if that is all you got. Hold the knife upside down and grind the whole spine down until you get your tip back. Then move to either 220 or 400 grit to match the finish up with the rest of the blade. I have done this quite a few times due to bad tips from both being dropped as well as from rounded tips from sloppy sharpening. I would rather do it that way because sharpening it out will thicken the edge/tip. If you don't mind thickening the edge at the tip then by all means sharpen it out. Neither way is wrong, especially with a chip that small.

 

[bearfacedkiller]

If you grind the spine down the edges can get crisp enough to cut you or you may develop a sharp bur along the spine so you may need to knock it down with a stone.

 

[blanex1]

i did the same thing!dropped on concrete from about 5 feet'' i ended up re sharpening on the edge pro,i was going to try the spine-thing,but didn't,but i did get my PM2 looking new again!sans that needle point though.

 

[billym]

I feel your pain. I still haven't done anything with it yet, but I cringe looking at it still.

Send that to Benchmade for LifeSharp service they will reprofile the blade for you free of charge. I have sent 2 knives that had tip damage now they look like new blades.

 

[ShepardCC]

Wow, thanks all for the suggestions. DcMartin, I feel silly for even mentioning this now comparing my situation to the broken tip in your pics. It's a tiny break, about half of the original bevel line. It's nothing I can't handle with a little stone and ceramic rod time. I just thought I'd ask for suggestions from people like you all who are more experienced with this sort of thing. It's hard to get my phone's camera to focus (it has no macro setting), so it's a little fuzzy:

Thats nothing! That will clean up easy. Use the crap out of the remaining edge and then give it a good sharpening. Or sent it to any of the many people here that sharpen blades. I think even spyderco will sharpen it for it. I'm not 100% on that though because I sharpen all mine on my wicked edge.

 

[dcmartin]

Wow, thanks all for the suggestions. DcMartin, I feel silly for even mentioning this now comparing my situation to the broken tip in your pics. It's a tiny break, about half of the original bevel line. It's nothing I can't handle with a little stone and ceramic rod time. I just thought I'd ask for suggestions from people like you all who are more experienced with this sort of thing. It's hard to get my phone's camera to focus (it has no macro setting), so it's a little fuzzy:

Scott, no worries! Usually when sharpening, the tip is gonna be the most delicate part and the absolute easiest to round off.

Mark your blade to the shape you want it and grind away until you have that shape. Once you have your desired shape, start putting a profile on it to match the the one it has. Then tune it up! I would go back down the belly just a bit maybe a 1/2 or 3/4 inch so that it blends. Glad to see you are getting your hands on it!

Or, you can talk to customer service at Spyderco and let them know you want to resharpen it, make sure you specify that you want the same as original tip put back on. I've had them "freestyle" a blade that I didn't specify....they put a sheepsfoot tip on my Military Lol. Albeit nice, I wasn't really looking for that


Mark it up something like this.

 

[uxo2]

That is not bad...

Send it in for a free sharpening....


Nice factory grind.

 

[blueblur]

That's not too bad.

I broke the tip off my first PM2 and it was about 1/16" so it was noticeable. Sent it to the factory and specified I wanted the original shape and too keep as much length as possible and they took care of it.

 

[Scott321]

Scott, no worries! Usually when sharpening, the tip is gonna be the most delicate part and the absolute easiest to round off.

Mark your blade to the shape you want it and grind away until you have that shape. Once you have your desired shape, start putting a profile on it to match the the one it has. Then tune it up! I would go back down the belly just a bit maybe a 1/2 or 3/4 inch so that it blends. Glad to see you are getting your hands on it!

Or, you can talk to customer service at Spyderco and let them know you want to resharpen it, make sure you specify that you want the same as original tip put back on. I've had them "freestyle" a blade that I didn't specify....they put a sheepsfoot tip on my Military Lol. Albeit nice, I wasn't really looking for that


Mark it up something like this.

Thanks all for the info and suggestions. I decided I will go the route illustrated in dcmartin's pic and do it myself.

 

[oxman198]

I broke my tip off at the exact same spot when I just got my PM2. I just kept using it, and sharpening. Eventually it worked itself out without me risking really screwing it up, after the factory edge was gone. I actually like it better now, not as paranoid about a super uber delicate tip.

 

[sharp_edge]

You may not like my suggestion and if so please just ignore: what about making it a tanto PM2?

 

[Scott321]

You may not like my suggestion and if so please just ignore: what about making it a tanto PM2?

Interesting suggestion, but I actually prefer a point tip + a lot of belly.