Broken backspring Queen

brownshoe said:
Things under tension can break.
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If this is something you really feel you had to convey, I look forward to reading your “Material Science for Dummies” book. :D

brownshoe said:
The broken ones I've seen there was no corrosion deep enogh to impact structural integrity.
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Corrosion doesn’t have to be deep in a flexing piece of metal to contribute to its failure. In fact the outsides of a spring is the most critical area because that is where the spring carries the highest compression/tension loading. Once there’s surface imperfections there are now local places for stress concentration, which starts the failure process if the spring isn’t robust enough to handle those concentrated stresses.

but in the spirit of your opening line, “Rust bad!”. :D

brownshoe said:
It can happen to any brand including customs.
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Sure, nothing is absolute, but unless the failure rate for that failure mode is consistent across all brands, it’s more than just bad luck. Since no one is really pulling the data together, we’re shooting off the hip here, but anecdotally it seems that Queen had more than their fair share of spring failures.

brownshoe said:
One maker opined they thought it could be a problem with the peening of the main pin.
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Maybe, but there’s so many possible contributors, like inconsistencies in the steel stock like voids or interstitial cracks, or non-uniform heat treatment or cracks introduced the fabrication of the spring.

Back to my main point- I’m surprised that the spring would fail under a static load.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Back to my main point- I’m surprised that the spring would fail under a static load.
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Me, too.

Purely anecdotally, it kinda seems like I read as many "I discovered it broken in the box." reports as "It broke while I was opening both blades on the same spring to take a picture."
Could be folks are less likely to post when they know why it broke and feel responsible. :oops:
 
I have a Schrade 34OT I bought in 2004-2005 at a local hardware store.
Opened the box and the main spring was broke.
Only time this has happened to me by any brand.
ps Had it fixed by Dale Vincent [Orvett] and it's been fine ever since.
 
JohnDF said:
That's the silver lining... enjoy them while we can. :cool::thumbsup:
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Lets face it- I'm going to fall apart long before some of my favorite knives.
As young and vibrant as R8shell seems to be, however, she might outlast a most of hers.

(especially if the springs keep snapping in the box)
 
I am really upset! I have read through this whole thread, mostly when it was first posted. I only have a few Queens, so I never really took much from the reports of broken springs.

THEN TODAY, LITERALLY 10 MINUTES AGO, I got home from another 12 hour work day, set my pocket knife (Queen Dan Burke stockman I got off of the exchange), keys, wallet, etc on my hallway table. I’m standing next to it talking to my fiancé when I hear a faint but distinct “PING!” Coming from the right.
I immediately thought “oh ****, that sounded like a spring popping.” Sure enough, the main blade spring broke almost dead down the center pen. I have carried this knife for about two weeks straight, before that it was in a display case, and before that it belonged to another member. I have not used the main blade for anything more than cutting paper, as I generally use the other blades for harder work. I have never experienced a broken back spring, now I have a gorgeous, completely inept pocket knife.
9FC425AC-B267-448B-809C-742A693F0F07.jpeg
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I remember a post from several years ago in which a member bought a Queen knife with all kinds of ridiculous problems. The knife was a total joke. Looked it was built by a first grader.

Someone from Queen, either Ryan Daniels or Ken Daniels, replied to the thread and stated that they had a disgruntled employee who had been "sabotaging" knives on purpose. According to the Queen representative who replied, the employee was terminated.

I wonder if that employee sabotaged more knives for a longer time period than anybody ever knew about. Until now.
 
Railsplitter said:
I remember a post from several years ago in which a member bought a Queen knife with all kinds of ridiculous problems. The knife was a total joke. Looked it was built by a first grader.

Someone from Queen, either Ryan Daniels or Ken Daniels, replied to the thread and stated that they had a disgruntled employee who had been "sabotaging" knives on purpose. According to the Queen representative who replied, the employee was terminated.

I wonder if that employee sabotaged more knives for a longer time period than anybody ever knew about. Until now.
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If he was in charge of heat treatment of the springs, then I'd say yes.
 
I know these are all anecdotal, but I still just can’t believe a backspring would break without SOME external cause. Either heat treat, design, or otherwise. I mean, this knife was functionally brand new. I hadn’t used that blade for ANYTHING that would put pressure on the backspring.
I have another pattern from the same time period, same set as the other Dan Burke’s, and now I’m worried it is gonna do the same
 
AdamFuzzyballs said:
I know these are all anecdotal, but I still just can’t believe a backspring would break without SOME external cause. Either heat treat, design, or otherwise. I mean, this knife was functionally brand new. I hadn’t used that blade for ANYTHING that would put pressure on the backspring.
I have another pattern from the same time period, same set as the other Dan Burke’s, and now I’m worried it is gonna do the same
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Failure in steel usually requires an impetus… a crack, an impact or a stress. That being said… check your spring and see if you can tell where the crack propagated from. At least that might give you an idea as to where it started.
 
At this rate, all Queens are going to be extinct :eek: ;)

I must say I don't believe that anecdote about a malcontent employee sabotaging the knives, sounds like a faux excuse. Or else, Queen only had 2 employees towards the end....o_O
 
I doubt that most traditional pocket knife spring designs gets the engineering attention that more mainstream applications do...... So what safety factors were built into the original design is anyone's guess...... Did/Do knife manufacturers do spring cycle-to-failure testing?....... Have springs been cross sectioned and examined via microscope by a metallurgist?........ This would be a good project for a college engineering/metallurgy class..... They could do a failure analysis on some broken springs.... Associated Spring is a stones throw away in Corry, Pa..... I'm sure they have staff that could ferret out the root cause......
 
AdamFuzzyballs AdamFuzzyballs

If you could, would you take a closeup picture of the broken spring cross section please? Trying to see any similarities with other broken springs.

Thanks in advance.
 
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