Recommendation? Can this be fixed

A

AZGabe

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Mar 16, 2021
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Recently got into knives and picked up this Clifton knife. I went by looks and a few reviews on here. There isn't much information about this maker. From what I can tell, he no longer makes knives.

Went hunting last month and of course used my knife. Not mentioning any names, but someone used a rock to hit my knife during the gutting process. I do not know the size of the rock or amount of force used. Regardless, my knife was bent.

This raises a few questions. Can this be fixed? Do I want to fix this? By that I mean should my knife have withstood this type of use? If this can be fixed, does this knife warrant spending the money to fix?

I am not sure how to post pics of the damage.
 
You need a pic hosting site. Imgur is good and free. Upload your pics there, select your pic and copy the link for "message boards and forums" and post that link here.

Why would someone hit a knife with a rock??!! No knife is meant to withstand that kind of abuse.

Hard to say if it can be fixed. If it is severely bent, you would need to re-temper the blade to make it soft enough to bend back into shape. Then you would need to re-heat treat it. That has inherent risks of its own.

Of course you could always try bending it back into shape in a vice, but you risk snapping your blade completely.
 
Let's see if this works.

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You could try tapping it back gently with a good hammer and hard flat anvil surface.
Its likely to crack or chip,especially stainless. But there is not much short of regrinding or forging, that can be done.
 
That's a very very nice Loveless stype drop point. I'd want to try and save it too.
Agree with above, if I were doing it myself I'd do the hammer and anvil method.
But I think I;d rather have a knifemaker look at it.

As to your question " should my knife have withstood this type of use?" I don't see how anyone can answer that without knowing the clear details of the "rock incident".
 
I've "fixed" a bunch of bent tips by wrapping a layer of cloth around where I'm going to hit then doing firm taps with a metal hammer. Short strokes (no big blacksmith swings), bend it back little at a time.

I usually place it on a flat wooden stump because I hate scratches and marks.

Hope this helps!
 
353 said:
Not to be cheeky, but can we get some more info on what exactly happened there?
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I don't have the exact details. I harvested an elk and hiked to my truck to move it closer. When I returned, my knife was bent.

The person who did it was apologetic. I didn't ask for details or make it a big deal. I didn't want to ruin the moment or rest of the hunt. "No sense
 
I do know of a local knife maker (Todd Kopp) and planned on taking it to him to get his thoughts. With my little research, I've found there are tons of "knife makers". Not sure how many are reputable.
 
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I'm no expert, but it looks to me like that blade didn't receive a proper heat treatment. I've never seen a properly hardened blade bend like that. The edge is supposed to be the hardest part of the blade. I've seen properly heat treated blades break or chip under extreme stress, but not bend like a piece of foil.

Bending it back yourself means it gets bent twice. One bend will weaken the steel bad enough, two bends is even worse. The area would become even weaker and more prone to bending, if not cracking as well. I think the only chance to truly "fix" it would come from the hands and expertise of a skilled knife maker.
 
killgar said:
it looks to me like that blade didn't receive a proper heat treatment. I've never seen a properly hardened blade bend like that. The edge is supposed to be the hardest part of the blade. I've seen properly heat treated blades break or chip under extreme stress, but not bend like a piece of foil.
Click to expand...

This was my first thought too.

It just doesnt look right.
 
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