CPM 3v chipping

T

theperfectknife?

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Sep 20, 2013
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Is it normal for a factory edge to dull extremely quick and chip? I have a Survive 4.1 EDC in 3V which I attempted to use hunting but the blade became almost butter knife dull instantly and formed a few chips in the edge. I was under the impression that CPM 3V was a tough steel and should not chip. Am I wrong with this assumption?
 
3V should be more than tough enough for anything you would use a knife for, and it should hold its edge for a good long time.
 
theperfectknife? said:
Are these problems due to it being the factory edge?
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Could be. Sometimes in the final sharpening the operator can hold the knife to the grinder a little too long. Basically killing the temper at the very edge. This can be the norm for some factory blades. The Gerber/Fiskars axes had this issue 5-6 years ago. The fix? Just sharpen the knife yourself. You want to grind off that soft steel right at the very edge to reveal the fully tempered steel right behind it. Once I sharpened my Gerber axe for the first time the problem stopped. Give it a sharpening and then try it out again. If it happens again after that then contact that maker/distributor for a warranty replacement.
 
Properly heat treated, as others said, it should be pretty darned tough and hold an edge for a while.


If it is chipping easily under normal use, it is likely a heat treat issue. It may have had the edge overheated when sharpening (this can be an issue where sharpening with a grinder, and an edge being ground can easily over heat the steel at the edge. I have done it my self on a knife I made. It had a nice thin edge, and I took one pass to many without dunking. The blade was not too hot on my bare fingers, but I had blued the color just a bit at the tip. I had to sharpen past that little burned area on the knife to get to the good steel.

If the chips are micro, sharpen past them and it might solve the issues. If the chips are more than you can easily sharpen out, contact the maker and see if they will replace/warranty it.
 
Its very easy to overheat an edge when sharpening with a power sharpener. It's not unheard of to do it sharpening by hand if water or oil arent used. Give it a good sharpening and it should improve, as said above.
 
Yes by hunting I mean quartering an elk. I will try sharpening the knife and see if that helps, but I have never had a problem with any other knife chipping on me. Luckily I had my zt561 with me and it was able to finish the job.
 
Three most likely causes: They didn't remove the wire edge after sharpening. They messed up the heat treat, or like mentioned above when sharpening they over heated the steel. I would resharpen it and see if it fixes it.

If not I would sent it back.

After reading your post the second time it sounds like a wire edge.
Sharpen it really good, should disappear.

Good Luck.
 
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If you are prying joints apart just too thin an edge can cause it even in strong steels like 3V. If that's the case just sharpen it with a thicker bevel and have at it. It should solve your problem. It is convexed, right? Some of those can be pretty thin edged and just need a resharpening. I'd look at that before I assumed anything is wrong with the steel. It's pretty straightforward and well known by heat treaters. The ones that treat yours do a good job. The Survive knives are very high quality/value. I really like mine.

Joe
 
Hey there,
This thread was just brought to my attention by a customer. Do you have any photos of the edge to share with me? Whatever the issue, I am very proactive with any types of QC issues. For a potential QC issue like you've outlined, I ordinarily ask people to send the knife back to our 331 East Water Street shop address, listed on the www.surviveknives.com website, along with a note outlining the issue. I will visually inspect the knife, taking detailed photos of any flaws or damage, before doing any repairs. I will then repair the damage and thoroughly test the knife out to ensure the issue is resolved. This usually involves a lot of batoning, prying and thick cardboard cutting. (See attached photos) If I believe the knife is in good working order, I'll get the edge hair popping sharp and returned to you. If I believe the blade is defective, I'll let you know and offer a replacement, either with something I have on hand or something coming up in the production schedule.

We run our belt grinders here in the shop at a crawl to avoid any heat build up. The hottest the blades ever get is from a final stropping on the baldor buffer, with a cotton wheel. Even then the blades are cool enough to touch. I keep all of our mill sheets from Niagara Specialty Metals, so if it is a raw material defect, we can trace the blade back to the sheet of steel is was cut from. After that I would have to assume it could be a heat treat issue. Peter's Heat Treat does an excellent job but that being said, I know sometimes "S&@t happens". I have not gotten a badly heat treated blade from them yet but I know it isn't out of the realm of possibility.

To anyone else out there reading this, we do also offer free lifetime resharpening, for only the cost of return shipping or we'll sharpen your blade on the spot if you happen to come through the Gettysburg area. So use your knives with confidence, we've got your back. I've gotten blades back for resharpening that have been dropped on concrete, batoned through nails hidden in wood, and even one that had a spot burnt out of the edge from being electrocuted, when a customer mistakenly cut a live electric wire with his knife.

-Guy
2013-09-03 15.55.02.jpg2013-09-03 16.45.58.jpg2013-09-03 17.06.22.jpg2013-09-03 17.09.54.jpg2013-09-03 17.45.36.jpg
 
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Wow...I've admired your knives on your website...I need to become a customer. :thumbup:

survive-gear said:
Hey there,
This thread was just brought to my attention by a customer. Do you have any photos of the edge to share with me? Whatever the issue, I am very proactive with any types of QC issues. For a potential QC issue like you've outlined, I ordinarily ask people to send the knife back to our 331 East Water Street shop address, listed on the www.surviveknives.com website, along with a note outlining the issue. I will visually inspect the knife, taking detailed photos of any flaws or damage, before doing any repairs. I will then repair the damage and thoroughly test the knife out to ensure the issue is resolved. This usually involves a lot of batoning, prying and thick cardboard cutting. (See attached photos) If I believe the knife is in good working order, I'll get the edge hair popping sharp and returned to you. If I believe the blade is defective, I'll let you know and offer a replacement, either with something I have on hand or something coming up in the production schedule.

We run our belt grinders here in the shop at a crawl to avoid any heat build up. The hottest the blades ever get is from a final stropping on the baldor buffer, with a cotton wheel. Even then the blades are cool enough to touch. I keep all of our mill sheets from Niagara Specialty Metals, so if it is a raw material defect, we can trace the blade back to the sheet of steel is was cut from. After that I would have to assume it could be a heat treat issue. Peter's Heat Treat does an excellent job but that being said, I know sometimes "S&@t happens". I have not gotten a badly heat treated blade from them yet but I know it isn't out of the realm of possibility.

To anyone else out there reading this, we do also offer free lifetime resharpening, for only the cost of return shipping or we'll sharpen your blade on the spot if you happen to come through the Gettysburg area. So use your knives with confidence, we've got your back. I've gotten blades back for resharpening that have been dropped on concrete, batoned through nails hidden in wood, and even one that had a spot burnt out of the edge from being electrocuted, when a customer mistakenly cut a live electric wire with his knife.

-Guy
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I too would like to see pics of the chipping. I've spent a good deal of time with 3V and have yet to see a chip. Small rolls I've seen when I dinged one...
 
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