Just snapped 14C28N

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Olumin

Olumin

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Apr 24, 2023
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I got this knife today, a Joker "Becada". Lockback in 14C28N, hardened to 58-60HRC according to the manufacturer. In other words, fairly soft for 14C.

Its a budged blade, and it came with some blade play & a severely off-centre tip. On pinned knives like this, I usually correct this with some careful hammering on the blade (near the ricasso) and pivot, using a plastic hammer and some soft rag for protection. I have done this many times before on other knives, traditional slip joints & backlocks. It works quite well.

I didn't have any worries doing it on this blade because its a "fairly" thick 2.5mm stock in 14C28N, which is supposed to be ultra tough, right? I was making good progress when, well, you can see where this is going; a few minutes later, this happed:

Bec2.jpegBec1.jpeg

Now this beckons the question: Have I just been really lucky thus far when fixing my knives, or is there something wrong with this blade? I was under the impression that my approach was fairly common & widespread to fix traditional, pinned knives.

As far as I see it, this blade might have been either not tempered correctly, or perhaps it isn't 14C28N at all. Don't get me wrong, my hammer strikes are fairly firm, but nothing too brutal either. After all, the horn scales are still intact as you can see, so I have been fairly gentle with this one. When I hammer on the ricasso, both the handle and tip of the blade are firmly supported on a rag. Its not like I clamp this knife into a vice and have at it.

Many other knives, with less tough blade steels and thinner blade stock, have survived just fine over the years, but maybe this was just bound to happen at some point. What do you think? Material defect or all on me?
 
Some Websites say that knife uses MoVa steel, others 14C28N (which has neither Mo, nor Va). What does the included paper work say ? No reason the Spanish manufacturer would lie about 14C28N, it's not expensive, and simple to heat treat.

In any case, don't hammer your knife in this direction, plastic hammer or otherwise, is all I can say.
 
ferider said:
Some Websites say that knife uses MoVa steel, others 14C28N (which has neither Mo, nor Va). What does the included paper work say ? No reason the Spanish manufacturer would lie about 14C28N, it's not expensive, and simple to heat treat.

In any case, don't hammer your knife in this direction, plastic hammer or otherwise, is all I can say.
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The blade is marked 14C28N. I agree there is no reason to lie about that.

Not saying this wasn't my fault, just surprised that this is the knife that snapped, considering it worked so many times before. There is always some risk in making the blade play worse, or making the action/pull worse, but this is the last thing I expected to go wrong.
 
I've done the same thing many times to correct blade movement, a slight wobble, or even centering issues when a folder is closed. My method is very similar. I don't use a vise, just a concrete floor with the knife wrapped tightly in cloth or soft leather. Firm hammer strokes in one spot or another (usually the bolsters, with the blade in or draw out) almost always do the trick, depending on the knife. Works really well with Buck classic knives due to the large metal bolsters.
On yours, the buffalo horn (easy to crack) seems in tact, yet the blade snapped??? Horrible heat treat or tempering IMHO. I'd try to return it.
 
Slice-and-dice said:
I've done the same thing many times to correct blade movement, a slight wobble, or even centering issues when a folder is closed. My method is very similar. I don't use a vise, just a concrete floor with the knife wrapped tightly in cloth or soft leather. Firm hammer strokes in one spot or another (usually the bolsters, with the blade in or draw out) almost always do the trick, depending on the knife. Works really well with Buck classic knives due to the large metal bolsters.
On yours, the buffalo horn (easy to crack) seems in tact, yet the blade snapped??? Horrible heat treat or tempering IMHO. I'd try to return it.
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I don't use a vice, I do it pretty much just like you described, with the blade in the half-stop or closed position. Scales are fine, so you can imagine my surprise when the blade snapped.

I thought about trying to return it, but what am I supposed to tell them? "I hammered on the blade and now its broken, give me my money back". It just feels a bit scummy. Its a risk I take when doing this, and I take responsibility for it. Even if the HT was less then ideal.
 
Don't ask if they'll replace it under warranty. Come clean, asking them how much it is for a new blade.

If they replace it for free. That's on them. Customer relations and all that. But the damage is on you. So it's a paying for an education type deal.

They probably have a bin with hundreds of that blade. Cost per unit could be less then a dollar. They bought the steel by the yard.

Seek the cost. The material and their labor to replace the blade.
 
Hammering on a finished knife, blade or handle, is not a good idea.

You *might* get away with it......for awhile.

Sooner or later, you're going to get what happened here.

I could never begin to point a finger at heat treating when a blade broke because someone was hammering on it.
 
Blades aren’t meant to be hammered on. If centering is bad due to pivot, that is one thing. But trying to manipulate a finished blade via hammering is like trying to fix car wheel alignment with a sledgehammer in the driveway. Lesson learned hopefully.
 
I'll contact Joker and ask about the cost of replacing the blade. If its reasonable Ill send it in to have it fixed. My guess is they would likely replace the entire knife rarther then trying to fix it, but well see.
 
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