M2 TRYOUT!

David Mary said:
I did actually start finding some bad eyelets in my last batch, though. I had the odd one split on me, and also found some kind of manufacturing anomaly on the inside of a few. I examine them now and toss the ones I think won't work. I buy them in bunches of 1000 at a time, now, and these were pretty rare incidents, so while I sometimes thought to contact Knifekits (especially on the less than a handful of times I remade a whole sheath because of it) I never followed through. Sending them an email now.
Click to expand...

They treated me like I was a flunky. He said that they buy them by the millions but wouldn't tell me when they will have some from a new batch.

Every eyelet that I have tried in my new batch has split in two or three splits. One just had one split.

I'm the type of person that I let the company know asap. I do it mainly as a courtesy to them to help them ward off potentially having thousands of people complaining.

Knifekits really dropped my opinion of them. I'll try to source everything from someone else and will only buy from them as a last resort in the future. And the guy's name was Robert. That made it suck even more...
 
David Mary said:
Yes, 000Robert 000Robert sorry, I forgot to acknowledge that. Pretty good to hear that we now have some concrete corroboration to the great hardness of these blades.
Click to expand...
And I also measured on the edge bevels after I reprofiled the bevels with my 400 grit stones to 10dps and the HRC65 file skated right across the steel.

David Mary said:
I am actually very much considering grabbing a few to make some larger EDC knives with 4" blades and handles. I think these would be simply outstanding in just about any role that doesn't call for corrosion resistance.
Click to expand...
They might work fine. I'm not going to be too rough with the blade. I don't want to take a chance breaking it. We are just testing its sharpness and edge retention, right?
 
Testing it for use the way you would use such a knife. I used my M2 R&D knife today as my new neck knife. That means it had cardboard duty, ricasso clean up, tape cutting and Kydex scoring and deburring. It made it through all with flying colors and no damage, however, when using it to cut glue from the ricasso of an AEB-L blade at 62 RC, it did gain the flat spots reflecting light like any other knife I have used for that purpose. I am going to hone it now and then report my findings after some sushi and a chess video lesson my friend JM2 JM2 sent me.

IMG_9206.JPG
IMG_9214.JPG
IMG_9215.JPG
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I've gone up to 6-7" blade length quite nicely on a few.....

although I Just broke a blade trying to drill through one 5 mins ago.
(Second one I broke so far)

Drilling is my Biggest issue!!!

*Side note... I don't remember where My last purchase of eyelets is, BUT I do use an arbor press and dies to set them.

My suggestion for you guys who are hammering them, and having issues. Try lubing them.

I know punch presses will lube parts for the dies to operate better.
Try a drop of liquid dish soap.
Click to expand...

I keep mine oiled to prevent corrosion. The inserts are made of carbon steel. I also tried a piece of plastic but that didn't help. These eyelets that I have are bad.
 
David Mary said:
The splitting issue more likely has to do with rate of force application. I hammer such that my lightest tap is at the start and hardest tap is at the end. I also examine the edges of the eyelets for deformities or chips before they get used.
Click to expand...

Me too. Maybe my hand setter is too much of a cheapy?
 
000Robert said:
Me too. Maybe my hand setter is too much of a cheapy?
Click to expand...

As they get used, the dies can tend to get roughed up some and gain scratchy surfaces. This should only affect the show side of the eyelets, though, so if the splitting is happening on the other side I don't know what to suggest. I have never had the show side split, but it can get banged up from a scratchy or rough die. In those cases, I stick the die in the vise, and hit it with the sanding sponge until everything is smooth, and my eyelet show sides don't get scuffed any more.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Drilling is my Biggest issue!!!
Click to expand...

Don't even waste your time, in my opinion. Use an angle grinder and cut-off wheel to quickly zip a couple of parallel lines, and then jump up to a 1/4" thick grinding wheel to remove all the material between them. Then you can put a 1/4" pin on either side of the slot you have created, for a securely installed pair of handle scales. Or tailor the opening you've created to whatever sizes you want, according to your pin material.
 
David Mary said:
Sorry to hear all that Robert.



This is a good mindset.
Click to expand...

I thought so. But I guess I kinda understand it - there's no telling what kind of kooks that they have to deal with.

It also looks like I was partly to blame. I used a smaller hammer and used lighter hits and my hand setter did pretty good. I also tried my Italian Twist Press No. 3 again and the eyelet didn't split. I pulled the handle real slow and slowly set the eyelet, and it didn't split. I guess I was setting them too fast. I've never had that problem before, and my older eyelets don't split when I crank the press handle like I normally do.

I guess I'll just have to slow down setting eyelets. I'll try some more in a little bit and see if maybe the rest of the eyelets will set without splitting.
 
David Mary said:
As they get used, the dies can tend to get roughed up some and gain scratchy surfaces. This should only affect the show side of the eyelets, though, so if the splitting is happening on the other side I don't know what to suggest. I have never had the show side split, but it can get banged up from a scratchy or rough die. In those cases, I stick the die in the vise, and hit it with the sanding sponge until everything is smooth, and my eyelet show sides don't get scuffed any more.
Click to expand...

I had no problems with the show side. Only the side that gets formed when setting them. I just have to slow down. Sounds like maybe they are making the eyelets with more tin now or something to save money. I've never had a problem until I started setting the new eyelets. Something has made the eyelets less malleable.
 
David Mary said:
As they get used, the dies can tend to get roughed up some and gain scratchy surfaces. This should only affect the show side of the eyelets, though, so if the splitting is happening on the other side I don't know what to suggest. I have never had the show side split, but it can get banged up from a scratchy or rough die. In those cases, I stick the die in the vise, and hit it with the sanding sponge until everything is smooth, and my eyelet show sides don't get scuffed any more.
Click to expand...

I think it's the first time that I've ever used it. I always used my twist press - it's quick and easy.
 
David Mary said:
Wouldn't be surprised if our coins were made in China.
Click to expand...

I called him first and talked to him about it. Then he gave me his email address to send some photos to him. Then he tried to sell me one of their presses. LOL
But I'll accept half of the blame - I should've thought about taking it slower, earlier than I did. I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that the manufacturer cheapened the metal to save money. The old eyelets are clearly of a higher quality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top