My Manix 2 Maxamet Just Snapped !!

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If OP sends both pieces to Spyderco, they should be able confirm what the likely cause of failure is.

That being said, Maxamet is a low-toughness material and I would surprised if Spyderco finds a material defect or a counterfeit.

Does anyone know if Spyderco provides any special warnings in the box regarding uses that might break the blade?
 
With all the challenges they have had in manufacturing these, I would not be surprised if it has some major defect in the steel that wasn’t visible before. The Manix 2 blades have been tested as high as 70HRC on some examples. The next closest hardness steel Spyderco has produced is Rex 45 at 67 and ZDP at about 66; but neither of those have the wear resistance. ZDP is close but has even less toughness, Rex has good toughness but doesn’t have that level abrasive resistance.
 
Karl H said:
If OP sends both pieces to Spyderco, they should be able confirm what the likely cause of failure is.

That being said, Maxamet is a low-toughness material and I would surprised if Spyderco finds a material defect or a counterfeit.

Does anyone know if Spyderco provides any special warnings in the box regarding uses that might break the blade?
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I just looked through what was included with my Native 5 Maxamet. In the box there was an insert that talks about Maxamet but no warnings were given regarding toughness.

Despite that, before purchasing Maxamet I already knew what I was getting and what it's weaknesses are. For those reasons I've used my knife accordingly and have had zero problems with Maxamet. I also enjoy sharpening it... it's easy with my set up.

If I was going to use a knife to score drywall, I'd use a different steel from my Spyderco collection.

I'm fully aware that a lot of people say that a knife shouldn't be used to cut drywall. That's true for anything though, even cardboard.

My thinking is that if it can be cut, then a knife can be used.

A Manix is an attractive cutting tool for scoring, and a lot of things, due to the profile. For hard use or high pressure, I'd pick a very tough steel where I can operate care free, such as 4V, M4, REX-45. I'd think that 10V/A11 and also K390 might also do good for drywall.

I do think Maxamet knives should include a warning about lateral pressure and impact forces.
 
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SubMicron said:
I just looked through what was included with my Native 5 Maxamet. In the box there was an insert that talks about Maxamet but no warnings were given regarding toughness.
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I do think Maxamet knives should include a warning about lateral pressure and impact forces.
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I agree. I think it would probably be in everyone's best interest to include a warning.
 
nephron said:
So nobody thinks that without that huge hole in the blade it might have not happened, I know its blasphemy, but I always thought the hole could be smaller and work as well(and add some strength).
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Spyderco could "easily" design the blade to withstand much larger loads. It is interesting that Spyderco hasn't done that.

It would definitely create value for the customer to tweak the blade grinds for different steels, like they seem to do for H1.
 
Karl H said:
Spyderco could "easily" design the blade to withstand much larger loads. It is interesting that Spyderco hasn't done that.

It would definitely create value for the customer to tweak the blade grinds for different steels, like they seem to do for H1.
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It is well known here that performance while cutting is the primary objective at Spyderco. Designing a blade to withstand much larger loads is easy. Doing that while preserving performance is not at all easy.
 
Bill1170 said:
It is well known here that performance while cutting is the primary objective at Spyderco. Designing a blade to withstand much larger loads is easy. Doing that while preserving performance is not at all easy.
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Performance while cutting is somewhat compromised, when the blade has broken off. There are a lot of ways that the blade can be strengthened, without significantly compromising cutting performance. The only thing they would need to do is strengthen / reduce stress concentrations at the transition to the ricasso. A gradual transition from the ricasso, without a sharp corners or giant holes, is standard practice throughout the rest of knife industry.
 
If there was no significant lateral loading, I guess it may have just been the odd lemon with a defect in that specific bit of steel.

If there was lateral loading, that is absolutely the weak point where you'd expect failure to occur. As noted, Maxamet is not an alloy you want to pry with. Iirc, a few years ago there was a thread on the factory forum where someone pried with an S110V Manix 2 lw and had similar looking results.
 
nephron said:
So nobody thinks that without that huge hole in the blade it might have not happened, I know its blasphemy, but I always thought the hole could be smaller and work as well(and add some strength).
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Without the hole it would be stronger, whether the OP would have snapped it or not would be harder for us to know. For me the hole couldn't be any smaller and still work as well. I believe knives like the Endura have smaller holes, and they are harder for me to operate.
 
Considering how much drywall I've cut with mine, I suspect other factors at work. Send it to Spyderco so they can evaluate the problem. Do it for the sake of others if not for yourself. They could find it was a fluke, they could find an ongoing problem. No one will ever know unless they have the knife in hand to examine.
 
Regarding the hole size: No doubt it would be stronger with a smaller hole, however it would definitely be less usable for some people.

As far as designing it so it's stronger, I feel they have done that already by providing different steel options.

There's plenty of examples of Maxamet surviving things that you'd expect would break it. Simultaneously there's situations such as this one.

Probably no one will ever know if the cause of this failure was a manufacturing defect or an undisclosed event by the end user. Was there a previous impact prior to this? Is this the result of crack propagation? Other scenarios exist such as the retailer taking a return and unknown to them when they resold it, the person who returned it had done something that caused this to happen.
 
I’m sorry but I’m not buying it.
There’s no way that happened cutting drywall, definitely not “scoring” it. You had to have done something more than that with it.
For all we know it was clamped down in a vice and snapped off.
 
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91bravo said:
Mine has snapped exactly like yours did a few years back. Was cutting up a section of conveyor belt, something I had done a thousand times with my other Spyderco knives with no problems. The handle was in my hand and the blade was still in the conveyor belt. Spyderco sent me a new one. I won’t buy another Maxamet blade again.
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Just as you said Jonny, have a friend in NZ, exact same experience. Had used the knife, not abused, and then, one day, snap, when he least expected it, normal cutting.
bdmicarta said:
Without the hole it would be stronger, whether the OP would have snapped it or not would be harder for us to know. For me the hole couldn't be any smaller and still work as well. I believe knives like the Endura have smaller holes, and they are harder for me to operate.
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On a lighter note, the hole didn’t break, only the steel around it:p:p:p:D
 
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