Oops!

vwb563

vwb563

Gold Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
3,075
I did a big no no today and used my Kershaw Emerson 6K for a prying job. I ended up snapping the blade in half! Now I know we're not supposed to use a knife for a prying job and I don't normally but I was trying to pry up a stuck piece of porch flooring board and I thought this would be a good chance to see just how tough these China made Emerson knives were. Well, I found out. The blade actually broke quite easily. I was applying a mediocre amount of prying pressure when I heard a "ting" sound then as I applied a bit more pressure the blade snapped. I believe the "ting" sound was the crack starting from the offset drilled hole where the thumb disk is mounted. Here are a few pics of the disaster.



 
Well that sucks, but it could happen to any knife.

Maybe get yourself a Dasco pro pry-bar set for about $20 at Walmart, it's a 3-4pc set and comes with a little one you could put in your pocket...ect.


I wonder if it would be possible to have a knife with a quick detatch pocket clip that doubles as a mini pry-bar ?
 
Hickory n steel said:
Well that sucks, but it could happen to any knife.

Maybe get yourself a Dasco pro pry-bar set for about $20 at Walmart, it's a 3-4pc set and comes with a little one you could put in your pocket...ect.


I wonder if it would be possible to have a knife with a quick detatch pocket clip that doubles as a mini pry-bar ?
Click to expand...
Interesting concept but I doubt the clip - prybar would be big enough to be of much use. I have a several prybays and screwdrivers that would have done the job much better but I just figured I'd use the knife since it was in my pocket and I would get to test its toughness. But as I said it actually broke quite easy. I've pried before with knives and used much more force than I was using on this one and had no problems. Apparently the drilled hole in the spine of the blade is a weak point and place for a stress fracture to start. Plus it was offset on this particular knife if that made any difference.
 
Edjumacate me on this one.
Is that thumb disc mounting hole off center for a reason? Would think that could unduly weaken the blade.

Out of curiosity. Any chance you were applying pressure to the thumb disc while you were prying?
 
Dan of Bazz Clazz said:
Edjumacate me on this one.
Is that thumb disc mounting hole off center for a reason? Would think that could unduly weaken the blade.

Out of curiosity. Any chance you were applying pressure to the thumb disc while you were prying?
Click to expand...
No it's supposed to be centered I'm sure. This one was offset bad. My guess is it probably had some play in weaking the blade but I think the hole itself had the biggest role in weakening the blade. And no I was pulling by the handle only. No pressure on the thumb disk.
 
That is a tragedy...

... Of course, comedy is tragedy happening to someone else, which is why I'm laughing.

That stinks, and I hope you find a good replacement soon. Thanks for sharing.

Enjoy
 
vwb563 said:
Interesting concept but I doubt the clip - prybar would be big enough to be of much use. I have a several prybays and screwdrivers that would have done the job much better but I just figured I'd use the knife since it was in my pocket and I would get to test its toughness. But as I said it actually broke quite easy. I've pried before with knives and used much more force than I was using on this one and had no problems. Apparently the drilled hole in the spine of the blade is a weak point and place for a stress fracture to start. Plus it was offset on this particular knife if that made any difference.
Click to expand...
Sounds like it was a weak point for sure.
 
It sucks but at least now you the limits of the knife. It took me two knives to learn my lesson.
 
DocJD said:
I'd send that in for replacement under warranty . Obviously the tap for the thumb stud caused a weakness . Manufacturing flaw .

Heck , worth a try ! ;)
Click to expand...

Definitely. What could it hurt? Worst they could do is laugh while saying no, and Puleio above is already doing that so the only risk is actually hearing "No". Hell I heard it all the time from my ex wife. You start to get used to it after awhile. Still, sometimes I do miss her. She gave great headache. :confused:
 
DocJD said:
Ironically , I just put this thread up :https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/kai-i-trust.1594767/#post-18215160 about trusting KAI and one of them is a 4KXL very similar to yours . So maybe my trust level does not now include hard use /pry bar .
Click to expand...
It's not advisable to pry with any knife and definitely don't pry with any knives with a drilled spine used to mount a thumb disk. Apparently it causes a very weak point in the blade and allows a place for a stress fracture to start.
 
vwb563 said:
It's not advisable to pry with any knife and definitely don't pry with any knives with a drilled spine used to mount a thumb disk. Apparently it causes a very weak point in the blade and allows a place for a stress fracture to start.
Click to expand...
Agreed on all points . Cold Steel uses something similar on all their thumb plate wave openers , of which I have many . Have not heard of any such problems yet with those .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top