Vanax Disappointing?

scoobtay

scoobtay

Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
145
IMG_9994.jpegHowdy folks,

I absolutely love my QC Drift - it has great action, rock solid lockup, fits great in the pocket, and has a useful blade shape. But after ~3 months of regular carry, the Vanax blade steel has not performed well in my eyes. It could just be this particular heat treat, but it feels softer than ~60 HRC, but at the same time, it’s very chippy, worse than S110V. Cutting plastic zip ties nearly serrated the tip with tiny chips, and cutting a few feet of Velcro and psudo-dry suit material demolished the belly of the edge and dulled it heavily.

Because of the perceived softness, it is very easy to restore the edge and get it VERY sharp, quickly removing chips and such, basically it takes a nice edge. But for me, it requires too many touch ups to keep it in working order. I’m just a knife hobby guy so I don’t need a blade on a daily basis (just home projects), but I don’t think this would work for the target audience of a daily user. Anyone else have similar findings?
 
scoobtay said:
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Because of the perceived softness, it is very easy to restore the edge and get it VERY sharp, quickly removing chips and such, basically it takes a nice edge.
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That sounds like a warranty issue. I'd call them and tell them about it. Those aren't heat treated individually, and other probably have called too.

From their site - "All Quiet Carry Knives are designed and engineered in California and manufactured by Quiet Carry's team in Taiwan" and "Our Vanax steel is heat treated directly by the producers of the steel for maximum performance and corrosion resistance. We have produced thousands of blades using the best heat treat process for Vanax which Quiet Carry is known for."

So, basically they do not have direct control over their blades build - ie in house. Don't fret, a lot of blades are like this. But, that also means you're in a better spot for a warranty claim.
 
scoobtay said:
it’s very chippy, worse than S110V. Cutting plastic zip ties nearly serrated the tip with tiny chips, and cutting a few feet of Velcro and psudo-dry suit material demolished the belly of the edge and dulled it heavily.
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I'm not terribly knowledgeable about vanax, but that shouldn't be happening. I would contact whoever you need to about getting a refund or a replacement. If I got a spendy knife that couldn't even handle cutting velcro and a waterproof clothing material without immediately dulling and chipping, I'd be very upset. I bet you have other knives that can handle cutting that dry suit material just fine.
 
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Thanks for the comments, all. Definitely sounds like a heat treat issue, I will get the warranty process started. Much appreciated. With credit to Quiet Carry, I imagine a drift with a good heat treat would be among the best for a top-tier EDC in the 200-300 price range. Shame that mine isn’t quite right!
 
Bummer. Vanax is my favorite steel. At 60 Rc, it doesn't chip, takes a thin, killer edge and is easy to resharpen.

I'd suspect the heat treat. Do you have a knife with a soft steel, like a Randall or Swiss Army knife? See if you can scratch your blade. Below is an A8 (mod) blade that I had custom made and heat treated. It's a super tough steel, but you can see how it chipped and cracked just chopping branches. It's a task that my Vanax blade handles without damage. The A8 (mod) blade was supposed be 60 Rc, bit it was quite a bit softer. I could scratch it with softer blades, but I couldn't scratch the softer blades with this. The heat treat was somehow screwed up.

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Sometimes these issues arise from grinding and/or sharpening by the manufacturer rather than the heat treatment. Some knives show improved performance after several sharpenings.
 
If you contact QC, let us know how it goes. I love my QC knives but I've heard their customer service isn't so good.
 
Somewhat related: I just got a QC Waypoint new from a friend that had lockrock out of the box. Contacted QC and they offered to make it right………. For $25 plus $14 shipping. It’s on the way to them now. I anticipate them taking care of me.
 
Larrin said:
Sometimes these issues arise from grinding and/or sharpening by the manufacturer rather than the heat treatment. Some knives show improved performance after several sharpenings.
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Oh do you mean the heat treat was fine, but then it got ruined just at the edge because it overheated during the grinding process?

Would that necessarily affect the whole edge though? Or just a few spots? Or one spot?
 
Guy McVer said:
Oh do you mean the heat treat was fine, but then it got ruined just at the edge because it overheated during the grinding process?

Would that necessarily affect the whole edge though? Or just a few spots? Or one spot?
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Depends who's doing the grinding and how. So, generally, it could be one spot, two spots, or the whole thing. Some manufacturers disclaim the phenomenon, but personal experience convinced me that it happens.
 
Terry M. said:
Brother….. I thought the same thing. They said they “doubted it was new” and would fix it. I’m hoping when they get the NEW knife they will come off the $25 charge.
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I had a similar experience with QC on a new knife that had a material defect and they said that they’d fix it but I’d have to pay a re-blade fee. It doesn’t seem like the warranty is actually a warranty.
 
Terry M. said:
I just got a QC Waypoint new...
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Blues said:
$25 to fix a problem the knife had out of the box? I can see paying a reasonable shipping charge...Doesn't seem right to me.
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Me neither.

Terry M. said:
They said they “doubted it was new”...
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So in other words, not only are they charging you $39 to fix a defect that should have been covered by warranty, but also effectively calling you a liar?

I think I'd tell them to GFYS and warn others about their crappy QC and CS from one end of the Internet to the other. Might also send a nice heads-up to the state corporation commission. There's a term for selling dangerously defective products and then not honoring warranties: Fraud.
 
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Cementite said:
Me neither.



So in other words, not only are they charging you $39 to fix a defect that should have been covered by warranty, but also effectively calling you a liar?

I think I'd tell them to GFYS and warn others about their crappy QC and CS from one end of the Internet to the other. Might also send a nice heads-up to the state corporation commission. There's a term for selling dangerously defective products and then not honoring warranties: Fraud.
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Yeah I was frustrated at first too. Not as bad but still……. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt when they see the knife though
 
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