Victorinox Bantam blade rap?

C

Carboniferous

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I bought a Bantam last week and after sharpening it discovered that the blade made contact with the spacer and dulled the tip. I sharpened it out a few times and it remained, so I returned it for another one and...it has the exact same problem.

It can't be normal in general for Victorinox knives to have this problem based on not hearing about it constantly, but their QC is also supposed to be very good which makes 2/2 having the problem hard to explain. Is this an issue that's particular to the bantam for whatever reason or am I just very unlucky? If I'm just unlucky I'm willing to try for a luckier #3, but if it's a problem with the bantam I'll probably just try another Victorinox model.
 
Unlucky I think.
I have several Victorinox models and do not recall this happening, even if you "drop" the blade when closing it.
 
I will check on mine when I get back from work. Bantam have a slightly wider blade than other 84mm models, maybe there was a mix up with the spacers at the factory or something, sounds weird…
*no rubbing on mine
 
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The second one wasn't as bad, after sharpening it out ~5 times the edge no longer makes contact. It wasn't as severe as I've seen with some others where the edge was completely flattened so it sharpened out pretty quickly each time, here are pictures I took at one stage before and after letting it snap closed a few times:


cPLImcR.jpeg
1zJ1CzI.jpeg

Very happy with the knife now that the dirty business is out of the way. Pretty close to my perfect multi tool, glad I recently spent some time practicing freehand sharpening on coarse diamonds.
 
It’s somewhat normal. Most people don’t notice that the tip makes contact when snapped shut. The contact mark is just often unnoticed on either the nickel silver spacer or the adjacent liner.
I find it rare to see any 84mm or 91mm that do not have this contact/rap mark at the tip. I rarely snap blades shut, except on some of my users which I sharpen or touch up frequently. Even then it’s reluctantly…just for my convenience or safety when I’m busy. Otherwise I close the main blades gently using two hands.
A small number of knives actually have main blades that simply touch the spacer. Some of those made that way, and others develop the problem via wear or spring sag.

TL;DR history:
The original officer’s knives had steel spacers and in later production were typically replaced with brass or nickel silver. Through most of the ‘50s and the early ‘60s, the spacers were anodized aluminum, which on their surface, are harder than stainless. Once a divot is created, it’s only contacting the relatively soft aluminum. After the mid ‘60s, only brass and nickel silver were used.
 
kamakiri.knives said:
It’s somewhat normal. Most people don’t notice that the tip makes contact when snapped shut. The contact mark is just often unnoticed on either the nickel silver spacer or the adjacent liner.
I find it rare to see any 84mm or 91mm that do not have this contact/rap mark at the tip. I rarely snap blades shut, except on some of my users which I sharpen or touch up frequently. Even then it’s reluctantly…just for my convenience or safety when I’m busy. Otherwise I close the main blades gently using two hands.
A small number of knives actually have main blades that simply touch the spacer. Some of those made that way, and others develop the problem via wear or spring sag.

TL;DR history:
The original officer’s knives had steel spacers and in later production were typically replaced with brass or nickel silver. Through most of the ‘50s and the early ‘60s, the spacers were anodized aluminum, which on their surface, are harder than stainless. Once a divot is created, it’s only contacting the relatively soft aluminum. After the mid ‘60s, only brass and nickel silver were used.
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Interesting stuff. I have to admit I haven't owned many SAKs over the years, and not a large variety of models. I never noticed it before on the alox cadets I had, but I also never specifically looked for it. Seems strange to me that they wouldn't address it after so long, but as said I don't hear people talk about it so I guess why would they.

Having to close a knife slowly with two hands isn't an absolute deal breaker for me, but it's definitely a big negative mark. Maybe I'll stick to single bladed models
 
kamakiri.knives said:
It’s somewhat normal. Most people don’t notice that the tip makes contact when snapped shut. The contact mark is just often unnoticed on either the nickel silver spacer or the adjacent liner.
I find it rare to see any 84mm or 91mm that do not have this contact/rap mark at the tip. I rarely snap blades shut, except on some of my users which I sharpen or touch up frequently. Even then it’s reluctantly…just for my convenience or safety when I’m busy. Otherwise I close the main blades gently using two hands.
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My experience with SAKs has been similar; I don't think I've had a 91mm SAK that didn't have main blade tip contact/rap when snapped closed. I've also stopped snapping my blades closed.
 
Yeah, throw me in to the “all my SAKs have blade rap” category. I think most people don’t notice it, but I sure do. I don’t consider it an imperfection, rather Victorinox providing the most blade they can fit in the tool. I always slowly lower the large blade in my Victorinox knives.

I’ve also had people try to tell me blade rap on brass doesn’t damage the edge because brass is softer than steel… but I think those people aren’t as persnickety as I am about my edges. I don’t cut on aluminum camping plates, either.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Yeah, throw me in to the “all my SAKs have blade rap” category. I think most people don’t notice it, but I sure do. I don’t consider it an imperfection, rather Victorinox providing the most blade they can fit in the tool. I always slowly lower the large blade in my Victorinox knives.

I’ve also had people try to tell me blade rap on brass doesn’t damage the edge because brass is softer than steel… but I think those people aren’t as persnickety as I am about my edges. I don’t cut on aluminum camping plates, either.
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I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who experiences blade tip rap on all of my SAKs. Whenever I've mentioned it on the forum previously, I've gotten responses mostly along the lines of "I've never seen that on any of my SAKs; sounds like you got a bad apple". I think the majority of people either don't realize that it happens on their SAKs, or else they don't care. I'm OCD about my edges, especially the tip which is the most difficult part (for me) to sharpen without altering the shape of the tip. I love that pointy Victorinox tip shape.

Hashishiin said:
I don't like to quickly close ANY blade with a backspacer, not backlocks, nothing. Fancy modern locks are the only knives I don't close two handed.
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Same. Quite apart from the SAK blade rap issue, it's just plain safer to maintain control of the blade at all times until it's closed. Otherwise, it's so easy to snap the blade closed onto your fingers.
 
SAKsRCool said:
Everytime I see Felix snap shut his 91mm main blade a cringe a bit. I've been guiding mine closed for years ever since I noticed the tip damage.
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I noticed the same thing and experienced the same involuntary response. He might actually use and sharpen his enough that it no longer makes contact, but I doubt it.
 
hsherzfeld said:
Whenever I've mentioned it on the forum previously, I've gotten responses mostly along the lines of "I've never seen that on any of my SAKs
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I can probably be lumped in that group, and apologize if I came across as a jerk…that was never my intention, but honestly, I’ve looked mine over thoroughly, and it has never really been an issue for me.
Aside from old farmer I bought used my SAK don’t seem to suffer from rap. (not that it’s much of an issue a little sharpening won’t cure anyway. 😉)

Lee
 
Lee D said:
I can probably be lumped in that group, and apologize if I came across as a jerk…that was never my intention, but honestly, I’ve looked mine over thoroughly, and it has never really been an issue for me.
Aside from old farmer I bought used my SAK don’t seem to suffer from rap. (not that it’s much of an issue a little sharpening won’t cure anyway. 😉)

Lee
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Maybe there’s something to it! Now that I’ve experienced it a couple times, I don’t really take chances. Maybe I’d be surprised.

But if you ever talk to me like that again…
;)🤣
 
I have four SAKs laying here on my desk, and one in my pocket. And a 5x lighted magnifier on my desk. I have looked at all of them through the magnifier, and found no blade rap. None of the SAKs are Bantams, if that matters. I wouldn't really care if I had, because I don't use the cutting blades on my SAKs. I have other knives I prefer for cutting. So until someone makes a law that will only let me carry one knife, I will use one of my other knives for my cutting tasks. Which one depends on what I need to cut.

O.B.
 
Old Biker said:
None of the SAKs are Bantams, if that matters.
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You're bringing up something that I haven't considered.
I find that the versions without back tools (i.e. recruit, bantam, etc) have stronger springs than and bigger blades than 84mm versions with back tools.
More momentum, in theory, increases the likelihood of overtravel.
 
EngrSorenson said:
You're bringing up something that I haven't considered.
I find that the versions without back tools (i.e. recruit, bantam, etc) have stronger springs than and bigger blades than 84mm versions with back tools.
More momentum, in theory, increases the likelihood of overtravel.
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Well…if he doesn't use his main blades…then maybe that’s the reason. That’s the only time I’ve found knives with no rap mark on the small spacer or adjacent liner…when the knife is new or the blades unused. Even then, I have found the mark in brand new knives. They’re tested for function at the factory before they’re boxed.

I have lots of Victorinox knives…and I’ve never found a used 84mm or 91mm without a mark from the main blade.
 
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