Will Kershaw replace a broken blade in a steel they no longer use?

[greyling]

I have a kershaw knockout in elmax. It has a crack from the thumbstud up to the spine from where they press fit the thumbstuds in. I had a regular 14c28n knockout with the same problem that they replaced the blade on. BUT, to my knowledge they don't use elmax on this knife any more. If I send it in for replacement or work, would they replace the blade? And if so, what steel would they use? They are making some dealer exclusive m390 or 20cv versions. (as an aside, the knockout is a much better knife with the thumbstuds, well, knockout out.)

I could call kershaw back, but they didn't answer my call the first 2 times.

 

[Ajack60]

The best thing to do is to call them, they may have some blades reserved for warranty work.

 

[afishhunter]

One of three possibilities, is my guess:
(1) They replace the knife,
(2) They claim you abused the knife, so it isn't covered by warranty, and it will cost $xx.xx or $xxx.xx more to repair or replace it, than it would to buy another.
or
(3) They send it back with a note/letter stating they can't find the problem.

 

[JokersFaceLifter]

It has a crack from the thumbstud up to the spine from where they press fit the thumbstuds in.

apologies for the intrusive question, but how did it crack?

 

[knarfeng]

Due to the covid, you will likely have better luck contacting them through their web site.
See:
https://kershaw.kaiusa.com/covid-19-response

Here's what they say your options are:
https://kershaw.kaiusa.com/warranty

Essentially, if the damage is not covered under the warranty, and they have a spare blade, they will fix it for what seems to me to be a fair price.

 

[greyling]

apologies for the intrusive question, but how did it crack?

My assumption is that when they press fit the thumb studs into the blade sometimes the studs are oversized and it cracks to Blade. Or introduces enough stress into the knife that the blade cracks easily. I suppose it could also be a bad heat treat. this is not all that uncommon with Kershaw and ZT according to Google.
This is not my knife https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/kod-my-kershaw-knockout.1404247/ but it cracked the same way that my first knockout did.

 

[JokersFaceLifter]

My assumption is that when they press fit the thumb studs into the blade sometimes the studs are oversized and it cracks to Blade. Or introduces enough stress into the knife that the blade cracks easily. I suppose it could also be a bad heat treat. this is not all that uncommon with Kershaw and ZT according to Google.
This is not my knife https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/kod-my-kershaw-knockout.1404247/ but it cracked the same way that my first knockout did.

seems unusual but anything is possible i suppose, might be a bad heat treatment, but I'm no metallurgy expert