knife damage

[tommy11]

I got a Dajo survivor knife the other day..there's a couple of reviews of it on here.

Anyway I was kind of batoning a piece of kindling wood that had a knot in it and when I finished I noticed the edge of the blade is slightly bent now....must have hit the knot.

Does this mean it's a crappy knife like cheap steel or was it simply misuse on my part?


Sorry no pics.

 

[Hoodoo]

Thanks for this field test report. I don't think I'll be buying one.

BTW, how hard were you mashing it?

 

[Retired Member southey]

Probably misuse, pics would help though dude, were you really going at it?

 

[Toddy]

Crappy steel I'd say.
I've even battoned with an opinel and it didn't cause it any damage.

Toddy

 

[sandbender]

"...Thanks for this field test report. I don't think I'll be buying one..."

"...I noticed the edge of the blade is slightly bent now..."

Bent, as in the blade edge has folded over?

 

[tommy11]

Yeah I was really going at it bashing the blade down I would say....

It was a tough bit of wood...

 

[tommy11]

Yep the sharp edge of blade is slightly bent off to one side...

It's made of some chinese steel says 7Cr17MoWV which i have heard contains tungsten...

 

[Graham_S]

I'd go with misuse.
Once you've got the initial split in wood, use a wedge to baton the wood apart.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I damaged one of my knives like that - hit a knot but I kept hammering away and bent it.
I'd say I was guilty of misuse.

 

[tommy11]

The knife is still perfectly useable...so I'm not too bothered.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Have you tried bending it back?

 

[sandbender]

The knife is still perfectly useable...so I'm not too bothered.

Probably easily fixed (depending on how much of the edge is bent) and a lesson learned. As Graham suggests, if the wood looks like it will put up a fight, use a wedge.

 

[Hoodoo]

Yep the sharp edge of blade is slightly bent off to one side...

It's made of some chinese steel says 7Cr17MoWV which i have heard contains tungsten...

Did it also come with a Chinese heat treat? Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances eh.

 

[ged]

Yep the sharp edge of blade is slightly bent off to one side...

It's made of some chinese steel says 7Cr17MoWV which i have heard contains tungsten...

Cr Chromium
Mo Molybdenum
W Tungsten
V Vanadium

Of course anyone can engrave or print a label on anything, that says anything. The Chinese, or so I'm told, frequently do.

It does sound like you were being a bit rough with it, but on the bright side you seem to be taking it with good grace. I'd probably tap it gently with a big hammer on an anvil to see if I could straighten it back out, but if it still cuts things and it doesn't seem unsafe in use it's no big deal.

 

[sandbender]

"...I'd probably tap it gently with a big hammer on an anvil to see if I could straighten it back out, but if it still cuts things and it doesn't seem unsafe in use it's no big deal..."

I think tommy11 is saying that the edge has folded, not that the blade has bent.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Stories like this make me worry about the abuse i give my main knife- including a lot of battoning. I suppose being a fairly thick blade (a fallkniven S1), it has more of a wedge effect, so the actual edge might have an easier time. Still, i suppose i ought to be more careful.

OP- what were you battoning down into? if it was a hard surface (or into the ground with stones)- maybe that could be the explanation? (or even if you were truncating rather than battoning into one of those surfaces?)

 

[ged]

I think tommy11 is saying that the edge has folded, not that the blade has bent.

Yes, I understand. The same thing happened to an early FKMD Parang XL of mine. I straightened it out reasonably well on the anvil but Heinnie replaced it with an improved version anyway.

 

[bilmo-p5]

I've even battoned with an opinel and it didn't cause it any damage.

You were lucky, Mary. I battened an Oppy years ago, and whilst the blade was ok, it bu99ered the pivot.

 

[ged]

...I've even battoned with an opinel and it didn't cause it any damage.

You were lucky, Mary ...

I think Mary would say she's careful.

 

[Graham_S]

You were lucky, Mary. I battened an Oppy years ago, and whilst the blade was ok, it bu99ered the pivot.

That's what happens with poor technique.
If you put the forces into the blade, and not the handle, and use wedges, you'll be fine.