Blade separated from handle

jbblack

jbblack

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Apr 8, 2017
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18
Hi folks,
I find myself the owner of this Cold Steel Tanto. The blade is separated from the handle. Any suggestions on how to fix this?
Many thanks
 

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For what it's worth, I can't find any mention of a time frame in Cold Steel's warranty literature. Can't hurt to give them a call and ask about it :)

~Chip
 
Cold Steel is lifetime warranty against defects in workmanship under normal use. I'd say they would probably cover that, it appears to be a defect in workmanship. There is no time limitation.
 
curious...what task or chore made it separate? if ya dont mind educating us? thanks.
 
Unsure. Son had it for a bit. There is almost no wear on the blade or handle. Never abused.
 
Can you turn the pommel? These knives have threaded tangs that the pommel screws onto. It looks like the pommel may have unscrewed a bit.

tantotang_zpssnqcxhco.png
 
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Believe they changed from brass to stainless fittings in 1993, so at least 25 years old. I had one that the Kraton handle had been removed and I had a micarta handle put on, but that was years ago and I can't remember how the guard was held in place, but it's got to be more than just the Kraton. Either it is press fit, or if its like the TrailMaster, they tack weld pieces behind the guard.
 
jlauffer said:
...I can't remember how the guard was held in place, but it's got to be more than just the Kraton. Either it is press fit, or if its like the TrailMaster, they tack weld pieces behind the guard.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you've got a point there. I'm not sure either.
 
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Just came across this on the Special Projects website.

How is Kraton® attached to the handles of Cold Steel knives?
To the best of our knowledge, Cold Steel was the first knife company in the U.S. to use Kraton® for the handle of a knife. Obviously we were correct in our choice of this material, because over the last 18 years almost every major manufacturer has adopted it for knife handles. There are two main ways to build a Kraton® handle.
The first is to make a "driven-on" handle. This is where the Kraton® handle is heated up to expand it slightly, then driven on top the tang of the blade. Once in place it can be held there by a ferrule or a bolt.
The second method is to make a "shot-on" handle. In this type of construction, the liquid Kraton® material is injected under heat and pressure around the tang of the blade where it hardens. Once it has hardened it is permanently attached to the tang

Still waiting to hear back from Cold Steel
 
The issue isn't so much how the Kraton is attached to the tang, but how the finger guard is held in place. I have seen a few Tantos for sale on eBay with gaps between the blade and guard like yours, and I can only think that either the knife/guard hit something, or something hit the guard, hard enough to drive the guard backwards. If the guard was only held in place by the Kraton, which is flexible, it should basically return to its original position after an impact, or very close to it. Since that's not the case, it suggests it's some sort of press fit, and it needs to be re-pressed back into place.

It appears that the new Nightfall Series Tantos still use the same Kraton/Kray-Ex handles as the previous models, so they may be able to correct the guard position and then put a new handle on it (or maybe even do it without having to replace the handle). If for some reason they can't help you, I would attempt to push the guard forward back into place and see what happens.
 
jlauffer said:
The issue isn't so much how the Kraton is attached to the tang, but how the finger guard is held in place. I have seen a few Tantos for sale on eBay with gaps between the blade and guard like yours, and I can only think that either the knife/guard hit something, or something hit the guard, hard enough to drive the guard backwards. If the guard was only held in place by the Kraton, which is flexible, it should basically return to its original position after an impact, or very close to it. Since that's not the case, it suggests it's some sort of press fit, and it needs to be re-pressed back into place.

It appears that the new Nightfall Series Tantos still use the same Kraton/Kray-Ex handles as the previous models, so they may be able to correct the guard position and then put a new handle on it (or maybe even do it without having to replace the handle). If for some reason they can't help you, I would attempt to push the guard forward back into place and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will give that a go.
 
Last year Cold Steel told me it would be $50.00 to replace the Kraton on a Magnum Tanto IX.
 
I could deal with that. A custom handle in micarts would run about 250. I have contacted CS and am waiting for a reply. Thanks.
 
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