Ontario sp53 knife handle slipping off

StrangeDaze

StrangeDaze

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Mar 20, 2016
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I have had this knife for a little over a month maybe and it is a great chopper, absolutely love the knife, but I was just doing som chopping on some fir and noticed the Keaton handle seems to have slipped back a bit ( I could see a gap where the squared edges of the tang began, which used to be flush with ththe handle). I stabbed it into a log to try and slip it forward and it kind of worked, I can't see the edge on the spine side but I can still see the gap on the blade side. Is this normal or cause for concern? Should I keep using it or Should I send it in for warranty? I cant seem to get it to budge either way now but after some more chopping will it come loose again?
 
It is likely that what is happening is also what happens sometimes on some of the more "open" see-through Busse slab pins: On the Ontario Kraton handle, the only pin is at the back, it is brass and broadly opened for the lanyard hole, and if that loses its shape, it could be that this is what is allowing the whole handle to move backwards...

I'd stretch the rubber by bending the rubber lower guard to create a gap to the tang/ricasso, but especially try to reach as much "into" the tang's opened "stretched space" as possible, and then fill that innermost gap with crazy glue gel and let a bit of overflow happen when you release the flexible guard...

You may initially inject extra-fluid crazy glue ("regular" or "advanced") so that the glue may flow all the way up into the tang's space... This might work better...

Crazy Glue in its "gel" format is somewhat resistant to vibrations because it has some thickness to absorb them, and the rubber handle will contribute greatly to this: What you need is great adhesion. You can try black silicone sealant too, if a "cleaner" look is wanted near the guard... I think crazy glue is somewhat more tenacious when squeezed thinner, but it depend on what is going on at the juncture...

The trouble with the bent brass pin at the back is that it is surrounded by rubber, but the layer is thin at the back, so hammering on it to straighten it and eliminate the gaps at the front of the handle, then flooding with gel crazy glue into the tang area, might help prevent future sliding of the handle...

This "bending backward" of the pin could be caused by chopping the wood with the backslope of the blade's "flare": This would create a pulling "shock" on the handle at each impact: Try to hit more "outward" towards the actual peak of the blade's flare maybe?

Gaston
 
Thanks gaston. And yes I do hit with the back slope, I'll try to hit more with the belly. I contacted Ontario and they sent me a shipping label, said they'd take care of it. I think I'll send it in and see if it happens again, if it does after adjusting where I'm chopping, do you think I could have a wood handle made for it? The Kraton is alright but I think I'd prefer wood.
 
A wood handle sounds difficult with a stick tang...: A job for a pro...

It definitely would require a professional knife customizer and a strip down with re-finishing, compared to just buying scales on a full tang knife... It would not solve completely the issue that the whole handle is held by just one hollowed out brass pin: That pin should probably be replaced with a stainless steel equivalent, or an almost solid one...

A better design would simply have made a wide "slot" on the tang to prevent the Kraton from sliding... I am always amazed how such simple things are skipped as if the additional effort was insuperable, but then it is a below $80 knife...

Gaston
 
I would definitely have a professional do it if it comes to that. And that's a good point about the hollowed pin (more of a grommet really), I don't really need a hollow pin for a lanyard for the simple fact I never use a lanyard. If I do have a handle made I'd hav a solid pin put on( or maybe they could add one toward the top, I don't know I'd have to ask around). And yes that's a pretty silly thing to overlook. The handle is a little bigger than I'd like anyway and the bird beak kind of grabs me sometimes, not enough to change it if it works (why fix what's not broken) but if it comes down to it it may work out for the best.
 
So far so good on customer service though. I've never had to deal with Ontario before and I am very pleased to see they really stand behind their product. They didn't even ask any questions. It could be different if you have blade breakage but I hope never to find out.
 
They read the forums here and respond straight from their HQ :cool: here. They don't care what much if its a problem with their knife they will make it good.

I had a SP-53 saga of bad blade grinds twice... but they stepped up their QC a lot and when I finally got my second set of replacement SP-53s, they were perfect! They let me have a choice of any knife from their site for the inconvenience! I got the newer ones after their QC improved and they were worth the wait. My sister long long long long very long term "Borrowed" one. I use mine for when I go do dedicated trail tyrannical botanical hacking and slashing. Its a great chopper, my usual general woods carry is an SP-51 for expeditions and such, I find the straight blade is easier to touch up in the field and its still the same when batoning wood.
 
One of the nice things about Bladeforums is that when I'm busy (SHOT Show prep) and am not able to come on here and answer questions, someone jumps in for me. Glad to hear that customer service took care of this one with no problems - not that I'd expect there to be any.

It's not just that we've stepped up our game in QC - it's that we continue to do so. Toooj and his team implement changes every day that move us in the right direction. Even if it was possible to have perfect QC, once you got there, it'd be time to start adapting to new technology and information to stay that way.
 
OntarioKnifeCompany said:
One of the nice things about Bladeforums is that when I'm busy (SHOT Show prep) and am not able to come on here and answer questions, someone jumps in for me. Glad to hear that customer service took care of this one with no problems - not that I'd expect there to be any.

It's not just that we've stepped up our game in QC - it's that we continue to do so. Toooj and his team implement changes every day that move us in the right direction. Even if it was possible to have perfect QC, once you got there, it'd be time to start adapting to new technology and information to stay that way.
Click to expand...
Excellent customer service, very quick to respond and nice to deal with. Just got my replacement today. I was expecting to get my old one back with a new handle but this was a nice surprise. I love this knife and hope the handle stays on this time. I think it will, it looks like maybe it's got some epoxy or something, feel snug. Will update after some use. I just had a shoulder surgery so it will be a few weeks before I can chop anything :/
 
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