bend not bad or bad

[dingy]

my initial thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/okc-knives-bend.1544771/

few days ago , i tryed bend my knives on purpose with my bare hands.
and some of them bend like noodle and there is no sign of flex , and never get spring back to true.
while others flex well like real sping.

the knives easily bend and never spring back are : my two okc499s, kabar1250,kabar mk1;
the knives relatively hard to bend , but i can bend with my human power and never spring back are :m3, sp2, sp6,kabar1217(usmc);
the knives i can bend and have flexiblity are: okc machetes , okc 498, kabar 1249.

and the man Toooj who work in OKC told me that the bending knives are not bad.
so , i am not a knife expert in any means , i wanna hear what you think .

ps: i do not wanna get replacement now , just want to know the truth about my knives.

 

[gonebad395]

Very hard to understand what you are saying.
Are you asking if some knives flex?

 

[dingy]

Very hard to understand what you are saying.
Are you asking if some knives flex?

I used my bare hands , try to bend my knives , in a tentative and controlled way,
and the results are not my expectation.
some knives crooked badly , and there is no flex ,just bend like noodle .
In question knives are : okc499 ,sp1, sp2 , sp6 and kabar 1217/1250/mk1.

and there are some knives can flex like spring , does not crooked.
they are : okc498 , okc machetes , kabar1249 kukri machete.

 

[Hickory n steel]

My opinion is that the tangs on these knives are somewhat soft, did you bend them across your knee or just in your hands ?
I do not think they would be likely bend on you during normal proper use, so I have no clue why you tried to bend them in the first place. ( Not insulting you just don't understand why )

 

[Gvard]

Obviously, the tang hasn't been hardened. And since it's a stick tang, it's relatively easy to bend. I'd rather have it spring tempered. Seems like that's just how okc and kabar does their ht so you'll have to deal with it.

 

[gonebad395]

is hard to you ?
I used my bare hands , try to bend my knives , in a tentative and controlled way,
and the results are not my expectation.
some knives crooked badly , and there is no flex ,just bend like noodle .

omg , i am not a native english speaker.

Ok now that you edited I understand your post.
Second I wasn’t being mean about not understanding what you were talking about it was hard to read. Please don’t be offended posting on a American forum and English not being native language and being misunderstood

 

[dingy]

My opinion is that the tangs on these knives are somewhat soft, did you bend them across your knee or just in your hands ?
I do not think they would be likely bend on you during normal proper use, so I have no clue why you tried to bend them in the first place. ( Not insulting you just don't understand why )

i have two okc 499s , and i like both of them , just have been using one in outdoor few times.
"I do not think they would be likely bend on you during normal proper use"
yes , i do think of this .
my first try is my older 499 , i want to know how much pressure(lateral force) it can take out of curiosity , i bend it in my hands , not across knee , and i am surprised at how easy to do this.
when i hold the crooked 499 in my hands , i thought i maybe a defective , sooooo , i tryed another 499 i have , and it bend in the same way.

Curiosity Kills The Cat.
you may guess what followed .

 

[TheEdge01]

If the blades are real thin, I am talking about filet knife thin, it could possibly be made out of some type of spring steel. Some machetes are made out of a spring steel that will bend so far under lateral pressure. The knives that bend and don’t return straight sounds like a softer grade of stainless steel or one that just isn’t hardened enough. I have a filet knife that bends and doesn’t straighten back correctly but it is made from a softer stainless steel. You asked if this is bad? Well, I don’t recommend intentionally bending knife blades, especially if it wasn’t designed to undergo lateral force. So I’m not sure if the results from what you were doing are necessarily a quality issue with your knives or a simply a result of misuse, or both.

 

[dingy]

If the blades are real thin, I am talking about filet knife thin, it could possibly be made out of some type of spring steel. Some machetes are made out of a spring steel that will bend so far under lateral pressure. The knives that bend and don’t return straight sounds like a softer grade of stainless steel or one that just isn’t hardened enough. I have a filet knife that bends and doesn’t straighten back correctly but it is made from a softer stainless steel. You asked if this is bad? Well, I don’t recommend intentionally bending knife blades, especially if it wasn’t designed to undergo lateral force. So I’m not sure if the results from what you were doing are necessarily a quality issue with your knives or a simply a result of misuse, or both.

“ it wasn’t designed to undergo lateral force”
i do not think so , man.
499 , sp1, sp2 ,sp6 , ff6 , and M3 are not designed to ordinary use , they are combat knives .
so it is resonable to assume that it was designed to undergo lateral force.
as Tooj told me that immerse line should be at middle of the tang when do salt bath , so the shoulder of tang and blade should be flexible , and this is what OKC combat knives designed for.
so i assume that the transition of tang and blade area should be very very roubust , strong and flexible .
contrary to what i have been told from OKC ,two of my 499s bending at transition of tang and blade area , and there is no ability of spring back.
It is sooo wierd that my 498 is full of flex , it does straighten back when i released force.
and if you think of in question my 499 were not bad , and they are designed for having a soft （annealing）tang is ok , and how do you think of my spring like 498 ?

 

[skyhorse]

That's a sign of quality if a knife can flex some and return to being straight when force is released.

 

[Dean51]

Okay you bent a OKC 499 on purpose. This is where most people would say maybe I should not bend knives.

Not being happy with that simple lesson you bent another OKC 499 and a SP2, Kabar USMC, Kabar Short USMC and mk1.
Then tried with out success to bend a SP5 and SP10.

Toooj gave you excellent multiple explanations as to why you got the results you did.
Toooj explained design and heat treat procedures.
The knives you bent, did what they were designed to do. In short it is better to bend than break. Breaking can be dangerous.
Since the knives functioned as designed, they will not replace deliberate damage. Read the warranty.
Toooj even explained why you could not bend the SP5 and SP10.

I think you should buy more samples of the knives you bent, then bend those. Send the whole lot in for warranty with a detailed explanation that you damaged the knives on purpose. Warranty people need a good laugh now and then.
A pic of your handy work.

 

[panoz77]

To all, the blades did not bend, the stick Tang bent at the shoulder. OKC already provided the OP with an explanation.

 

[dingy]

Okay you bent a OKC 499 on purpose. This is where most people would say maybe I should not bend knives.

Not being happy with that simple lesson you bent another OKC 499 and a SP2, Kabar USMC, Kabar Short USMC and mk1.
Then tried with out success to bend a SP5 and SP10.

Toooj gave you excellent multiple explanations as to why you got the results you did.
Toooj explained design and heat treat procedures.
The knives you bent, did what they were designed to do. In short it is better to bend than break. Breaking can be dangerous.
Since the knives functioned as designed, they will not replace deliberate damage. Read the warranty.
Toooj even explained why you could not bend the SP5 and SP10.

I think you should buy more samples of the knives you bent, then bend those. Send the whole lot in for warranty with a detailed explanation that you damaged the knives on purpose. Warranty people need a good laugh now and then.
A pic of your handy work.

my 499 does not bend like noodle and spring well.
why?
i never ask for warranty , and never ask for replacement.

 

[jbmonkey]

didnt the okc engineer already explain what and why? if ya dont like the answer maybe best to buy another brand and get knives that meet your handle bending requirements. just a thought.

 

[dingy]

To all, the blades did not bend, the stick Tang bent at the shoulder. OKC already provided the OP with an explanation.

yes Toooj already provided me an explanation , but that is not persuasive.
OKC combat knives are easily bend with my bare hand , soooooo funy.

 

[TheEdge01]

“ it wasn’t designed to undergo lateral force”
i do not think so , man.
499 , sp1, sp2 ,sp6 , ff6 , and M3 are not designed to ordinary use , they are combat knives .
so it is resonable to assume that it was designed to undergo lateral force.
as Tooj told me that immerse line should be at middle of the tang when do salt bath , so the shoulder of tang and blade should be flexible , and this is what OKC combat knives designed for.
so i assume that the transition of tang and blade area should be very very roubust , strong and flexible .
contrary to what i have been told from OKC ,two of my 499s bending at transition of tang and blade area , and there is no ability of spring back.
It is sooo wierd that my 498 is full of flex , it does straighten back when i released force.
and if you think of in question my 499 were not bad , and they are designed for having a soft （annealing）tang is ok , and how do you think of my spring like 498 ?

I agree with the earlier post that says it is a sign of quality. Just be careful no to go too far, the blade could end up permanently bent or snap on you. I made this mistake once before when trying to straighten a bent blade on an old knife.

 

[dingy]

didnt the okc engineer already explain what and why? if ya dont like the answer maybe best to buy another brand and get knives that meet your handle bending requirements. just a thought.

i share exprience on knives , that is my right as knife fan.
and i am not trying to ask for warranty , just share what i found and thought.
i post a thread here is not for Blackmail ， cause i do not want to get replacement .

being a knife fan for over 20 years , my OKC combat knives are easily roocked even in my hands exceeding my expectations .

 

[dingy]

I agree with the earlier post that says it is a sign of quality. Just be careful no to go too far, the blade could end up permanently bent or snap on you. I made this mistake once before when trying to straighten a bent blade on an old knife.

when i straighten my bent knives , i can felt that it is more easy to get back than the first time i am trying to bend .
so i assumed that it will break if i did more few times , cause the fatigue of metal.

one of knife fan told me that :
"Do You know that repeated bending of an pearlitic phase of steel that is hardenable to martensitic phase
equals cold woking and eventually will lead to micro voids / cracks and fatique fracture ?
This is going to happen at lower bending force and with less cycles (by millions)
than with hardened and tempered steel."

 

[jbmonkey]

i share exprience on knives , that is my right as knife fan.
and i am not trying to ask for warranty , just share what i found and thought.
i post a thread here is not for Blackmail ， cause i do not want to get replacement .

being a knife fan for over 20 years , and exceeding my expectations that my OKC combat knives are easily roocked .

yeah i got that. was just sharing my thoughts with you. nothing more or less. take it or leave it.

 

[SpySmasher]

I prefer to EDC knives that bend like a noodle. That way, I can carry large fixed-blades in my pocket like a fruit roll-up. I just unroll them before use.