K20 | Picture Gallery

If it ever fails for any reason short of intentionally breaking it, I will repair it, replace it, or refund it. But, with that said, please be aware that the K20 was designed as a weapon and not a camping tool.

If you were doing something particularly stupid, that repair might be returning to you a tanto...
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
If it ever fails for any reason short of intentionally breaking it, I will repair it, replace it, or refund it. But, with that said, please be aware that the K20 was designed as a weapon and not a camping tool.

If you were doing something particularly stupid, that repair might be returning to you a tanto...
Click to expand...
Deal!
 
How often does that warranty, on any CPK, actually get used? Ever? Maybe just reshaping a tip occasionally? You did replace some screws for my Teklok one time. It was appreciated. But seriously has anyone really had one fail?
 
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Mendoman said:
How often does that warranty, on any CPK, actually get used? Ever? Maybe just reshaping a tip occasionally? You did replace some screws for my Teklok one time. It was appreciated. But seriously has anyone really had on fail?
Click to expand...

To my memory...

We repaired or replaced a light chopper that was damaged in a car accident.

We have replaced 5 sheaths in our company history that I am aware of.

Somebody stripped the threads in their aluminum standoffs used to hold the scales down. This would be moot now that we have moved to steel.

I replaced a DEK1 because someone felt the engraving was too light. Man I just can't believe I did him like that. *shame*

To my memory. The only CPK that has ever broken and failed and was replaced under warranty was a Vanadis 4 Extra competition racing chopper knife wielded by an inexperienced cutter who was using it improperly and slapping it from the side instead of driving it in with the edge aligned with the blade. I know this because the knife had very little use and there were tons of dents in the primary grinds where it had been struck at an angle until it broke. I closely evaluated the break and performed destructive testing on the remnants of the knife and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with that knife except it was too fragile for that particular user for that particular use. That is the only CPK that I can think of that has ever broke that wasn't broken here by one of us doing development work.

There was a field knife that was returned under warranty for poor edge retention because he had been using a steel tailgate as a cutting board and it had lost the keen edge where it was no longer suitable for skinning game due to repeated and extended contact against a steel "cutting board" surface.

There was a fellow that had a rolled edge that he thought was indicative of a problem with the heat treat but I took the sheath apart and there was trash in the sheath rubbing against the edge in that spot. If I recall correctly it was an orange brown color that did not match any abrasive that we or the sheathmaker uses. I think he had trash in the sheath that was rubbing against the edge in that spot. I took the sheath apart and found the trash. I subjected that knife to extensive destructive testing and edge retention evaluation and there was nothing wrong with it. I took some video of the destructive testing and documented the edge retention of that knife but never did anything with it.

We have made many thousands of knives in our company history. Our quality is nearly perfect. We have fewer failures than the shipping companies by a significant margin. The number of mistakes that have made it out of here, that I am aware of, could be counted on one hand and the only knife that has ever failed in use was a race knife in the hands of an inexperienced user. Ben and Dan both run the same race knives even thinner with no problem, but they are very skilled.

I don't have the best memory and I'm sure I'm missing some failures here. But no, there has never been a single Delta 3V knife that ever failed anybody who wasn't intentionally trying to break it. And those are people who I gave a knife to for them to try to break it. Ben has broken a 10-inch chopper after I told him to try to break it. It was an extended and difficult process and it required tools but he eventually succeeded. My friend Jared has broken a knife in a vise. I have personally broken an HDFK wailing on it against steel with a 4 pound hammer. They can be broken if you put your mind to it. But not with just your bare hands.

I am not trying to make indestructible knives. I'm trying to make knives that will never fail you in any kind of remotely reasonable use that cut well and hold an edge well. The only knife that I have ever sold someone that broke was not Delta 3V, and it was a race knife in the hands of someone who is inexperienced with their use. I am trying to avoid the trap of making these extremely thick heavy pry bars that don't cut well in order to have the "ultimate indestructible knife". The Shiv and the HDMC come pretty close, and the SDFK is not far from that, but our pursuit is high performance. And durability is only one facet of that equation.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
To my memory...

We repaired or replaced a light chopper that was damaged in a car accident.

We have replaced 5 sheaths in our company history that I am aware of.

Somebody stripped the threads in their aluminum standoffs used to hold the scales down. This would be moot now that we have moved to steel.

I replaced a DEK1 because someone felt the engraving was too light. Man I just can't believe I did him like that. *shame*

To my memory. The only CPK that has ever broken and failed and was replaced under warranty was a Vanadis 4 Extra competition racing chopper knife wielded by an inexperienced cutter who was using it improperly and slapping it from the side instead of driving it in with the edge aligned with the blade. I know this because the knife had very little use and there were tons of dents in the primary grinds where it had been struck at an angle until it broke. I closely evaluated the break and performed destructive testing on the remnants of the knife and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with that knife except it was too fragile for that particular user for that particular use. That is the only CPK that I can think of that has ever broke that wasn't broken here by one of us doing development work.

There was a field knife that was returned under warranty for poor edge retention because he had been using a steel tailgate as a cutting board and it had lost the keen edge where it was no longer suitable for skinning game due to repeated and extended contact against a steel "cutting board" surface.

There was a fellow that had a rolled edge that he thought was indicative of a problem with the heat treat but I took the sheath apart and there was trash in the sheath rubbing against the edge in that spot. If I recall correctly it was an orange brown color that did not match any abrasive that we or the sheathmaker uses. I think he had trash in the sheath that was rubbing against the edge in that spot. I took the sheath apart and found the trash. I subjected that knife to extensive destructive testing and edge retention evaluation and there was nothing wrong with it. I took some video of the destructive testing and documented the edge retention of that knife but never did anything with it.

We have made many thousands of knives in our company history. Our quality is nearly perfect. We have fewer failures than the shipping companies by a significant margin. The number of mistakes that have made it out of here, that I am aware of, could be counted on one hand and the only knife that has ever failed in use was a race knife in the hands of an inexperienced user. Ben and Dan both run the same race knives even thinner with no problem, but they are very skilled.

I don't have the best memory and I'm sure I'm missing some failures here. But no, there has never been a single Delta 3V knife that ever failed anybody who wasn't intentionally trying to break it. And those are people who I gave a knife to for them to try to break it. Ben has broken a 10-inch chopper after I told him to try to break it. It was an extended and difficult process and it required tools but he eventually succeeded. My friend Jared has broken a knife in a vise. I have personally broken an HDFK wailing on it against steel with a 4 pound hammer. They can be broken if you put your mind to it. But not with just your bare hands.

I am not trying to make indestructible knives. I'm trying to make knives that will never fail you in any kind of remotely reasonable use that cut well and hold an edge well. The only knife that I have ever sold someone that broke was not Delta 3V, and it was a race knife in the hands of someone who is inexperienced with their use. I am trying to avoid the trap of making these extremely thick heavy pry bars that don't cut well in order to have the "ultimate indestructible knife". The Shiv and the HDMC come pretty close, and the SDFK is not far from that, but our pursuit is high performance. And durability is only one facet of that equation.
Click to expand...
That is very impressive, but not surprising. Thanks for taking the time to answer.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
To my memory...

We repaired or replaced a light chopper that was damaged in a car accident.

We have replaced 5 sheaths in our company history that I am aware of.

Somebody stripped the threads in their aluminum standoffs used to hold the scales down. This would be moot now that we have moved to steel.

I replaced a DEK1 because someone felt the engraving was too light. Man I just can't believe I did him like that. *shame*

To my memory. The only CPK that has ever broken and failed and was replaced under warranty was a Vanadis 4 Extra competition racing chopper knife wielded by an inexperienced cutter who was using it improperly and slapping it from the side instead of driving it in with the edge aligned with the blade. I know this because the knife had very little use and there were tons of dents in the primary grinds where it had been struck at an angle until it broke. I closely evaluated the break and performed destructive testing on the remnants of the knife and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with that knife except it was too fragile for that particular user for that particular use. That is the only CPK that I can think of that has ever broke that wasn't broken here by one of us doing development work.

There was a field knife that was returned under warranty for poor edge retention because he had been using a steel tailgate as a cutting board and it had lost the keen edge where it was no longer suitable for skinning game due to repeated and extended contact against a steel "cutting board" surface.

There was a fellow that had a rolled edge that he thought was indicative of a problem with the heat treat but I took the sheath apart and there was trash in the sheath rubbing against the edge in that spot. If I recall correctly it was an orange brown color that did not match any abrasive that we or the sheathmaker uses. I think he had trash in the sheath that was rubbing against the edge in that spot. I took the sheath apart and found the trash. I subjected that knife to extensive destructive testing and edge retention evaluation and there was nothing wrong with it. I took some video of the destructive testing and documented the edge retention of that knife but never did anything with it.

We have made many thousands of knives in our company history. Our quality is nearly perfect. We have fewer failures than the shipping companies by a significant margin. The number of mistakes that have made it out of here, that I am aware of, could be counted on one hand and the only knife that has ever failed in use was a race knife in the hands of an inexperienced user. Ben and Dan both run the same race knives even thinner with no problem, but they are very skilled.

I don't have the best memory and I'm sure I'm missing some failures here. But no, there has never been a single Delta 3V knife that ever failed anybody who wasn't intentionally trying to break it. And those are people who I gave a knife to for them to try to break it. Ben has broken a 10-inch chopper after I told him to try to break it. It was an extended and difficult process and it required tools but he eventually succeeded. My friend Jared has broken a knife in a vise. I have personally broken an HDFK wailing on it against steel with a 4 pound hammer. They can be broken if you put your mind to it. But not with just your bare hands.

I am not trying to make indestructible knives. I'm trying to make knives that will never fail you in any kind of remotely reasonable use that cut well and hold an edge well. The only knife that I have ever sold someone that broke was not Delta 3V, and it was a race knife in the hands of someone who is inexperienced with their use. I am trying to avoid the trap of making these extremely thick heavy pry bars that don't cut well in order to have the "ultimate indestructible knife". The Shiv and the HDMC come pretty close, and the SDFK is not far from that, but our pursuit is high performance. And durability is only one facet of that equation.
Click to expand...

This was an awesome read

Thank you and thumbs way up!
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
To my memory. The only CPK that has ever broken and failed and was replaced under warranty was a Vanadis 4 Extra competition racing chopper knife wielded by an inexperienced cutter who was using it improperly and slapping it from the side
Click to expand...
You've never heard of the slap chop?!
I9DYyxy.png
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
If it ever fails for any reason short of intentionally breaking it, I will repair it, replace it, or refund it. But, with that said, please be aware that the K20 was designed as a weapon and not a camping tool.

If you were doing something particularly stupid, that repair might be returning to you a tanto...
Click to expand...
I have three. Since we've established how to get a tanto made, what sort of sword failure d'you think might result in an extra ten inches of blade?

Asking for a friend.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I replaced a DEK1 because someone felt the engraving was too light. Man I just can't believe I did him like that. *shame*
Click to expand...
I happened to come across the thread where you talked about this recently, and am frankly amazed at both the complaint AND that you indulged it.

[However, it also made me realize that every CPK I've ever received has been defective, and I shall be invoicing you for the cumulative refunds shortly!!!! I will not be returning the knives themselves, as I cannot, in all good conscience, guarantee that postal workers will not be exposed to the risks inherent in such egregiously unreliable etching.]
 
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Nathan the Machinist said:
If it ever fails for any reason short of intentionally breaking it, I will repair it, replace it, or refund it. But, with that said, please be aware that the K20 was designed as a weapon and not a camping tool.

If you were doing something particularly stupid, that repair might be returning to you a tanto...
Click to expand...
tanto, or Tanto? :oops:
 
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