Koster Survivor Issues: Chipping

Joined
Jan 4, 2014
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Hi I was cutting small branches, 2 inches in diameter larger ones, with koster survivor. I cleaned the green wood just cut with a chainsaw. Just finished work, I put the koster in an old stump, half rotten, to take off the gloves. The first shot is not entered, the second I heard a noise, the blade had just disintegrated like glass. Only to have it stuffed into a trunk, with a fairly normal shot to be honest. This was the third time I have used the koster. Goes back to a run of before 2010 I think, in A2, I took it by another Italian collector who kept it in only collection, never used.

I tried to find the two pieces of chipping, but unfortunately accomplice the night came and the large amount of wood chips and leaves on the ground, I was able to recover only the largest piece, I lost the little one. It recovered the piece still looks sharp, not bent, with very fine grain. Probably the fracture started in the middle between the two chipping. has impressed me negatively the feeling of shattered glass when I gave the blow that broke the blade. I am 100% sure that the cause is an incorrect heat treatment, or a flawed piece, I never hurt a knife of this bill so easily.

So I appeal to Mr. koster, I also contacted via his website, and ask for warranty replacement of what seems obviously an unfortunate piece and I think an isolated case. I have other koster knives, others have used it, never had any problem, they are all quality pieces.

Expect to be contacted soonby Mr. koster, meanwhile thanks for the help

Here some pictures of the damage





You can see the piece of the blade in the wood







 
***inflammatory content removed...copy/pasted for record-keeping sake***
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Drakul Mihawk - My goodness, I have only had that happen twice. Once with a Monster Nessie and now this time with a Survivor. Considering the 5000+ knives that I've sent out so far, I'm gonna call this a bad heat-treat for sure.

A long time ago I was chopping through some tree branches that should have been easy to go through, but instead, I ended up with a chipped up blade much like your own. I contacted the maker and a replacement was sent. I felt bad because I learned later that I had bad chopping technique and was letting my wrist twist after impact. The only reason I bring this up is because it looked just like your picture.

Fortunately, I happen to have some Survivor blades already cut out and I will gladly send one to you free of charge as a replacement.

I can't seem to find an email from you - might it have come from a different name?

Anyway, if you can contact me via PM or try emailing again, please send me your address and I will get a replacement tossed in with my next glue-up rotation.

Again, I apologize for the blade failure - thanks for letting me know!
Dan
 
Here is the stack headed out to Peter's for heat-treat:

View attachment 676344

You might be able to see that I no longer grind the Survivors all the way up to the top and I do leave the edge thicker now. I don't make them very often, but will gladly get you your replacement as quickly as possible.

Thanks!
Dan
 
Hello Mr. koster, I wrote an e mail for you, thanks to blade-forum.

Thank you very much for its replacement under warranty offer, an offer which I gladly accept. I knew I could count on a professional, when I bought his knives. You know how long I have to wait for a replacement, approximately? I am also glad to know that already has an almost ready solution, I am very pleased because these days I had a chipping on another of my chopper, a viper carnera. Which it is always full flat, high and wide blade, 9-inch, d2, and sincerely I began to think that maybe it could be a full-flat bevel not really suitable for such work. A friend of mine always says that the best grind is saber, with convex edge, like axes. It could also be right, but the survivor broke too easily too not to think of a defect on the hardening process.

My email and my address are on the text. Thank you again for your help, let me know if you have read the message and if it has all the data.
 
Re Viper Canera: D2 is much less tough than A2 and a strange choice for a chopper, not that one could tell from the many choppers being put out there in sub-optimal steel. Italian companies are also making choppers of 440C. :(
 
Beautifully handled Koster. 👍 That's very cool.

Thanks for the tip about twisting the wrist when chopping after impact. Now that I think of it, I also need to pay attention to my skills when chopping.
 
Drakul Mihawk - I got your email. We can take things from there. Thanks!

Krav - Thanks! :thumbup:


The first few batches of Survivors were in A2 and while the heat-treat was good, I was so used to being able to grind thinner (as with 3V) a few snuck by me. Fortunately, the other two were caught by the end-user and returned/fixed/reground. This is the first Survivor I've ever had chip-out. I stopped making any more knives out of A2 because the heart-ache-potential was too much for me. This next batch is O-1 which has great quality control during manufacturing and the heat-treat is much more forgiving. Additionally, the new design will keep it from being ground too thin.
I'm certainly not going to blame Peter's Heat Treat for the failure...I will take the blame myself. I clearly ground it too thin for the type of steel it is.

I'm hopeful Drakul Mihawk will like the replacement. It may take a while to get to him since I still have to send these out and with Drakul Mihawk being in Italy, shipping will be slow. Have patience and I will make sure everything is taken care of properly.

Cheers!
 
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