Sorry for the OP's experience.
I didn't see anyone talk about stress risers, but the Spyderco hole creates a weakness in the blade, a stress riser where the blade wants to break. And in this case, the sharp, straight plunge line adds another stress riser that goes directly into the hole. And there's a third stress riser in the jimping. Add in a hard, brittle steel, you you have a recipe for a break.
I once had a Benchmade blade in M4, with the Spyderco hole, re-heat treated to 64 Rc. The blade was really brittle and broke under hand pressure as I was trying to get the blade to center properly.
My guess is that Spyderco decided that it would take a lot more lateral pressure than the OP described to break the knife, and that's normally true. But any little weakness in the line of break, such as an inclusion, can make these hard blades vulnerable to a break along a stress riser that is stacked with a second stress riser and yet a third stress riser, as you can see in the OP's photo below this one.
I consider three stacked stress risers on a brittle blade to be a design issue.
So, you think that what the OP reported, if true, and the way spyderco handled it is Okay? Be clear. No walls of text. Simple question.The whole idea of Spyderco not selling Maxamet going forward, to me, is ridiculous.
Should Ferarri stop making high performance cars because they're prone to breaking when driven at high speed while off road?
Any amount of research on Maxamet will quickly cause you to know that it can easily break with lateral stress and is best used for volume cutting and not hard use such as in the trades, or construction, including scoring drywall, unless you're willing to assume the risks, or believe that you know what you're doing with regard to usage of the knife.
Just because people stick their knife into a sheet of drywall and break it, does not mean something is wrong with the steel, or with the design.
Any knife should be able to handle scoring drywall!!
That's like saying any screw driver should be able to unscrew any screw.... I've never been able to get Phillip's screwdriver to unscrew a flathead screw... its clearly a design flaw!
It's a matter of using the right tool for the job. A Manix 2 in Maxamet is a radically different tool than a Manix 2 in S30V which is also radically different than a Manix 2 in M4 or 4V.
Sorry for the OP's experience.
I didn't see anyone talk about stress risers, but the Spyderco hole creates a weakness in the blade, a stress riser where the blade wants to break. And in this case, the sharp, straight plunge line adds another stress riser that goes directly into the hole. And there's a third stress riser in the jimping. Add in a hard, brittle steel, you you have a recipe for a break.
I once had a Benchmade blade in M4, with the Spyderco hole, re-heat treated to 64 Rc. The blade was really brittle and broke under hand pressure as I was trying to get the blade to center properly.
My guess is that Spyderco decided that it would take a lot more lateral pressure than the OP described to break the knife, and that's normally true. But any little weakness in the line of break, such as an inclusion, can make these hard blades vulnerable to a break along a stress riser that is stacked with a second stress riser and yet a third stress riser, as you can see in the OP's photo below this one.
I consider three stacked stress risers on a brittle blade to be a design issue.
So, you think that what the OP reported, if true, and the way spyderco handled it is Okay? Be clear. No walls of text. Simple question.
The short answer is Yes.
Scoring drywall simply is not an appropriate use of Maxamet, especially with the thinnest and longest blade stock option available from Spyderco in this steel.
Any replacement thereof would simply be an act of generosity by Spyderco.
With this thread being made on the forum, and the tone that it took, BEFORE Spyderco was given the opportunity to respond, I definitely would have used the opportunity to make an example so people stop using Maxamet for things it shouldn't be used for.
Where does this expectation of unconditional blade replacement that some people have come from?
Where does this expectation of unconditional blade replacement that some people have come from?
I think you can see that most disagree. In fact, spyderco has replaced blades that broke like this before, so in a way they disagree as well.The short answer is Yes.
Scoring drywall simply is not an appropriate use of Maxamet, especially with the thinnest and longest blade stock option available from Spyderco in this steel.
Any replacement thereof would simply be an act of generosity by Spyderco.
With this thread being made on the forum, and the tone that it took, BEFORE Spyderco was given the opportunity to respond, I definitely would have used the opportunity to make an example so people stop using Maxamet for things it shouldn't be used for.
Assuming the OP was actually just scoring drywall and that is it, this is not good.
If a $200 knife can't score drywall, something that only uses the very tip of the blade, that is a design issue. What would be the point of having a Maxamet knife if it can't handle a small task like that?
If we take the OP at their word, which I haven't seen anything to suggest otherwise, this is definitely Spyderco's issue.
I'm a die hard Spyderco fan but this is not a good look. We will never know the actual number of these knives that have been returned but there's been what, three or four people in this thread reporting the exact same break?
Buck, Benchmade (for a reasonable fee), other reputable companies?
Does Sears still replace tools post bankruptcy?
Craftsman still has their great warranty on many tools like they have had in the past! I believe they are sold at a popular big box home improvement chain that is blue in color.Does anyone remember walking into a Sears store with a broken Craftsman tool and they handing you a new one? I had a Craftsman pocket knife as a kid and broke the blade off it doing something stupid with it, I'm sure, but my dad took me to Sears and the guy at the counter just reached for a new one and handed it to me. Very cool. Good memories. This was back in the late sixties/early seventies.