The "Ask Nathan a question" thread

trevitrace said:
Evening, Nathan. What's this secret code mean that's written under my name? Been reusing your boxes for shipping some knives lately. All of them so far only had my name written underneath the shipping label, this one had this other junk and I was curious what it meant.

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Thanks and a happy new year to you, the family, and the whole cpk crew.
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Unbuffed OD green
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
The Shiv, Heavy Chopper, Basic 5 Field Knife, the up coming SDFK and the DEK2 are overbuilt brick shithouse beaters designed to be unbreakable where I encourage abuse and I will replace, repair or refund if they ever fail for any reason short of intentionally breaking them. If you put them in a vise and put a 4' pipe on it, or cut them with a torch, that's on you.

I have applied this warranty to the Utility Fighters and Field knives too because, despite being reasonable dimensions and weight, they're much more durable than the average person can intuitively understand, and I want people to feel comfortable using their knives without fear of breaking them. When used as knives there is no amount of abuse they can't withstand. And, if used as a hammer driven cold chisel or a pry you could damage them (and I don't want to encourage dumb warranty claims) but they would still be covered and repaired, replaced or refunded. If a person breaks a tip, or scale using them as throwing knives the repair might involve a tanto point or florescent pink scales...

I have avoided broadcasting a formal policy because I don't want to encourage dumb warranty claims, but I would warranty pretty much anything I make against damage if it's being used in a remotely reasonable manner including accidently hitting a hidden nail or breaking a tip while prying. No "proof of purchase" necessary, and you don't have to be the original owner.

I haven't used this warranty as a sales tool because I don't want to get into the business model of making overly heavily built knives because you run into cutting performance trade-offs and performance is (literally) our middle name.

The K18 was built as a race knife for a TV show cutting competition. It is not overbuilt, it's designed to win a timed race with points targets, not demolish a building. Historical swords would be ruined cutting down a tree, so this sword is far beyond the capabilities of other swords out there and I don't want people to be afraid to use them, it's a durable cutting tool. But it's a sword, not a forestry tool. I don't want people to go break their swords doing something foolish with them, and I'm not sure how to define "reasonable use" on a double edge racing sword so we're going to have to play that one by ear. Actually, let me take that back, I do want people to be afraid to use them. Not for the sword but their own safety. A double-edged sword is, by definition, a dangerous object. "Double-edged sword" is literally used as a common analogy for something that can help or hurt you and any large sword like this is as dangerous as a loaded gun. The same is true for a double bit forestry axe. You have to use these kinds of cutting tools with some care.

The potato knife, D2 skinner and DEK3 are not designed for rough use.
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Hi Nathan,

I have two questions, in relation with above comments, please:

1. Why is the HDFK not covered under the same 'rough use' warranty as the Basic 5 FK, UFs and FKs? I'm looking (and used) at the HDFK compared to the others and I can't imagine being able to brake it before I break one of the others...
and
2. Are the AEBL UF1s under the same warranty as the Delta 3V ones? If I remember correctly, the AEBL UF1s are .175" and the Delta 3V UF1s are .188"..

Thanks! :)
C.
 
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CataD said:
Hi Nathan,

I have two questions, in relation with above comments, please:

1. Why is the HDFK not covered under the same 'rough use' warranty as the Basic 5 FK, UFs and FKs? I'm looking (and used) at the HDFK compared to the others and I can't imagine being able to brake it before I break one of the others...
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Not-Nathan...but...

I asked Nathan if the HDFK would be covered under the warranty and he stated that it would. This was within the past few months while I was awaiting one I had purchased from a forum member.

So, let your heart run free.
 
Blues said:
Not-Nathan...but...

I asked Nathan if the HDFK would be covered under the warranty and he stated that it would. This was within the past few months while I was awaiting one I had purchased from a forum member.

So, let your heart run free.
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Thank you very much, Blues Blues :)
Yes, I'm not really too concerned about breaking an HDFK... I'm more interested in why would a HDFK (NASK, and the other name it went by ;) ) be easier to break/damage than a FK, for example.
Cheers!
C.
 
CataD said:
Hi Nathan,

I have two questions, in relation with above comments, please:

1. Why is the HDFK not covered under the same 'rough use' warranty as the Basic 5 FK, UFs and FKs? I'm looking (and used) at the HDFK compared to the others and I can't imagine being able to brake it before I break one of the others...
and
2. Are the AEBL UF1s under the same warranty as the Delta 3V ones? If I remember correctly, the AEBL UF1s are .175" and the Delta 3V UF1s are .188"..

Thanks! :)
C.
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The truth is pretty much anything we make will be warrantied but some patterns are built for abuse and I encourage it. These are thicker behind the edge and have a more obtuse primary grind geometry.

The HDFK is as unbreakable as anything we make, however the thinner edge and narrower primary grinds are made to be a high performance cutter in an unbreakable knife that can do anything and never fail you. But if you go to chop through a steel target with a heavy hammer it may take some damage that the super duty wouldn't. It's a reasonable weight for its size and it's stiff and strong enough to use as a pry and it cuts well. The HDFK is one of the best knives we've ever made and a CPK classic but our unbreakability is not what defines us, it's our high performance and value. It's lighter, stronger, more durable and cuts better than other similar looking knives available out there and will run circles around our competition but I don't want to encourage extreme abuse of it because that would be defeating the purpose of such an excellent tool.

I would warranty a broken AEBL UF. I don't want people to be afraid to use them hard. It's a good design and a very tough and durable stainless (tough and durable are often conflated but are not the same thing, these traits are often diametrically opposed). But no, it's not in the same league as 3V or Delta 3V. We needed a stainless option for the jarheads that would choose a stainless Buck knife over the UF due to corrosion resistance concerns. You gotta accommodate everybody.... It performs and is a very good knife, it has my name on it.
 
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Nathan the Machinist said:
The truth is pretty much anything we make will be warrantied but some patterns are built for abuse and I encourage it. These are thicker behind the edge and have a more obtuse primary grind geometry.

The HDFK is as unbreakable as anything we make, however the thinner edge and narrower primary grinds are made to be a high performance cutter in an unbreakable knife that can do anything and never fail you. But if you go to chop through a steel target with a heavy hammer it may take some damage that the super duty wouldn't. It's a reasonable weight for its size and it's stiff and strong enough to use as a pry and it cuts well. The HDFK is one of the best knives we've ever made and a CPK classic but our unbreakability is not what defines us, it's our high performance and value. It's lighter, stronger, more durable and cuts better than other similar looking knives available out there and will run circles around our competition but I don't want to encourage extreme abuse of it because that would be defeating the purpose of such an excellent tool.

I would warranty a broken AEBL UF. I don't want people to be afraid to use them hard. It's a good design and a very tough and durable stainless (tough and durable are often conflated but are not the same thing, these traits are often diametrically opposed). But no, it's not in the same league as 3V or Delta 3V. We needed a stainless option for the jarheads that would choose a stainless Buck knife over the UF due to corrosion resistance concerns. You gotta accommodate everybody.... It performs and is a very good knife, it has my name on it.
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Thank you very much, Nathan, for the detailed explanation :)!
Cheers!
C.
 
Hi Nathan,

Do you announce Fun Friday sales beforehand like your regular Friday sales through next sale thread? Somehow, I missed that last Fun Friday sale where hollow ground UF2 was sold.

Thanks!
 
murat1983 said:
Hi Nathan,

Do you announce Fun Friday sales beforehand like your regular Friday sales through next sale thread? Somehow, I missed that last Fun Friday sale where hollow ground UF2 was sold.

Thanks!
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I'm sorry, we don't. It's just when Mark or I get a wild hair and have a minute. They've been pretty sparce because that K18 project pretty much consumed all spare minutes but we should be getting back into a groove again soon.

I have some more K18's to finish out for Friday sales, but I'm taking a break from them for a little while.
 
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