Just forget about it and buy a new one. You don't need the aggravation. (Your location says Finland. They'd want you to mail in the knife. If they don't end up sending a new one, you just blew the postage for no reason. I've no idea what it would cost to send it to California, USA from Finland.) As you said yourself, you put it through a lot of chopping of tree branches. No folder is meant for wood chopping, even if it's just small branches. I take it you've probably chopped some that were a half inch or thicker. Chopping is probably the hardest use you can put a knife through, even tougher than batonning, because of the shock on the blade and the tang. That's why even fixed blades can snap while chopping wood. Also, that knife is AUS8, right? That stainless steel is not tough enough for chopping, especially in a comparatively thin folding knife. And you're saying this went on over a long period of time, so there's metal fatigue issues as well. Use a thicker fixed blade, preferably of tough carbon steel, for chopping.
