Broken points on knives

[jangle]

Hello,

I'm not new to collecting (almost 40 years), but am fairly new to US fighting knives etc.

My question to the membership is, with reference to a very small broken tip on a desirable collection quality fighting knife, weather it be an M3, Mk 1 or 2 etc, is this something that you would discard altogether and not purchase, or is there a monetary deduction figure you would place on an item like this?  I know this is a tough question to answer without seeing detailed photos of an item but I've seen some very nice items in the past with this damage.  I'll try to include a photo I have of a M3 knife tip.  Thanks for any and all guidance.

 

Regards,

James

 

 

[SKIPH]

James- It depends on the knife, the condition, and desirability. Good example is the V-42, quite a few have resharpened tips, but due to scarcity they are still desirable. I think it boils down to how bad you want it. The one you pictured looks OK to me. Not every knife survived manufacturing, or use with needle sharp tips. SKIP

[Misfit 45]

Basically, the first rule is never ever re-tip the blade.  First of all, if it LOOKS like it was re-tipped by someone, that's almost worse than a slightly damaged tip.  At least with a damaged tip, you'll still have a knife that has all the character it collected after all these years.  Does a bent or broken tip lessen the value?  Yes.  How much, depends on everything....the degree of damage, the condition of the rest of the knife, the desirability of the knife, the rarity of the knife, etc.  The needs or even the ignorance of the buyer come into play as well.

 

With all that being said, I have a fairly scarce, Utica M5 bayonet that was obviously dropped on its tip at some point.  I have had it for years wondering if I should "fix" the tip or not. 

As you can see in the pictures, I finally decided, with all considerations evaluated, to re-tip the bayonet.  I hesitated for years,  for the simple reason, I did not want to ruin such a nice M5.

The reason I re-tipped the blade, was, even though the M5 was somewhat valuable (not M3 valuable, but valuable in relation to other M5s), it had some very light sharpening on both the cutting edge and also the false edge. I felt I could use that to my advantage and not have to worry about darkening the re-tipped area. 

Most collectors would say they would not change a thing on your M3, but that is your choice. 

JUST DON'T TELL ANYONE WHAT I DID!

Marv

[thorin6]

I have re-tipped several knives, depending upon value, originality, and condition.  One's like the one you show here I wouldn't do, but I had a Vietnam era Camillus Mark 2 that had the tip broken for about 3/16-inch and was flat across the break.  I re-tipped it and it looked about what one would expect for a well-used example of the breed.

The decision to re-tip is one of those actions that is hard to make, but many times it comes from having a knife for a while that just keeps gnawing at you and saying "Fix Me!"  What you paid for the knife plays a part in the decision, but sometimes you just have to get some sleep without thinking about how much better the knife will look with a proper tip.

[jangle]

I thank you all for addressing this question. 

It is basically what I have been thinking myself, that the severity of the damage along with the desirability/scarcity of a particular knife would determine for me weather to purchase or not.  

Again, I appreciate you sharing your expertise!  

[sundance]

I've re-tipped a couple of knives with a sharpening stone but none of mine are high ticket items. I just have a hard time passing up an M3, M
4 or Mark 2 if it's missing a small portion of the tip but otherwise in good shape or has a nice sheath.