Stretch Woody?

[spyderknut]

Am I the only one pining ;) for a Stretch with wood inlay instead of the Kraton?

I mean a Stretch with Cocobolo ala the Kopa would be a sweet presentation piece with an engraving panel already built in.

Could wood inlay be thin enough and still be durable? I'd prefer pinning but the wood may just have to be too thin to allow pinning and adhesives might be the only viable option.

I have seen your G10 inlay pics, Deacon. Has anyone else tried to custom-fit wood?

[silverback]

Cool idea!
Maybe someone could give a few tips on how to do it yourself?
Surely there are some people here with the necessary experience...
In the new issue of the german Messermagazin there's a good article about modding production knives.
I'd probably get one if they are produced. :)

[The Deacon]

Am I the only one pining ;) for a Stretch with wood inlay instead of the Kraton?Nope, you are not alone. The canvas micarta on mine works very well, but a nicely figured wood inlay certainly would be pretty.

I use my Stretch a lot for food preparation, so consequently it gets washed quite often. For that reason I'm thinking stablized wood would be the safest way to go. The inlays will be rather thin, since the cavities in the handle are only about 1/32" deep, so I fear most untreated wood might warp. Lignum vitae is about the only "natural" wood I'd consider, as it has a reputation for extreme stability.

I don't use a clip, so am seriously considering having whoever I get to do the work drill out the "landing pads" completely and drill a few more holes in the cavity as well. This would reduce the weight slightly and I don't feel it would have an adverse impact on strength, at least not for any use I'd ever put the knife to. It would also make the inlays a little easier to shape. As things stand, the combination of the compound curves around the outer edge of the cavity and the oval in the middle make it a very difficult job.

[spyderknut]

Sorry for the brain fart Paul, of course it was micarta!

The simplest solution would be to find a vendor who sells sheets of suitably thin wood. I wonder if Spyderco would supply a template. I'd hate to rip out the Kraton and try to trace it. I could probably just scan a knife and make a lifesize print. I'm sure wood that thin could be cut with some strong shears and shaped with Dremel and sandpaper fairly easily though "fit and finish" of Seki artisans would be difficult to match.

The key would be to finding suitable stock. I will try to look/ask around at Blade. If someone knows where to find wood like this, feel free to pipe in.

[The Deacon]

The key would be to finding suitable stock. I will try to look/ask around at Blade. If someone knows where to find wood like this, feel free to pipe in.Well, one route worth investigating might be some of the thin veneer material sold for marqetry epoxied to very thin plywood, IIRC from my model airplane days, 1/32nd and 1/64th plywood can be found.

[J Smith]

I have been looking for someone to do it at a fair price.I have a very nice piece of Bacote ready to go.I think I could do it my self if I just had a good scroll saw.
It wood :rolleyes: be nice if Spyderco would make up some wood inserts pre cut to sell though the SFO so we could just glue them in.

[spyderknut]

Thanks JSmith and Paul.

Yeah, I guess a good scroll saw would work a lot better than shears. I'd end up with a nice pile of kindling wouldn't I? Can you tell I don't work with wood much? :rolleyes:

[Childe Roland]

I've been wanting to replace the kraton on mine with either bone or water buffalo horn.

[spyderknut]

I guess those would be horny stretch or stretch bone. Gotta work on the name. ;) Perhaps "natural material Stretch".

[Childe Roland]

I think I prefer stretch bone. ;)