I've got the urge to customize.

[Texas guy]

I see the wonderful alterations that some of the board members (especially STR) have made to their Spydies, and I really want to try to customize one of my knives, or buy a new one to fiddle with. Maybe somebody could give me some advise. (since this is a Spyderco website: I fully acknowledge that this will void the warranty on the knife, and I take full responsibility for the knife after any modifications.)

First of all, I love the look of tumbled blades like those on the Ritter Griptillian and the Sebenzas. How could I get the blade of a Para tumbled? Could I send it out, or is there a home shop method of achieving this finish.

My favorite Spydie clip is the bead blasted clip I have on my Caly Jr. How could I get a Para clip to look like this? Or could I tumble the clip?

Would polishing the tang around the pivot and the inside of the liners increase the smoothness of the knife action, or would highly polished surfaces create more surface area for friction?

Has anybody done any neat G10 modifications?

[FLUTTERBY]

Texas guy, THAT is a cool pic of the Caly. The bubble effect, I likey!

[Texas guy]

Thanks FLUTTERBY, that was my first try at knife photography.

Do you think that if I threw the blade in a coffee can with some abbrasives and rolled the sucker for a few hours it would give me the desired finish? Any suggestions?

[Rob]

Texas guy, to apply a "stonewash" finish you would need something like this (http://www.shoppersnext.com/auto-tools/43204.html). A vibration tumbler!

They are not only good for this type of finish. You can also apply a mirror finish with them by using crushed walnut shells. To get the stonewash look usually ceramic abrasives are used wet. These look like little cones or pyramids with rounded edges.

If you know somebody who is reloading rifle or handgun cartridges, this person might aswell have a tumbler to polish the brass cartriges before reloading them. If you're lucky enough he might have one of these wet/dry units that are capable of using the abrasives I mentioned :)

Other than that, you can also apply a similar finish by hand but I wouldn't recommend that because it will never look exactly the same as one done with a tumbler. What you have to do is this: Take some sanding paper of a rougher grit (~400) and move it all over the surface in very small circles until every spot is coverd with absolutely random scratches. Then take sanding paper of two grits higher than the one you've started with and do the same. Use water (better is oil) as a lubricant while sanding). If you can feel the scratches with your finger tip use sanding paper of (again) a two steps higher grit but only very brief.

When you are finished, the surface looks dull (i.e. not reflective anymore) and covered with lots of tiny scratches but feels smooth when you run your fingertips over it. Not quite the result a tumbler produces but as close as you can get without such a machine.

If you can't imagine how this could look, I can post a picture tomorrow. I've done that with a folder that I've made but do not have the pic at hand as I'm at work right now :o

Cheers, Rob

[Texas guy]

If you can't imagine how this could look, I can post a picture tomorrow. I've done that with a folder that I've made but do not have the pic at hand as I'm at work right now :o

Cheers, Rob

Thanks for the info, I would like very much to see a pic if you can post one later. I thought that in a pinch I could try the coffee can method, might take a long time, but do you think it might work?

[gull wing]

My humble submission: Caly w/ G10, tip up carry, Ti clip, steel filler.
http://img327.imageshack.us/img327/5328/dscn06673ch.th.jpg (http://img327.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn06673ch.jpg)
http://img303.imageshack.us/img303/930/dscn06667hc.th.jpg (http://img303.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn06667hc.jpg)
http://img327.imageshack.us/img327/4581/dscn06658za.th.jpg (http://img327.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn06658za.jpg)

[Texas guy]

That looks great gull wing. How did you get the clip to look like that? Did you put the finish on it?

[jaislandboy]

Hey Gullwing, your custom Cally Jr rocks! Was it originally a Gray or Black FRN one? :D

[Rob]

Thanks for the info, I would like very much to see a pic if you can post one later. I thought that in a pinch I could try the coffee can method, might take a long time, but do you think it might work?

I gues the coffe can method could work but it would take awfully long to get an effect that looks at least somehow similar. Instead of a ceramic abrasive you could also use small pebbles from a small river or the like. Could work too and they also do not have sharp edges.

Pictures... I just took a couple of quick shots of the my friction folder and had to find out that the finish is difficult to capture. I finished the blade with a 1200 grit vertically and applied the "scratch-finish" to the ricasso, tang and opener of the folder. I also made one shot with flash because it seemed to show the finish better, although the small scratches on the tang do not look very random due to the flash coming only from one direction. OK, enough said :rolleyes: Here are the pics (sorry for the quality). If you have any questions, feel free to ask...

http://unet.univie.ac.at/~a0447076/friction/frioffen.jpg

http://unet.univie.ac.at/~a0447076/friction/frizu.jpg

http://unet.univie.ac.at/~a0447076/friction/fritwotone.jpg

http://unet.univie.ac.at/~a0447076/friction/fritwotoneflash.jpg

Cheers, Rob

[gull wing]

Thanks!
The clip is simply sandblasted Titanium.
Gray Calypso Jr.
Rob, beautiful knife. Where did you get the trans G10?

[Rob]

Thanks! This is the first folder that I've ever made. My other knives are all fixed blades :)

Actually the stuff is called G-11 and it has a higher percentage of fiberglass in it than G-10. It is sometimes used to make circuit boards so I was able to get it at an electronics supply store for very little money. You can work with it exactly like with G-10 but I like this translucent green much better than the usual black of the G-10 :D

Cheers, Rob

[TheKnifeCollector]

Rob: That friction folder is spectacular!! Is that green G-11 by any chance? DUH, yes it is! I was just so excited about that knife, I didn't read the post that IS above mine!!!

[rcbalt2]

Rob That g-11 looks great. TexasGuy my vot is for G-11 Scales