New Knife Idea

[Thomas Peay]

Hello,



My Name is Thomas Peay. Recently I’ve been lurking around the SpyderCo website. I have especially enjoyed the forums. The forums provide an amazing amount of info and it has become clear to me that people are passionate about Spyderco products. I have wanted to participate but being new to SpyderCo and knives I haven’t had anything to add. Well, I had some free time at work so I designed my own Spydie. Please note – I have no intention of producing knives and that I respect SpyderCo and all its patents. I don’t even know the process. I am a designer by trade and the art and functionality of these products has me captivated. I have only bought two knives so far – SS Dragonfly and a SS Harpy.



Anyway, I dubbed it the Sea Hawk. It is intended to be a rigging/marine knife. The blade shape is patterned after the SpyderCo Harpy and the Handle has a touch of the Lum – Chinese folder. A small Marlin spike is embedded in the spine and a hole in the handle can be used as a shackle key. My goal was to adhere to the Syderco design philosophy but add some boating tools. It’s supposed to be a knife first. If you have some really tough shackles or a big naught I figured prying with your knife is not the right tool.



<br><img src="http://www.geocities.com/joshpeay/seahawk.jpg"><br>



link

http://www.geocities.com/joshpeay/seahawk.jpg



What do you guys think? What Size would it be? Or Materials? Or Colors? Plain edge or Serrated?



<br /><a href="/forums/attachmentarchive/3378-7-seahawk2.jpg" target="_new">View Attachment...</a><br />

[panguero]

Awesome !! Is this thread better seen over on the Tech Heds section? Maybe it is there too-didn't look yet. I really like it. What materials did you have in mind for the scales/handle? It is like a Calypso Jr. with a Merlin blade; Plus goodies. Cool. Great start.

Oh yeah-one thing! Add the boyle (?) dent in the lock back actuator for safety's sake.

Edited by - sharp1 on 1/11/2002 6:42:22 PM

[Carlos]

Hi Thomas,

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

[4 s ter]

Thomas

Nice concept! You may want to reconsider the name however. The following link will take you to a listing for the CRKT SeaHawk.

http://www.agrussell.com/crkt/cl-7073.html

Good Luck with the design!

David

Edited by - 4 s ter on 1/11/2002 7:43:12 PM

[Rookie]

Welcome to the Forums Thomas.

In the land of knives, Spyderco is king.

[Kahz]

Thomas,

I like it! Very interesting design.

Welcome to the forum. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>

Kahz

[Thomas Peay]

Hey,

Thanks for the replies! SeaHawk may not be the best name <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>thanks for the link Rookie). My thoughts on the blade design was a Harpy/sheepfoot combo. Any Ideas on materials?

Sincerly,

Thomas

[yog]

Nice design there Thomas.
Whereas the Harpy is a constantly curving blade, I like the fact that yours has more of a straight'ish section before the curves really kick in, should allow for bolder cuts.

For a handle material I would go for a coloured G-10. I normally don't favour coloured handles, but at night on a rolling boat black might be a bit hard to see. The blue G-10 I have seen looks quite bright without being gaudy, but then again gaudy might be better.

I have often wondered how much cork would need to be added to a knife handle before it becomes boyant. Cork by itself is not a good handle material as it tears, but I wondered if cork inserts and the spare internal spaces filled with cork would be enough to make it boyant.

"Walk softly, but carry a big stick."

[Thomas Peay]

If it could float that would be awesome. I designed the knife with a continuous top arc like a sickle and added a pistol like undergrip to give slashing leverage. I would hope the design would allow for heavy pull cuts but also provide some other uses. What size should it be? My thoughts vary. It would be cool if it didn't scare anyone down at the yacht club yet if stranded it could open a coconut Robinson Crusoe style.

Is g-10 salt water proof. What materials could stand up best to salt water?

[John Frederick]

Great design Tom! I hope Sal takes a look at it. The big Q for Syderco would be how big of a market there would be for it.

VG-10 seems like a good choice for the blade as it seems to be one of the best choices for corrosion resistance. However, for the ultimate in rust-proof blades consider Titanium. G-10 is as impervious to saltwater as anything out there.

I don't think you could ever get the knife to float even if the entire handle was made from cork. With the blade, the locking bar and spring, and the spike there is just too much steel.

[stu]

Welcom to the forum. I would name it the &quot;Toucan&quot; because of the blade shape. I know that they are not known for their seaworthiness. Think of a really odd parrot sitting on your captain's shoulder.

Anyway, nice drawing.

Take care,

stu

[sal]

Hi Thomas. Interesting dwg. Next, you stare at it for a while and you'll notice changes you want to make. Then you make a proto of some simple material to see if the ergos work. This step is often repeated many times. Then you have a proto made by a custom maker to test it out in the water.

sal

[Thomas Peay]

As I am an 3d effects/animator. I have done Cad/Cam models that have been used for stereo lithograph. Stereo lith is really cool. They have the model loaded into the machine and it shoots lasers into tank of resin and the model comes bubbling up. Does Spyderco ever use Stereo lithograph? A computer model would seem pretty useless, as a tangible model is only way to get a real sense of the prototypes ergonomics.

Thank you for the insight!

I just got a Harpy the other day. I used it to cut fiberglass as I was fixing a ding in my surfboard. It felt good in the hand. Ripped throught fiberglass no problem.

I like Toucan! I also like fruit loops!

Thomas