TOPS Tibo

[FortyTwoBlades]

I enjoy stonewashed finishes quite a bit. Better overall performance in cutting and corrosion resistance than bead blast (yuck) without being as prone towards showing fingerprints and scratches from use like a mirror finish (though I like mirror or near-mirror best when possible.)

[mistwalker]

I enjoy stonewashed finishes quite a bit. Better overall performance in cutting and corrosion resistance than bead blast (yuck) without being as prone towards showing fingerprints and scratches from use like a mirror finish (though I like mirror or near-mirror best when possible.)

I like the stonewashed finish on stainless a good deal, mirror polished is cool...not sure I expect to see a mirror polished TOPS any time soon though I edited in a few more pics of the knife into the original post, and hey, the really sharp works really great when you take your daughter to Starbucks and she asks you what the little mini cherry pie tastes like

[FortyTwoBlades]

Yeah I don't think we'll ever see a mirror finished TOPS. They're in love with their "traction coating" so even stone washed is a little odd for them.

[mistwalker]

Yeah I don't think we'll ever see a mirror finished TOPS. They're in love with their "traction coating" so even stone washed is a little odd for them.

Oh, I think they do a lot of stonewashing...they just like coatings on carbon steel. On a stainless version we could just skip the coating step

[namida]

Thanks man, glad you like it. I have no idea what colors it may come in later. I know TOPS does black, grey, and yellow on a regular basis but who knows.

Yellow will do nicely! Just so I could get some leverage with the boss when I get a tibo, I'll buy a pair black for me and yellow for her

[scruffuk]

Thanks man. Actually the sharpening choil just comes out to meet the grind because I wanted a radiused grind...I think it is stronger than a straight in plunge. BUT the idea is for it to serve as a striking area for a ferro rod for me once I clean the coating off the edge and square it up. I wanted it to work with a 1/4 inch rod.

I love the look of this wee knife Misty, congratulations on getting another one of your designs out there.

I'm glad you said that about the choil. Ferro-rod striking was the first thing I thought. Like it!
Also, I am rather taken by radius grinds....it's a nice bonus.

I'll be looking forward to it's release.

Thanks and once again, nice job!

Edited to add: Yes, yellow would be great!

[FortyTwoBlades]

Oh, I think they do a lot of stonewashing...they just like coatings on carbon steel. On a stainless version we could just skip the coating step

I say that mostly because they put a grey coating on the Shango, which is stainless.

[mistwalker]

I love the look of this wee knife Misty, congratulations on getting another one of your designs out there.

I'm glad you said that about the choil. Ferro-rod striking was the first thing I thought. Like it!
Also, I am rather taken by radius grinds....it's a nice bonus.

I'll be looking forward to it's release.

Thanks and once again, nice job!

Edited to add: Yes, yellow would be great!

Thanks for the compliments Scruff!!

Yellow will do nicely! Just so I could get some leverage with the boss when I get a tibo, I'll buy a pair black for me and yellow for her

I'll be sure to mention that!

Oh, I think they do a lot of stonewashing...they just like coatings on carbon steel. On a stainless version we could just skip the coating step

And on the Trailmate, the Shadowtracker 2. the Milspie-3, and the Pasayten....etc., and they are all stainless. They are also stonewashed first

[FortyTwoBlades]

Ah--see I figured they bead blasted them rather than stonewashing. Seems a waste of a stonewash to cover it up.

[mistwalker]

Ah--see I figured they bead blasted them rather than stonewashing. Seems a waste of a stonewash to cover it up.

Yeah, but I like the idea of the stonewashed finish under the coating if I strip it

[FortyTwoBlades]

Me too--it makes me more likely to strip my Shango!

[mistwalker]

Me too--it makes me more likely to strip my Shango!

Once I saw the stonewashed finish under the worn part of the coating on the DART I have I immediately decided I am going to strip it. It's CPM S30V steel. I just want to etch the laser engraving first because they no longer offer the DART in S30V, it's now available in 5160 and at a lower price. Now all I have to do is find out what all these guy are using to etch their knives with...

[mistwalker]

I've decided that when I can get another one that I am going to pair one up with the Armageddon

[FortyTwoBlades]

Loving the blue wrap! I wish there were more blue knives out there--it looks more "friendly" and is as easy to find as orange is if you drop it.

[mistwalker]

Loving the blue wrap! I wish there were more blue knives out there--it looks more "friendly" and is as easy to find as orange is if you drop it.

Yep, was going for friendly with that one, and I much prefer the blue in the woods to the orange. The orange hurts my eye, and we don't have a lot of blue in the woods here, especially in the autumn when we do have a lot of orange

[FortyTwoBlades]

That's always been my philosophy as well. One of the reasons why blue is a "turn off" to appetite in psych experiments is because there are so few things in nature that are truly blue--even blueberries are really purple! And I always tell folks about the whole orange in autumn thing. Blue stands our regardless of season.

[Dan57]

The Tibo's featured from 4:08 to 4:21. The guy in the video seems to like it. I know that I said before that I preferred a full handle, but, even so... I think I may have to get this one Can't wait 'till it's released.



BTW, Mist: what're the other knives you've designed?

[mistwalker]

The Tibo's featured from 4:08 to 4:21. The guy in the video seems to like it. I know that I said before that I preferred a full handle, but, even so... I think I may have to get this one Can't wait 'till it's released.

BTW, Mist: what're the other knives you've designed?

Thank you, I hope you like it. Yeah Johnny and I talked a bit about the knives at Blade, from a more tactical standpoint I like his neck knife design as well...vicious looking little knife, I'd just have trouble skinning with it

Well, I designed one for Schrade, a few for Bryan Breeden, and then there are a couple of other designs coming out by another company later on when they can get to it, that I won't go into unto I know they are actually working on them.

[1066vik]

Once I saw the stonewashed finish under the worn part of the coating on the DART I have I immediately decided I am going to strip it. It's CPM S30V steel. I just want to etch the laser engraving first because they no longer offer the DART in S30V, it's now available in 5160 and at a lower price. Now all I have to do is find out what all these guy are using to etch their knives with...

the most popular etchants i know of are ferrous chloride and printed circuit board etchant (PCB) -- which may actually be the same thing.
you can find them at radio shack. put the surface to be etched face down in the tub.
I've also heard of folks using sulfuric and muriatic acids, which are slower but safer to work with. (drain cleaner & concrete etcher)

[FortyTwoBlades]

Although those are still pretty caustic.