Advice requested on a knife I just made

Dave Kelly

Dave Kelly

Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
597
Hi, I have a question about a knife I just finished, I usually do quite a bit of research before trying something new but this time I didn't.

I have never handled a flipper folder so I'm not sure how they're supposed to perform. I didn't want to have any type of opening device on this blade so I thought I would give it a try. It works good, a little awkward but I just thought I needed to get used to it.

I showed it in the gallery and a couple of people want to order one but I received an email from a knowledgeable knife person saying,

All I see sticking up is on the wrong side of the bolster to be a flipper(?) From a purely design standpoint I'd rather not see that little piece of the tang exposed beyond the bolster.
Click to expand...

After receiving the email I did a search for other flippers and I did find some with a similar configuration.

Is this a poor design? I don't want to sell anyone a problem knife.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Dave


orig.jpg


orig.jpg
 
I'm no expert, but I see nothing wrong with that knife. In fact it looks great to me. Beutiful work.

If it's gonna be a flipper, you gotta have something exposed to flip it with somewhere. Don't see anything wrong with it being in front. Not for everyone, but then that's why theres so many differant knives out there.

Carry it, or one like it for a while and use it and see how you like it or if there are any design flaws that you can find, just for piece of mind.
 
Can we get a pic of it fully open?

I see nothing wrong with it either....something has to be out there to flip. It's just a matter of preference on where it's positioned.
 
Will, Tom, Thanks for the input. I'm not as experienced with knives as this person and I respect his knowledge. When I received his email, I got worried about the design.

Tom, here's a full open pic

orig.jpg
 
If I am not mistaken, one of the forumites here makes the Rhino Flipper, where the flipper is situated in front of the bolster like your's. The difference is that in the Rhino flipper, part of the bolster is cut away to expose more of the flipper.

Do not know whether this is due to the photo angle, but the flipper in your knife looks as if it protrudes very little. If this is the case, it may be dificult to flip your knife open without using a wrist flick at the same time a the flipper would sink below the level of the bolster before the blade gains enough momentum to filp completely open.

In a normally placed flipper (ie. at the back of the knife when it is closed), you can get sufficient momentum by pulling on the flipper hard and then letting your finger slide unhindered along the entire back of the knife.

With your knife, it looks like using the flipper would be more difficult as you would have to "stab" your finger hard on the little flipper to get sufficient momentum to flip the blade completely open.

As my opinion above is based only on looking at your photos, I may well be wrong. I think that as long as your flipper protrudes about 1/4 inch above the bolster, your knife should be flippable without trouble.

BTW, great looking knife.
 
If the flipper works that way then whats to worry about? You just came up with your own design :) If you put the flipper somewhere you'll probably find someone else that doesn't like it. One thing that defintely has going for it is that the flipper isn't ever really in the way. Sometimes the flipper protrudes like a gaurd when the knife is open, which can be good or bad depending on what the knife is for.
Nice work :cool:
 
A true flipper is on the back side of the blade and when the blade is open it doubles as a finger guard. Yours looks like a clever opening system and shouldnt be labeled as a "flipper" Be proud of your design..its cool!

Nice Work!
 
Matt, you asked what I'm worried about if it works. It works, but after receiving the email it got me wondering if the awkward feeling that I have opening it was do to lack of experience or poor design. Less of a worry, I'm showing a knife to potential customers that I may have to alter to make function properly. Whenever someone more knowledgeable offers an opinion I listen, I came to shop talk to ask more opinions from you professionals.

What I should've done, do some research first, make mock up versions with the opener in different locations to find the optimal position, then design the bolster shape around that position. I always design my knives around the function of the pivot, lock and stop using form follows function. With this knife I first designed the knife, then the opener.

airyq, I just looked at the rhino and the opener is on the spine side of the bolster which is opposite of mine. It looks very well thought out, easy to use your finger to smoothly operate the knife. I never thought about using the top of the tang lock cut as an opener, I think I can slightly change the angle of the top spine side of the bolster and lengthen the lock to accommodate this.

Bruce, Thank you for the true definition of a flipper, I didn't know that. Ignorance can be bliss sometimes but in this case I'm not so sure that I've stumbled on a clever system, there may be a better position for the opener.

Thanks for the help you guys, talking about it has made me rethink the design,
Dave
 
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