Carved Titanium knife clips

Osprey Guy

Osprey Guy

Joined
Apr 9, 2002
Messages
213
Quite a long time ago (at least a year, probably longer), someone posted pics of some really cool knife clips that he had carved and anodized out of Ti...Does anybody recall?

I'm trying to find a pic to see how he did them (Once I get my latest knife off of my bench I'm gonna be making some Ti clips for a couple of custom flashlights (my latest addiction...as if knifemaking doesn't take enough of my "spare" time away from my "day" job)...and I'm trying to get some ideas of how best to construct them. Those clips that he made have always stuck in my head, and I could have sworn I saved a pic or two to my "Special Knife Features" folder on my desktop...but now of course I can't find them.

For what it's worth- I have a vague recollection of his name having something to do with Cadillacs...

Thanks.


Dennis Greenbaum :cool:
 
Osprey Guy, I think who your talking about is STR. He has posted some of his clips on this fourm. He'll see this and reply I'm sure. He's a nice guy. :thumbup:
 
Thanks Wwells. I don't carve clips though. I cut them out and bead blast them or anodize them though.

There are more than a handful of 'pimpers' that hang out around here besides me. Some of them are tremendously talented too. I am not sure who you saw work from OspreyGuy. I don't think it was me.

I'm also not sure if I can help or not. I cut my clips out on a band saw and then shape them by sanding them down and working them by hand with my bench sander and dremmel.

I usually bead blast them anymore to finish them but I also do some anodizing as well.

You might look here for ideas. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=374927

Or perhaps here for some on how to simply anodize them yourself once you make some of your own.

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/737177/post/737177/hl/Anodizing/#737177

Hope that helps some.

STR
 
wwells20 said:
Osprey Guy, I think who your talking about is STR. He has posted some of his clips on this fourm. He'll see this and reply I'm sure. He's a nice guy. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Told ya! :thumbup:
 
Thanks guys... I really appreciate the quick response, but that's not what I needed. I don't require a tutorial on how to make standard Ti clips or to anodize Ti...I think my current skills are up to the task. It's just that the clips that I'm remembering were quite dramatic and unique and that's why they've stuck in my memory all this time.

I'm certain that they were carved-more like sculpted, with vivid colors...Which would be the natural direction for me to take on my clips (Many folks in the knife community are aware of my love for carving metal). But I also seem to recall that there was something different or unusual about the way he had them configured...and I was hoping to take another look-see.

Thanks again,

Dennis Greenbaum :cool:
 
Ooops, I stand corrected. That was weird...somehow I missed the website for Matt Cucchiara.

That's exactly what I wanted!!! :thumbup:

Now I'll go back and take a closer look-see.

THANKS!!!


Dennis Greenbaum :cool:
 
Hi Dennis, sounds like you saw some of these? More pics on my web site too.Let me know if I can help. I always wanted to make a clip for my Surefire A2.
See ya!
Matt
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SteelDriver said:
First name that comes to mind is Matt Cucchiara. Tremendously talented and a friendly guy, too. Drop him a line and maybe he can give you some pointers.

http://www.cucchiaraknives.com/
Click to expand...


That is exactly whom popped into my head when I read this thread! And to whom I was going to suggest he contact.
 
Hey Matt-

That's exactly what I saw...and those are indeed what I had been remembering!

I haven't tackled it yet, but just for the heck of it I ordered 1/2 dozen blank clips from Halpern Titanium (only $3.50 apiece). I was hoping to wind up with a clip that had a bit of spring to it, and the Halpern blanks have the bend already built in.

But there's a couple of problems with the blanks... The shape of the flashlight body....and the lack of thickness in the blanks for me to do my "carving metal" thing.

Even a clip just 5/16" - 3/8" wide at the top needs to be able to follow the curve. To bend that accurately (into the shape of the curve) and still maintain the spring will be a bit of a challenge. It would be a heck of a lot easier if I simply started out with a thicker piece of Ti and carved it to match the radius...but then any thought of a spring-type action gets a lot more difficult to achieve.

I'll have to play around a bit to see what I can come up with....

Thank Matt for your inspiring work...and thanks to everyone else for their help. :thumbup:


Dennis Greenbaum :cool:
 
Sorry I have not answered sooner, you still can control and get as much spring as you want carving them from a solid chunk. You control the spring by how thin you cut the back down, you can even make a relief cut just like on a lock bar. Try some rough blanks and see how it works for you. Small scraps of Ti are really cheap:~)
Matt
 
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