Clear knife scales possible? And how?

76bird

76bird

Joined
Sep 22, 2001
Messages
120
I was walking through Wally World last night and while in automotive section spotted some reflextive tape. You may have seen this tape applied to the rear end of trailers to make them more visible at night, especially when they don't have lights installed.

I got me thinking (a fairly rare occurrence), would it be possible to remove the knife's handles, apply a layer of reflective tape, then replace the orginal scales with some made from a transparent material.

My idea was that if the reflextive tape could be seen through the clear grips it would make the knife easier to spot with a flashlight in the dark if it was misplaced.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Tim
 
Some of my knives have glow in the dark scales. Some also have glow in the dark paracord lanyards or handle wraps.
 
the reflective tape and clear handles actually sounds like a really good idea.. good job! for a camping knife, just run your flashlight over it and it pops. now what about a CF with reflective strands or Glow in the dark strands weaved into it. :eek:
 
I have lightning strike CF. It has a fine brass wire woven in. It's killer, but you kind of have to be up close and personal to see the wire.

There is a new glow in the dark substance that is so bright, they are replacing neon signs with glow in the dark!

You could easily mix that or other glow in the dark stuff into acra-glass, which is a very durable, clear epoxy. It would be pretty easy to cast scales of acra-glass.
 
Theres a guy on the becker sub forum (K9 Handler) who makes clear scales out of epoxy. They look awesome especially on a polished knife.
 
Lexan would be the easy way to go, it looks great for a while but scratches and you can see the pocket fluff through it after a while.

Glow in the dark would be a better option.
Just my 2 cents worth

Richard
 
I know Leroy Remer, former Buck Custom Shop Head makes Clear scaled 110's and 112's at Triple R Knives
 
ItsTooEarly's pic from march of this year (Buck Knives forum). it's one of the best pictures here in BF, imho.
112Clear-D-4.jpg

looking at this picture, i think moving the pivot to the left (farther from the lock notch) will make a traditional spine lock almost as strong as a tri-ad, owing to increased leverage. am i right?
 
Hank,

I don't think so. The force has to be exactly 90 degree against the lock mating surface. That's why th pivot center has to be closest to perpendicular against where the mating surface is. Thia way, pressure to the spine is transferred as push forward on the lockbar.

Moving the pivot to the left will result in force of the spine transferred tangentially, resulting in more push to the lockbar up towards release, in addition to forward, which requires stronger springbar to keep the lockbar down into the notch.

Tri-ad lock can have that as the force is transferred to stop pin. Now it might be good idea to narrow down the lockbar lever and insert a stop pin, making it a true tri-ad. Or bring the bar a bit forward (remove material from blade tang infront of the notch) & insert the pin in the resulting gap.

Sorry, but we're getting off topic here ;)
 
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thanks. the picture kinda blew me away. first time to see the insides of a buck hunter after more than 40 years of fascination. but going back to the topic, nothing wrong with putting reflective tape right on the scales. better yet, luminous dots.
 
Yeah, I've seen some others on buck 110 too. The one poste here is 112 I guess (?) From the pics, it seems possible to add stop pin in front of the lock bar, very close though to scale edge/corner.

A forumite on Britishblades put glow in the dark on the SRM763. No need transparent scales it seems. Still great idea to see inner parts, always intrigued. Imagine the new Spyderco Szabo with transparent scale ;)
 
If Buck made the 110/112 with clear scales like that (and a standard blade) I'd totally get one. I love that picture. :)
 
If you don't care about being completely transparent - you can get some thin "natural" G10 and sandwich the tape between two layers. The natural G10 is kind of a translucent jade green shade and would reflect the tape very well. If you took mad the sandwich out of two 1/16" or 1/8" slabs, it would look pretty cool.

TedP

tran.jpg
 
Lexan, acrylic or some clear molded epoxy could work. Also as stated above, natural or jade g10 sandwiched with some reflective would work I'd think as well.

Those wilkins grips are amazing looking, but they probably cost as much as the knife if not more.
 
Great Buck pic :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
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