Custom Spalted Koa Scales WIP Build Thread + Give Away Promo!!

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trifectcustomshop

trifectcustomshop

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Jul 24, 2020
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Hey everyone!

I am doing a collaboration with F foofie to make some custom wood knife scales for his Spyderco Watu. This thread will be a work in progress thread that I will update as I got through the build process of replicating the carbon fiber scales with wood.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:
I will also be giving away a set of Spyderco Watu scales at the end of this build for all of those from the forum who subscribes to the newsletter on my website http://trifectcustom.shop

The winner will be drawn at random and will get a sweet set of Spyderco Watu Scales!

Hope you guys enjoy the thread! Spyderco Naked_1-100.jpg Spyderco Watu Clip-100.jpg

UPDATE 08/12/2020:
We have decided upon the wood selection. It will be some really nice Spalted Koa. I will be selecting a section that I believe will accent the knife contours, run them by F foofie , and start milling some prototype blanks.

spalted Koa Plank-100.jpg

Found the piece and cut out the billet! Mmmmmmmmm......spalting

Spalted Koa Billet-100.jpg Spalted Koa Billet 2-100.jpg Spalted Koa Billet 3-100.jpg

Ready to Resaw!

UPDATE 08/13/2020
Got the Koa resawed and ready to map out the placement of the scales so we can maximize the level of spalting that will be going through the handles. Made the CAD templates and I am ready to start milling out the first prototype blanks.

resaw2-100.jpg koa bookmatch 2-100.jpg Asset 14-100.jpg

I ran out of attachments so I am now updating this thread as a reply. So keep scrolling past the comments for the updates!

Cheers,
Chris Broemmelsiek
 
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I am also ridiculously interested in obtaining a set of Koa Watu scales! :D I’ll sign up for your newsletter but please feel free to DM here if you’re making additional sets! Thanks very much.
 
DNAIrradiator said:
I am also ridiculously interested in obtaining a set of Koa Watu scales! :D I’ll sign up for your newsletter but please feel free to DM here if you’re making additional sets! Thanks very much.
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Very cool, I just sent you a DM. I'm taking orders for Watu scales now.
 
I do not yet have the finished scales in hand...
but I do want to let people know that Chris (trifectcustomshop) has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Some of his other posts display the quality of his work and talent.
 
UPDATE 08/14/2020
Alright time to play some catch up with the status of this build.

I wrote all the CAM tool paths and milled up the first prototype. I had some scrap Shedua that I made the first test pieces with. 20200812_114103_resize_67.jpgHere is the fitting of the first scales. It was really close! I had to make a few adjustments to the depth of some of the pockets and increase the diameter on some of the indexing holes.
20200812_160842_resize_77.jpg 20200812_160808_resize_44.jpg 20200812_160827_resize_21.jpg


And here is the reveal for the give away set! Spalted Yellow Pachaco Spyderco Watu scales!! To enter visit my website and subscribe to the newsletter before 08/31/2020. I will announce the winner on the forum. http://trifectcustom.shop



20200813_074538_resize_25.jpg 20200813_074548_resize_98.jpg
Now that I know everything is programmed correctly it's time to mill up the Spalted Koa! Stay tuned!
 

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That was my question too. That would take a lot of CA glue to stabilize.
 
You'd be surprised how deep the super thin CA glue penetrates, it dries extremely hard as well. Also, the wood is already extremely stable even before the added step of stabilization. It is stored in a humidity controlled shop that stays between 40%-50% RH year round.

Sharp & Fiery said:
That was my question too. That would take a lot of CA glue to stabilize.
Click to expand...
 
trifectcustomshop said:
You'd be surprised how deep the super thin CA glue penetrates, it dries extremely hard as well. Also, the wood is already extremely stable even before the added step of stabilization. It is stored in a humidity controlled shop that stays between 40%-50% RH year round.
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Are you using a vaccum to stabilize? :) I use CA glue for some applications and yes, it is a good hard drying glue.

Wish you all the best in this project, and looking forward to seeing how they turn out. :)
 
Thank you for the kind words! I'm not using a vacuum on this one. I felt it was not necessary, the wood was very porous and absorbed the glue quite effectively. Typically I use a UV cured finish, which is a very hard, durable weather resistant finish, but the oil finish was by request. The wood was locked in pretty good with the spalting and I soaked the spalting lines in CA glue and it became much more rigid.
 
Also subbed your newsletter, but not sure I can wait until then to see if I am a winner - these are GORGEOUS! Fantastic work, my friend :)
 
Thought I would post this here of another set of Koa Watu scales. I just received more stock of high grade figured Koa. I know one of those sets is already reserved but I'll be taking reservations for the wood once I post pictures after I re-saw them. There should be at least 5 more build slots available for this batch of figured Koa.koa watu.jpg
 
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