Darn folder designs! &*%$!

[Chiro75]

So, I got my lifetime supply of 0.090" 6/4 from Halpern, but whenever I design a folder I either come up with a completely functional, but totally boring snoozer of a design or with something a little more original and lively that looks like it travelled here from some alien world. It's very frustrating. Something useful, but original is rattling around in my head but I just can't make it get out onto paper! Then I look at someone else's website and go "That's PERFECT! That's what I want to do EXACTLY" but that would be ripping off someone else's work. Any ideas? If I put this much work into something it has to be original and cool, but I hate everything I draw.

 

[faramir]

Say, how about checking out Lloyd Harding's huuuuge knifemaking opus (only a part of which is avaliable online but still heapsof ideas/designs), avaliable online free of charge (read the text at the bottom of that page). At the very least you'll get some new ideas, and perhaps you'll even end up with a great proven design, paying tribute to what was obviously a great man -what more could a person want ?

 

[jiminy]

Do a 'folder' that extends/retracts like a Stanley razor knife ...i.e. manually with a slide 'button' on the left side of the handle. That's 'original' (at least I don't recall seeing one), and I'm 'giving' you the idea. (Simply take apart a Stanley razor knife to get an idea of the mechanism. I imagine that the slide button would have to be located far to the rear of the handle, and instead of a tray that the razor blade sits on, make it an 'arm' with a tab that fits into a hole in the blade.)
No charge for the idea ...except ...maybe ...a keeper 'sample' of the finished product

 

[Chiro75]

Faramir, I have the disc of Lloyd's work, but I didn't see any framelocks or liner locks that were jumping out at me. Good stuff, though! Some nice slipjoint designs, and lots of lockbacks.

Jiminy, it's going to be a framelock/liner lock. I have a king's ransom of 0.09" titanium, and I've gotten close with my last failed attempt, so if I can get a decent design together I'll be made (assuming I can drill holes and tap them at 90°, which is a big assumption!). I just can't design a non-boring framelock. :grumpy:

 

[jiminy]

Well, it could still be a linerlock, just make the blade slide forward rather than fold. Stack the titanium if you have to make it thicker to accomodate the blade thickness. You've got to do 'engineering' on the design either way