Folder #5- kind of a proto for an idea I had

Matt Shade

Matt Shade

Joined
Nov 24, 1999
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My other hobby is horses. I raise and show quarter horses in reining, and go to horseshows almost every weekend from about march through september. I also did a little work breaking young stuff to saddle for people and have gotten to know quite a few horse trainers.
One handed folders are really popular with horse people, you see a lot of spyderco's clip it lineup, some of benchmade's stuff, and sadly quite a few knockoffs. You also see them all being used as screwdrivers A LOT! Bridles and tack are held together with chicago screws and people are always having them come loose at the most inconvenient time, or are trying to switch bits at the last minute.
So I decided to make a one handed knife that you could use for chicago screws. I didn't want to change the size or weight any more than necessary though, so what I came up with was a wedge coming off of the rear spacer thats ground down like a flat blade screwdriver.Its just stub, sticks out about 1/8" and you don't notice it in your pocket or when your using it as a knife.
Here's some pics:

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Blade is 3" long, .125" 440C triple quenched and tempered.
Its about 4 1/4" closed. Scales are some el cheapo aluminum I found at the hardware store for about $2 for a 6ft bar (still not worth it :rolleyes: ) had some voids show up when I was finishing it :(
The backspacer/screwdriver is also 440C, single quenched and tempered for 2 hours at 475 degrees, wasn't sure how hot it should be. It got fairly dark in color, I don't think it will break if dropped. Liners are .040" 410 SS, both hardened.
I know folks around here don't like serrations, especially combo edge, but they're about as good as it gets for cutting a double layered nylon halter (about 3X as heavy as a seatbelt) or lead ropes and stuff. Horses are kind of accident prone.

What do you think?
 

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Way Cool! I love working knives! I personaly don't like serations, but know a lot of people who do, depends on the use.

Pretty inovative, should work great.:cool:
 
I particularly like the edge curve to the tip. It has a rather fast turn that looks functional; not to say a slower curve is not. It stood out to me in a positive way. I also like the deep edge (running far up the blade), perhaps it is only an unintended photo exhageration.

This should be a good pocket knife for who ever is the lucky owner. The stainless, I suppose it is, scales should ride well against loose coins, keys and such.

In all I like it and wish that I had gotten to the point of making folders so that I could appreciate it more than I even do now.

EDIT: I thought of this later because it was in my memory but failed on my post to bring it up: Your fine distal stood out to me. It looks very well done and I like the definitive tip of the straight and complimentary distal.

Roger
 
Thanks for the kind words guys :)


Roger,
Just looking at the pictures of your knives on here tells me you have enough skill to put together a folder. You should try it.
If you plan on doing it on a large scale like some of our resident experts you really have to get the milling machine and all the bells and whistles and learn how to use them. Doin it as a once in awhile thing for fun you can do surprisingly good with a minimum of tools.
The key is to make the knife once peice at a time. I actually do pretty much everything flying by the seat of my pants, no drawings or plans (those come later if I want to reproduce the design)without a mill or lathe. You just have to accept the fact that there will be a margin of error, so you make the blade and then carefully measure and make the liners to match, then stop pin, then backspacer etc. Make it a peice at a time to match what you already have and things fit together pretty well when your done.
I guess maybe I should start another thread on this in case anyone else out there is interested in trying folders but is afraid to start for lack of equipment.The learning curve was pretty big, my first folder turned out great mostly through dumb luck, the second attempt crashed and burned quickly and from there things have gone pretty well. There are lots of little tricks you learn along the way to make things easier though.

Thanks again for the compliments.
 
Both thumbs up on that knife of yours, Matt! I've built one lockback from scratch, and swore on my mother-in-law's soul I'd never make another one. Now I'm kinda changing my mind about making some folders and lockers, too bad for her. you have a really solid design for a user, and could be spruced up for some fancy works, too. A tip of the Halto Hat for you, guy. Ask an oldtimer what this means if you don't catch it.
 
Matt,

Actually, you may be happy to know, the milling machine was the first tool for this stuff I bought. I also have a lot of bucks sunk into tooling for it.

I have intentions of making folders. First I will continue fixed blades for a while. Maybe next year.

Roger
 
I like this, seems very functional and well thought out. Only been riding a few times, but can see where this knife would be VERY useful, and I thinkt he screwdriver is very well executed. Can see that sitting in my pocket and never realize it's there. And it seems to flow well from the filework.
 
A very nice piece of work!
How about a pic of the clip side?

All the best,
Mike U.
 
Sounds & looks like a great idea for all knife carriers - not just horsemen! Maybe you can stop people from ruining the tips of their blades!:D
 
Thanks ! :D

John,
I gotta go find an oldtimer. Maybe I'll catch my dad, he shouldn't mind me asking if I tell him why ;) Folks accuse me of bein a grumpy old man already, but I'm just plannin on drivin em nuts for a LONG time!

Roger,
if you have a mill, I can't help you ;) I've never had the priviledge of touching one. I was thinking of a "poor mans folders for dummies" kind of thing :) I'm sure you'll do fine when you start, and feel free to shoot some questions my way if you want to know some simple ideas for doing things, more time consuming sometimes, but most stuff just requires patience.

misque
I'll try to come up with a clip side pic for you, nothing real special going on over there, just a standard clip from TKS and everything else pretty much matches the other side.

Thanks etp and clydetz
I know horse people aren't the only ones guilty, but they're the ones I catch snapping points off most often. The screwdriver is so short I'm not sure it would be nearly as useful as an SAK or leatherman style one, but anything is better than nothing when the alternative is using the tip.

I'll have to make some more of these :)
 
Matt,

You don't make poor mans folders for dummies. That's the way I saw it. I think you make a damn good knife and I would anytime be pleased to get pointers and advise from you.

I'll make a folder someday. I gotta learn how to make a few fixed blades that will satisfy me first. My first one that will do that for me is going to be my next one - the one I'm working on now.

Roger
 
Matt I've been thinking about this cool knife for several days now and came back to see if I could tell how you ground the blade for the screwdriver. And in fact it does look like you convex ground it to the edge, which was what I was going to suggest. (For some reason the mental image that stuck with me was of a wedge or flat ground cross section.) I think this is a great knife and one of those ideas that we'll start seeing on CRKTs here in about 9 months or so. :D You watch, this is going to get copied soon.

I too really like the blunt tip on your blade. Very functional and sturdy, and would let you reach deep into something to cut. There are just some things a point is no good for!

This is one of the best working knives I've ever seen. I hope if someone decides to copy it you get an opportunity to license it rather than get ripped off, which saddly happens a lot to folks here.

Since you changed your avatar I've been wanting to mention that I think it's excellent. Not only do you have a great second vocation, but that is one beautiful fine animal.

Dave
 
Easy guys my hats getting too tight ;)

Thanks roger!

Dave
Thanks for the kind words. I'll be happy just to see my idea put to use, but I'll be really happy if I get credit for it.
The screwdriver is kind of a convex grind, I cut the bevels for the most part on the edge of the platen on my 4X36, then squared the end on my bench grinder.
Thanks for the compliment on the little guy in my avatar too :) He's pretty special to me. We call him hank after his great grandsire brother hank, and he was born in the last week of march from a mare I showed for about 5 years. She's earned a place here for life. We have a full sister to him who's a yearling and a half brother to him that was born on april 1st. This guy is my favorite though, he looks exactly like his mother and is as ornery as they come. He kicked me in the shin and gave me a huge bruise before he was even a week old, and was very hard headed about wearing a halter. He's a really friendly litle guy and behaves really well now though other than being ornery. He bolted through the stall door and chased a cat all over the barn last week and is constantly looking for a chance to do it again :D


Edit: forgot to add, sorry but I can't get another picture. Don't know why I didn't think of it, but I gave the knife away saturday. Friend of mine just graduated from high school and is going on to findlay university to major in equine training and business management. Thought he should have something better than the knockoff of a spyderco delica he had been using. It seemed to be quite a surprise when he opened it, the look on his face was definitely worth it :)
 
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