FRN handles with steel liners

S

spyderco endura

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Jan 26, 2008
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O.K., I know this is probably unfounded but what is the breaking strength of FRN handles with steel liners. I EDC an Endura 4 wave and wonder about the handle strength. Has any of you broken any of these handles and how much do you think it would take to do it? Thanks.:cool:
 
the blade would definitly break before the handle....and with the handle being realitivly short, it would take more force than any un-assisted human hand could apply
 
FRN even without the liners is amazingly strong. If you want to break the linered FRN handle, I suggest using high explosive. Just using a four foot length of pipe for a cheater is too much work.
 
I am sure someone might have broken one but I have never heard of it. I think you would have to really work at it and the blade pivot might even sheer first.
 
What exactly is FRN and how does it compare to the black composite that the 1st gen enduras and delicas were made with?
 
An FRN handle with steel liners is more likely to be damaged due to the liner(s) getting bent.

Only real ways to damage FRN itself would be to dip it in liquid nitrogen to make it brittle, then smack it with a hammer, or subject it to intense heat or open flame and melt/burn it.

STR sent me back the two FRN handle slabs from a couple knives he customized for me. I've folded one until the two ends damn near met, it sprung right back to flat.


Smith said:
What exactly is FRN and how does it compare to the black composite that the 1st gen enduras and delicas were made with?
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FRN is short for, and used as the generic name for, fiberglass re-enforced nylon. It's a mixture chopped glass fibers in nylon. Zytel is the trade name for one particular (IIRC Dupont's) version of FRN. FRN is the same stuff used on the first generation Delica and Endura, the Native, and a bunch of other Spyderco models.

Paul
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I love polymers. There are some who still associate "polymers" with cheap. Far, far from the truth.
 
Tell me about it. For some reason, Glocks, XDs, and other polymer pistols get the same bad rap. No failures due to the polymer have ever surfaced. Other design flaws yes, but the "plastic" parts just keep working.
 
My guess would be about five bucks a scale - after you pay off the $50,000 mold.
 
Smith said:
What exactly is FRN and how does it compare to the black composite that the 1st gen enduras and delicas were made with?
Click to expand...

FRN stands for Fiber Reinforced Nylon. It is Nylon to which has been added glass fibers.

I had an older Delica a few years back. I think it was made with the same, but without the metal reinforcement.
 
I don't make 'em. Sal has posted at various times costs of forty to sixty thousand dollars for tooling new FRN molds. I figure an average of fifty grand for a new design. That is a big reason why the Salt series knives are using the old Delica and Endura molds.

The molds are precision machined, engineered to withstand the temperature and pressure of injection molding fiber reinforced nylon. I don't know what the melting point of nylon is, but I do know it is pretty high. The molds have to take the heating and cooling repeatedly without failing, and they aren't exactly making one scale at a time. When you really think about it, I'm surprised they don't cost more.
 
spyderco endura said:
Why is it $50,000 dollars?
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To tack on to what Yab said, the designing of a mould is a very complex procedure that takes into account not only the shape of the handles, but also the polymer flow, overall shrinkage as it cools and precisely how it cools, making sure that there aren't any voids in the handles...

In short, a heck of a lot of stuff.
 
spyderco endura said:
Why is it $50,000 dollars?
Click to expand...

The mold has to withstand the pressures and temperatures needed to mold FRN. Somewhere on the order of 500F and 10,000 PSI. So we are talking thick stainless steel. And the mold has to have injector ports and must be machined to tight tolerances. This is very expensive.

You have to make a lot of handles for FRN to be a cost effective material.
 
xdshooter said:
Tell me about it. For some reason, Glocks, XDs, and other polymer pistols get the same bad rap. No failures due to the polymer have ever surfaced. Other design flaws yes, but the "plastic" parts just keep working.
Click to expand...

Yep, also a lot of newer cars have upper intake manifolds made of FRN.
 
i used to think FRN was the same thing as plastic. Not so. I had a cheap plastic Delica knock off break on me while doing light-medium duty. I have used my FRN Spyderco VERY hard and not only did they not break but they showed zero signs of stress. No cracks, chipping or bending that didn't return to normal after the work was done.

A knock off Delica may look like it is the same thing but it far from it. I admit many of the FRN Spydercos look cheap but looks are not reality. They are not cheap and hold up as well as any material I have seen.
 
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