How Wabi do I want to get with my Sabi ?

[Wowbagger]

Well heritchis the Brad Zinker Urban trapper (G-10) with custom “Grail Scales” from ebony a la Wowbagger.

I flattened the backs of them, drilled them for mounting screws and added clearance cut outs for the pivot tits and liner lock bar.

BOOM !
Ready to EDC !
I carried and used it several times today at work.



I plan on filing and smoothing and texturing. I’ll probably put some form of texture on ‘er similar to my Spyderco Tazman Salt (little squares).

It’s kind of like an old hot rod; drive it (EDC it ) during the day . . . work on it all night.

Note on the under side one scale is thicker than the other near the pivot though the same scale back near the tail is fairly the same as the other scale.
Dare I leave them asymmetrical ?
These are just scrap cut offs from another project; from a round turning no less.



Anyway . . . I’m stoked to finally have an ebony scaled knife, my first one and stoked to have another Urban Trapper (my Grail as long as it has funny fat scales).
Like my first one I modded.


I’m not even sure how much I will work on it tonight; there are some old Star Trek episodes I have that need watching. I’ll probably pass a rasp over the edges of the scales to take some of the really aggressive “texture” off the scales. We’ll see.

And for those who are really freaking out : No I’m not going to leave it this way.

Probably.

More photos and in my next post.

 

[Wowbagger]

licorice curls any one ?

 

[Wowbagger]

Carried it a few days. Pulled the scales . . . lost the pin again (see my first Urban Trapper Mod . . . that time I finally found the pin in my pants cuff). Found the pin on the floor this time.


Added some more clearance for the lock bar towards the origin. That improved the action significantly (not over the factory action but just the action since I put on the ebony scales).
Added some clearance in one of the screw holes in one scale and that fixed the action to where it is now as good as it was from the factory. A learning experience. I will now go back and improve the screw alignment on my first mod. The action on it hasn't been all that enthusiastic.


I cut off some length on the ends of the scales and holding each scale one at a time in my hand I smoothed and shaped them with a sharp new wood rasp.





Now that the scales are cleaner and smoother I'm considering keeping them smooth because the bare ebony feels so nice in hand. The texture I was considering would be more practical but would wreak the "ebonyness" of this knife. When I took the above and bellow shots of the handle I realized I haven't sculpted them to have a waist like the first one. I may do some of that. I have also been considering adding some dimples between the screws similar to the scales on this Cold Steel Tuff Lite

 

[REK Knives]

Nice project, thanks for sharing! You should look into the kershaw 1066st ... Saw it and immediately thought of your love for fat handles here's pics next to a small sebbie

 

[Wowbagger]

love for fat handles here's pics next to a small sebbie

Oh yeah. That does it !
More griptillian than a Griptillian.