- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,192
I've been on an (seemingly) eternal search for the perfect primary defensive folder. I have a SOG Pentagon Elite 2 with about a 5-inch blade that I really love, but it doesn't quite fit the bill. The studs are recessed into the handle which makes them hard to hit with any kind of speed.
Tonight I got the bright idea that, since it's a fairly cheap knife, I'd just grind away some material from the Zytel handle on the right hand side to create some relief so that the stud would be faster and easier to strike open. You see, I think the best defense folders are tip-up ones and I always use my index finger on the right side to open the knife as it clears my pocket.
So I took the thing apart and started grinding away with my Craftsman rotery tool and did a rather good job. Except I went a tiny bit too far in one place and now that place is translucent because the Zytel is too thin there now. I wiggled and bended the scale and it seemed to be just fine, EXCEPT that when I put the thing back together to test it, it wouldn't open!
I must have put the wrong screws in the wrong places, so I tried again. Turns out that I had the screw that holds the lock in too tight, so the lock wouldn't move and release the blade. The trouble is that I stripped the screw heads during all of this! DRAT! DRAT! DRAT! I can't get that ONE last screw out!
I'll have to drill out the screw or something because they don't make EZ outs that darn small. And then I have to go to the hardware store to try to find similar screws.
WORSE is that I'm SURE I was on the right track to something REALLY GOOD! So, now I'm obsessed with this project! I'd even go as far as to buy another one of these knives just to have spare parts.
But the worst thing is that I won't be able to finish it and try it until later in the weekend or even Monday.
Oh, well. I just hate it when I screw something up in the process of doing something good! Live and learn. I learn from my mistakes and get more skilled all the time at 'tinkering'.
Has anyone else (I'm sure pro knife-makers do it all the time) really screwed something up while trying to make it better?
COME ON! Make me feel better!
P.S. Does anyone know a place where I can get custom G10 scales made if I send a prototype made of ground-to-shape Zytel?
Tonight I got the bright idea that, since it's a fairly cheap knife, I'd just grind away some material from the Zytel handle on the right hand side to create some relief so that the stud would be faster and easier to strike open. You see, I think the best defense folders are tip-up ones and I always use my index finger on the right side to open the knife as it clears my pocket.
So I took the thing apart and started grinding away with my Craftsman rotery tool and did a rather good job. Except I went a tiny bit too far in one place and now that place is translucent because the Zytel is too thin there now. I wiggled and bended the scale and it seemed to be just fine, EXCEPT that when I put the thing back together to test it, it wouldn't open!
I must have put the wrong screws in the wrong places, so I tried again. Turns out that I had the screw that holds the lock in too tight, so the lock wouldn't move and release the blade. The trouble is that I stripped the screw heads during all of this! DRAT! DRAT! DRAT! I can't get that ONE last screw out!
I'll have to drill out the screw or something because they don't make EZ outs that darn small. And then I have to go to the hardware store to try to find similar screws.
WORSE is that I'm SURE I was on the right track to something REALLY GOOD! So, now I'm obsessed with this project! I'd even go as far as to buy another one of these knives just to have spare parts.
But the worst thing is that I won't be able to finish it and try it until later in the weekend or even Monday.
Oh, well. I just hate it when I screw something up in the process of doing something good! Live and learn. I learn from my mistakes and get more skilled all the time at 'tinkering'.
Has anyone else (I'm sure pro knife-makers do it all the time) really screwed something up while trying to make it better?
COME ON! Make me feel better!
P.S. Does anyone know a place where I can get custom G10 scales made if I send a prototype made of ground-to-shape Zytel?
