- Joined
- Sep 3, 2012
- Messages
- 195
To start out, I will formally introduce myself for the first time on this forum: My name is Kellen Bogardus, and I am 18 years old. I am currently attending college in Massachusetts studying physics and mathematics, but I am originally from Oregon.
I have been a knife collector for a few years now. I have never had a huge collection and have only ever owned a little over a dozen knives, so when I get a knife I use it thoroughly and really get a sense of what I like and don't like about it. With this and as my knowledge of materials, edge geometry, and manufacturing increased I began to think about what I would want if I designed my own knife.
I began to think about this more and more seriously and about a year ago finally sat down with a pencil and paper and sketched out my perfect knife. After a week of sketching, erasing, and a lot of thinking for several hours a day I came up with this:
It's nothing unique, but that's because I wanted something that I knew would be functional, and because I generally like what is on the market right now. I wanted a slim 4" bladed folder with a classic blade shape and no more handle than needed for it to fold into.
Anyways, after that life got too busy to go any further, but I knew a paper sketch wasn't going to be enough. So, about six months ago I downloaded a CAD program, put a photocopy of this sketch in it as a template, and began designing. I had barely done any 3D design when I started so I learned as I went and it took way longer than it should have, but through a lot of revisions I ended up where I am now. I had always thought it would be cool to have it 3D printed and have a functioning prototype, so I designed it to fit hardware from my other knives. However, I recently got access to a 3d printer so I loaded the files and five hours later ended up with this.
It took a decent amount of sanding to get it functioning (the holes were all a bit small and I had to remove the support structure for the blade and bearing pockets) but now it locks and opens reliably. The pivot, bearings, stop pin, detent screw, and lockbar stop are from a ZT 0560, and the rear screws are from a Spyderco Southard.
This file is only of my printable version, I have a newer version copied off of this file that has a lot of little changes such as internal milling of the handles, improved lock and stop pin geometry, steel lockbar insert, space for a 1/4" pivot and up to .59" diameter caged bearings, etc.
Specs:
-4.10" blade length (3.75" cutting edge)
-5.00" handle length
-.53" handle width
-3.8oz (with internal milling on both sides, ~5.2oz without)
-3.5mm blade thickness
-4.5mm handle thickness
The unfortunate thing about this is that right now I am not a knife maker, only a designer. I won't be able to make these myself for at least several years. I only have access to a small shop with some drill presses, a bandsaw, a lathe from the '30s, and a cheap manual mill from the '50s. I bet some guys can work with that but I'm not confident that I can. Plus, I'm a full time college student and varsity athlete, so I don't exactly have a lot of time or energy on my hands.
So, besides just to show all of you something you might think is cool, the point of this post is to see if there is enough interest in this design to have someone else make it through a collaboration. If any makers out there are interested in this design feel free to send me a message. I don't know how collaborations usually go but I won't ask for much; basically as long as I get one or two for myself I'm happy. If no one is interested then at least I know I provided all of you with an example of the cool stuff you can do with 3D printing.
I have been a knife collector for a few years now. I have never had a huge collection and have only ever owned a little over a dozen knives, so when I get a knife I use it thoroughly and really get a sense of what I like and don't like about it. With this and as my knowledge of materials, edge geometry, and manufacturing increased I began to think about what I would want if I designed my own knife.
I began to think about this more and more seriously and about a year ago finally sat down with a pencil and paper and sketched out my perfect knife. After a week of sketching, erasing, and a lot of thinking for several hours a day I came up with this:
It's nothing unique, but that's because I wanted something that I knew would be functional, and because I generally like what is on the market right now. I wanted a slim 4" bladed folder with a classic blade shape and no more handle than needed for it to fold into.
Anyways, after that life got too busy to go any further, but I knew a paper sketch wasn't going to be enough. So, about six months ago I downloaded a CAD program, put a photocopy of this sketch in it as a template, and began designing. I had barely done any 3D design when I started so I learned as I went and it took way longer than it should have, but through a lot of revisions I ended up where I am now. I had always thought it would be cool to have it 3D printed and have a functioning prototype, so I designed it to fit hardware from my other knives. However, I recently got access to a 3d printer so I loaded the files and five hours later ended up with this.
It took a decent amount of sanding to get it functioning (the holes were all a bit small and I had to remove the support structure for the blade and bearing pockets) but now it locks and opens reliably. The pivot, bearings, stop pin, detent screw, and lockbar stop are from a ZT 0560, and the rear screws are from a Spyderco Southard.
This file is only of my printable version, I have a newer version copied off of this file that has a lot of little changes such as internal milling of the handles, improved lock and stop pin geometry, steel lockbar insert, space for a 1/4" pivot and up to .59" diameter caged bearings, etc.
Specs:
-4.10" blade length (3.75" cutting edge)
-5.00" handle length
-.53" handle width
-3.8oz (with internal milling on both sides, ~5.2oz without)
-3.5mm blade thickness
-4.5mm handle thickness
The unfortunate thing about this is that right now I am not a knife maker, only a designer. I won't be able to make these myself for at least several years. I only have access to a small shop with some drill presses, a bandsaw, a lathe from the '30s, and a cheap manual mill from the '50s. I bet some guys can work with that but I'm not confident that I can. Plus, I'm a full time college student and varsity athlete, so I don't exactly have a lot of time or energy on my hands.
So, besides just to show all of you something you might think is cool, the point of this post is to see if there is enough interest in this design to have someone else make it through a collaboration. If any makers out there are interested in this design feel free to send me a message. I don't know how collaborations usually go but I won't ask for much; basically as long as I get one or two for myself I'm happy. If no one is interested then at least I know I provided all of you with an example of the cool stuff you can do with 3D printing.
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