- Joined
- Dec 3, 2013
- Messages
- 590
Walnut win the hardwood poll -
http://www.strawpoll.me/14912556
People can still opt in for the GAW up until the knife is complete, which could take a little while. If you're interested in receiving it, just post "I'm in"
I've been lurking and occasionally posting here for several years, and I've learned a TON about knives in that time. I really enjoy learning all the little details about knife construction. Probably the most enjoyable thing I've picked up from this place has been modding. I love working with my hands and doing fine detail work and playing with different materials. I've always loved exotic woods and I've been having a lot of fun with Micarta. I used to do some minor "mods" to my modern knives before I got into slip joints, but the level of work you can do to a traditional knife with basic hand tools is *way* more fun
One of my favorite things is to pick up a $5 piece of junk off the auction site, or from a flea market, and turn it into something nice and usable. A big plus in the skills I've picked up is that I can address problems or shortcomings on knives. Maybe even put together your dream knife... At this point I feel like I can pick pretty much anything up and address any problems I need to with a factory knife. I'm way short of the really talented modders on the forum, but I'm learning a lot with each knife I do.
I've been wanting to do a GAW for a while now, but I thought I'd do something unique. I picked up this Providence RI Imperial jack for about the price of a cup of coffee ~ it should be here next week. My plan is to mod the knife based on responses to polls, then do a giveaway after posting some WIP pictures.
Here's the knife I picked up:
If it gets here and it's trashed, I will mod something else. I've got several laying around
I'm planning to do it with G10 liners (if people vote for liners) and Micarta handles, because I have an OK selection of both. I can also pick up some hardwood too, but I don't know what will be available 'til I get to the store. If wood is selected, I'll run to the store and see what's available then post a followup poll.
I've created some polls on Strawpoll on the design ~ if this doesn't work I will try something else. In the case of a tie, I'll cast the tie breaking vote. If some illogical combo shows up like a linerless tip bolstered shadow pattern in wood... we'll talk about it
I'll let the polls go until next Thursday, 1/25. If you're interested in the giveaway, just post that you're in. I'll do a random number draw to select the winner. I'd like to keep this in the US only due to legality concerns and shipping costs. Please be aware, I have a busy life with a whole fleet of kids and work responsibilities, so it may take me a little bit to put the knife together.
Anybody can vote in the polls, regardless of whether you want to enter.
So, here we go! Here are the links to all of the different decisions to be made:
Blade Selection:
60 votes cast in total, 39 votes for both blades, 21 votes for clip only.
Patina on blade and backsprings:
54 votes cast, 29 votes to leave the patina, 25 votes to clean it up.
Shadow Pattern vs Bolster
39 votes cast, 23 votes for bolsters, 16 votes for shadow pattern.
Bolster color:
Black paper received the most votes with 14, out of 40 total votes cast. Natural canvas was 2nd, with 10 votes.
Bolster style:
Short bolster barehead barely edged out a head beyond the long bolster bearhead, 12 votes to 11. I’m glad short bolsters prevailed, I think a long bolster would have looked weird on a serpentine frame…
Liner color:
The most discussed part of the knife by a long way! Black and re-using the stock liners came out even at 14 votes vs 14 votes out of 43 votes cast…
I’m going to use the tie breaker option to go with black. Sorry, I’m chickening out! The jeweler’s saw won’t be here until next week and I think I’ll be able to get some work done starting tonight. I bought some brass plate, and I have the saw coming though, so once I get my technique down, I will do another GAW with a brass-linered, wood shadow pattern with bird’s eye pivots.
Handle color/material:
Hardwood one this category with 18 votes out of 46 votes cast. Natural canvas was a close second with 15 votes. Black and canvas would have looked good, but I think the hardwood will give a similar effect, and be easier to work I will leave the poll open until about lunch time tomorrow to see if it changes. That said, I’m going to by some purple heart, Wenge and maybe a couple of others, regardless of what comes out victorious.
Pin material:
Brass won handily, with 28 votes out of 43. Copper was a distant second with only 9 votes. Sadly, carbon fiber came up with only 2.
Pin covers (Carbon fiber cap over the pins like Ohta does on some of his shadow slip joints)
In another landslide, just a direct pin through won with 23 votes out of 34. Birdseye pivots only got 7, while pin covers got a paltry 4. I will have to do the pin covers and CF pins on a knife soon, because I really want to try both of these ideas out!
http://www.strawpoll.me/14912556
People can still opt in for the GAW up until the knife is complete, which could take a little while. If you're interested in receiving it, just post "I'm in"
I've been lurking and occasionally posting here for several years, and I've learned a TON about knives in that time. I really enjoy learning all the little details about knife construction. Probably the most enjoyable thing I've picked up from this place has been modding. I love working with my hands and doing fine detail work and playing with different materials. I've always loved exotic woods and I've been having a lot of fun with Micarta. I used to do some minor "mods" to my modern knives before I got into slip joints, but the level of work you can do to a traditional knife with basic hand tools is *way* more fun
One of my favorite things is to pick up a $5 piece of junk off the auction site, or from a flea market, and turn it into something nice and usable. A big plus in the skills I've picked up is that I can address problems or shortcomings on knives. Maybe even put together your dream knife... At this point I feel like I can pick pretty much anything up and address any problems I need to with a factory knife. I'm way short of the really talented modders on the forum, but I'm learning a lot with each knife I do.
I've been wanting to do a GAW for a while now, but I thought I'd do something unique. I picked up this Providence RI Imperial jack for about the price of a cup of coffee ~ it should be here next week. My plan is to mod the knife based on responses to polls, then do a giveaway after posting some WIP pictures.
Here's the knife I picked up:
If it gets here and it's trashed, I will mod something else. I've got several laying around
I'm planning to do it with G10 liners (if people vote for liners) and Micarta handles, because I have an OK selection of both. I can also pick up some hardwood too, but I don't know what will be available 'til I get to the store. If wood is selected, I'll run to the store and see what's available then post a followup poll.
I've created some polls on Strawpoll on the design ~ if this doesn't work I will try something else. In the case of a tie, I'll cast the tie breaking vote. If some illogical combo shows up like a linerless tip bolstered shadow pattern in wood... we'll talk about it
I'll let the polls go until next Thursday, 1/25. If you're interested in the giveaway, just post that you're in. I'll do a random number draw to select the winner. I'd like to keep this in the US only due to legality concerns and shipping costs. Please be aware, I have a busy life with a whole fleet of kids and work responsibilities, so it may take me a little bit to put the knife together.
Anybody can vote in the polls, regardless of whether you want to enter.
So, here we go! Here are the links to all of the different decisions to be made:
Blade Selection:
60 votes cast in total, 39 votes for both blades, 21 votes for clip only.
Patina on blade and backsprings:
54 votes cast, 29 votes to leave the patina, 25 votes to clean it up.
Shadow Pattern vs Bolster
39 votes cast, 23 votes for bolsters, 16 votes for shadow pattern.
Bolster color:
Black paper received the most votes with 14, out of 40 total votes cast. Natural canvas was 2nd, with 10 votes.
Bolster style:
Short bolster barehead barely edged out a head beyond the long bolster bearhead, 12 votes to 11. I’m glad short bolsters prevailed, I think a long bolster would have looked weird on a serpentine frame…
Liner color:
The most discussed part of the knife by a long way! Black and re-using the stock liners came out even at 14 votes vs 14 votes out of 43 votes cast…
I’m going to use the tie breaker option to go with black. Sorry, I’m chickening out! The jeweler’s saw won’t be here until next week and I think I’ll be able to get some work done starting tonight. I bought some brass plate, and I have the saw coming though, so once I get my technique down, I will do another GAW with a brass-linered, wood shadow pattern with bird’s eye pivots.
Handle color/material:
Hardwood one this category with 18 votes out of 46 votes cast. Natural canvas was a close second with 15 votes. Black and canvas would have looked good, but I think the hardwood will give a similar effect, and be easier to work
I will leave the poll open until about lunch time tomorrow to see if it changes. That said, I’m going to by some purple heart, Wenge and maybe a couple of others, regardless of what comes out victorious. Pin material:
Brass won handily, with 28 votes out of 43. Copper was a distant second with only 9 votes. Sadly, carbon fiber came up with only 2.
Pin covers (Carbon fiber cap over the pins like Ohta does on some of his shadow slip joints)
In another landslide, just a direct pin through won with 23 votes out of 34. Birdseye pivots only got 7, while pin covers got a paltry 4. I will have to do the pin covers and CF pins on a knife soon, because I really want to try both of these ideas out!
Last edited:
