Native modification

[The Deacon]

From the day I got my first Native, the thought had been rattling around in my head that, as great a knife as it is, it would be even better if the hole was not partially obscured by the handle. Soooo, yesterday I'm taking out the trash and spot a piece of wood dowel on the ground near the dumpster. Tossed the trash in the dumpster, picked up the dowel and was about to throw it in too when the thought struck me that it might be "useful". Anyway, I wrapped a piece of 120 grit around it and tried the idea out on my BRK Native, Yeah, I'm a chicken and didn't want to risk the S30V one till I was sure it would come out halfway decent looking. As it turned out, the FRN sanded fairly easily and very smoothly and the whole job took less than half an hour. Took the picture below after it was done. Did the S30V one this morning. I like the way they feel, still have to get some fine sandpaper to put the finishing touches on both of them, but thought I'd share the results.

Top to bottom:
BRK after modification
S30V before modification
Spyderco Forums Native III - ain't touching this one!

 

[Vess]

Nice!

I have girlish hands, so this never bothered me (much), but still it's a great idea, and easy to do. But I've come with a warning: don't overheat your FRN. I tried mirror-polishing the blade on my FRN Ladybug after I fileworked it's spine, and the wheel of the Dremel brushed the FRN in one place for just a second or so, and FRN literally melted. Had to buff it off with sandpaper by hand.

Just something to keep in mind...

Natives... Gotta love 'em!

 

[u812]

Looks good,now to figure out how to replace the wire clip with a standard clip.

 

[The Deacon]

Honestly Jeff, I'd be more tempted to go in the other direction and replace the Native I clip with a wire one.

I get visions at times of Sal pulling his hair wondering if it's will ever be possible to please us Spydie nuts! Let's see, I'll take a Native I, but with the swedge grind of the Native III, the "fine" thumb grooves of a BRK Native, and fish-scale FRN and a three screw ambi tip down clip like the Calypso.

And Vess, yes, you are right, FRN will melt if overheated. I tend to work slow and easy on plastic of any kind, built a lot of plastic models in my younger days. Files, sandpaper and a good pin-vise drill are a lot safer to use on it than power tools.

For anyone thinking of trying this mod, 120 is a good grit to use, anything much coarser and it will leave deep scratches than will be PITA to remove, anything much finer, and it will take forever. 120 cuts slow enough that it's pretty hard to screw things up, but fast enough so you know you're making progress. I did mine with the knife held in one hand and the sandpaper wrapped dowel in the other. This is one of those cases where you really don't want to make a perfectly flat and level cut with squared off edges, so a bit of "rocking" motion is a good thing.

 

[kudzu74]

Hey, I think the only way to please us all is the 'made to order' concept. Right Sal? (just kidding) However, I would like to see some more exotic handles for the natives or something for the Native IIIs like another G10, Carbon Fiber, or maybe even a titanium handle. You listenin' Sal? (screams like a baby...'I want, I want!) Anyhow, I like the concept of adjusting your natives and if I ever tinkered with one it would only be the one I use for EDC and not one of the many natives in my collection. Just my two cents and a nickle for inflation. Talk to you all laterz!

 

[calyth]

I actually liked how the Native have the hole partially covered. I initially didn't like the hump on the more classic Spydies before, and I loved the way the Native feels. I guess my hands are not big enough to really feel the difference by having part of the thumb hole covered by the FRN.

 

[gull wing]

Going to pull out my Natives and see if this mod will be an improvment for me. Your pics do look good, you did a great job.
I love the s30v blade and the vg10 is not bad either.