Please, More Carbon Fiber for Chaparral

D

DocT

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Mar 25, 2012
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Sal, please, more carbon fiber for the Chaparral. That Silver Twill is very nice, but a black CF with a red or purple thread would be great, too. There are many more choices and colors. I realize this has been asked before, but I think a lot of us would like to have such a great looking knife priced where us mere mortals can buy it without being killed by our wives. The current CF version is priced about right. So. please, give us normal mortals some good choices.
 
DocT said:
Sal, please, more carbon fiber for the Chaparral. That Silver Twill is very nice, but a black CF with a red or purple thread would be great, too. There are many more choices and colors. I realize this has been asked before, but I think a lot of us would like to have such a great looking knife priced where us mere mortals can buy it without being killed by our wives. The current CF version is priced about right. So. please, give us normal mortals some good choices.
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How about carbon kevlar? I'd be down for that. As it stands I come from the car scene, and with all the fake CF I've seen over the years it's left a bad taste in my mouth, lol. I can't stomach owning anything with carbon fiber - it just looks and feels so cheap to me. It must have been all the 'carbon fiber' phone cases and vinyl over everything, for so long! I need to get one of these CF knives in my hand, because I'm sure I just need that image erased from memory and a different context. :D

I want a knife incorporating copper! Handle scales, hardware, anodizing - I don't care just give me copper! :p
 
vanslem6 said:
How about carbon kevlar? I'd be down for that. As it stands I come from the car scene, and with all the fake CF I've seen over the years it's left a bad taste in my mouth, lol. I can't stomach owning anything with carbon fiber - it just looks and feels so cheap to me. It must have been all the 'carbon fiber' phone cases and vinyl over everything, for so long! I need to get one of these CF knives in my hand, because I'm sure I just need that image erased from memory and a different context. :D

I want a knife incorporating copper! Handle scales, hardware, anodizing - I don't care just give me copper! :p
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Lol! Completely agree! There is so much horribly tacky CF inspired nonsense out there now...
Fortunately, all of Spydercos CF I have owned is quite beautiful and nice to grasp.

My personal favorite is peel ply because of its low key appearance, and has great texture and feel in hand.
But, that is kind of opposite what DocT may be searching for, something with more visual impact...
 
Sal has stated that there are three handle materials in the works. I know one is bronze and one is a natural material but I do not know what the third is going to be. I believe the bronze will have some intricate machine work (but only time will tell) so I doubt either of these two will be at the price point of the carbon fiber version. Who knows what the third material in the works is? Not I.
 
What I want to see is something that looks good and is less expensive. These new handle materials are great, but for a small market. I like looking at those expensive titanium stepped scales, but I do not want to pay that kind of money. I can by 3 carbon fiber Chaparrals for what the stepped titanium's cost.
Peel ply is fine by me. Spyderco has done some nice scales, such as the blue thread, lightning strike, and silver twill. Any of these would be nice.
 
Yeah I agree, the stepped titanium is beautiful and quite a marvel of machining prowess... but just way beyond my budget as a non-collector.
 
Real Carbon Fiber, as well as Peel Ply (CF + G10) is light weight and super strong. In fact, they make high speed drive shafts for race cars out of it as it is stronger than the heavier steel. It is a good knife scale material. They even make high end handgun grips out of CF. The best fishing rods are made out of it. It is simply a great material and can be had in endless configurations, materials, patterns, colors, etc.
 
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I would advocate gently chamferring the razor sharp edges of the Chaparral's back lock and liners, adding the David Boye dent, and then working on additional scale materials. :)
 
DocT said:
Real Carbon Fiber, as well as Peel Ply (CF + G10) is light weight and super strong. In fact, they make high speed drive shafts for race cars out of it as it is stronger than the heavier steel. It is a good knife scale material. They even make high end handgun grips out of CF. The best fishing rods are made out of it. It is simply a great material and can be had in endless configurations, materials, patterns, colors, etc.
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That's all true, as they can also make wheels out of CF and entire race cars (F1 uses CF and CK). It has many applications and is a great material - I just can't wrap my head around it. I can't un-see what I've seen, hahaha! Kevlar would be cool though. It's yellowish, and would look pretty wicked with everything else black. I guess I'm just partial to more organic materials. Though I do like G10 because of its simplicity.

But ultimately I have no problem with anything that's out there. I don't have to buy it if I don't want. I was just having some fun! :D
 
powernoodle said:
I would advocate gently chamferring the razor sharp edges of the Chaparral's back lock and liners, adding the David Boye dent, and then working on additional scale materials. :)
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I agree that this needs doing. I had to do it to mine. But, once done, it is a great knife.

(weird that my $40 Cat was better finished)
 
DocT said:
Real Carbon Fiber, as well as Peel Ply (CF + G10) is light weight and super strong. In fact, they make high speed drive shafts for race cars out of it as it is stronger than the heavier steel. It is a good knife scale material. They even make high end handgun grips out of CF. The best fishing rods are made out of it. It is simply a great material and can be had in endless configurations, materials, patterns, colors, etc.
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Peel Ply is not necessary CF and G10 together, it's just the name of the process used to add texture to the resin on the grip.
You're probably thinking of just laminate.

Where Carbon Fiber and other composites like it really shine is structural integrity and absorbing resonance through compliance, along with being light weight. Its structural properties can also be finely tuned. Like if an application needs high torsional stiffness, but some lateral compliance, that can be attained through layup and weave. It also has little to no fatigue life like aluminum for example. In many cases it is also more easily repairable than aluminum structure.

But, as just a flat slab, cover, scale, applique, or whatever, it honestly serves fairly little purpose considering its properties.

What I kind of dislike seeing (even more than fake printed CF graphic) is people replacing non structural plastic parts with carbon fiber, just wasting money! Like a license plate surround for example. The CF will be no lighter than a plastic one, and really what is it doing, other than attempting to turn a material into a sort of jewelry? Kind of insulting. This goes on a lot with knives now, but atleast much of it is cool to look at...
 
powernoodle said:
I would advocate gently chamferring the razor sharp edges of the Chaparral's back lock and liners, adding the David Boye dent, and then working on additional scale materials. :)
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DocT said:
I agree that this needs doing. I had to do it to mine. But, once done, it is a great knife.

(weird that my $40 Cat was better finished)
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"Crisp" liners and such are a sign of a makers skill, and are often a sign that they are proud of their work (it's easy to hide blemishes or slightly mis-matched parts by "softening" these edges).

I understand that many prefer them softened, I just wanted to present another perspective on it, as I don't necessarily view these crisp lines as a negative, or a "lack of finishing"...
 
mattmanyam said:
"Crisp" liners and such are a sign of a makers skill, and are often a sign that they are proud of their work (it's easy to hide blemishes or slightly mis-matched parts by "softening" these edges).

I understand that many prefer them softened, I just wanted to present another perspective on it, as I don't necessarily view these crisp lines as a negative, or a "lack of finishing"...
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Interesting point. I see exactly what you mean.
If the "finishing" requires further steps to solve an issue from a previous step that could show it might not have been done so well or precise... or, may even promote slightly sloppier work if it is known it can be covered up by further finishing...
I see a lot of people complain about the Caly for the same thing, but I actually don't mind it at all and like the "crisp" feeling in hand, as you say.
Same with slightly sharper Spyderholes, I actually like that.

Thanks for bringing that point up, definitely another perspective. :thumbup:
 
SpeedHoles said:
Interesting point. I see exactly what you mean.
If the "finishing" requires further steps to solve an issue from a previous step that could show it might not have been done so well or precise... or, may even promote slightly sloppier work if it is known it can be covered up by further finishing...
I see a lot of people complain about the Caly for the same thing, but I actually don't mind it at all and like the "crisp" feeling in hand, as you say.
Same with slightly sharper Spyderholes, I actually like that.

Thanks for bringing that point up, definitely another perspective. :thumbup:
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Agree. I like the sharper hole. I love my Chap CF1. What I would like to see:
1: Do not do the Boye Detent on the lock. Mine take a bit of travel to unlock. If mine is typical, then the detent it not a good thing.
2: Linerless handle material. CF mono would be mind-blowing (since lionsteel is doing it now, and spyderco has co-ops there (lionspy)), it would be great, or G-10.
3. Nothing. The knife is great. IF it would go linerless, with natural or man-made materials (how about cocobolo, or black micarta like the Al Mar ultra-lites), it would be a fantastic knife. My CF1 Chap is awesome.
 
To be clear, having liners and lock bars that not de-horned is not a sign of quality. The reason it is done is that it takes time and skill to smooth out the sharp edges. That means money. It is a sign of cost savings. The Techno, for example, is raved about because it has been smoothed over very nicely.

As to this thread, it is supposed to be about scales. I note that none of you have spent the more than $300 on the new Chaparrals. They are simply too expensive for it to be prudent, unless you are well off. What I was saying is that we need scale materials that look good but that keep the cost down. I like good carbon and glass fiber for that purpose. No one says the Gayle Bradley Air looks cheap.
 
As already mentioned bronze and a natural material are next so i hope you are patient because i doubt they are going to get a lot more affordable any time soon.
 
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DocT said:
To be clear, having liners and lock bars that not de-horned is not a sign of quality. The reason it is done is that it takes time and skill to smooth out the sharp edges. That means money. It is a sign of cost savings. The Techno, for example, is raved about because it has been smoothed over very nicely.

As to this thread, it is supposed to be about scales. I note that none of you have spent the more than $300 on the new Chaparrals. They are simply too expensive for it to be prudent, unless you are well off. What I was saying is that we need scale materials that look good but that keep the cost down. I like good carbon and glass fiber for that purpose. No one says the Gayle Bradley Air looks cheap.
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To be clear, I own three Chapparalls (all but the latest anodized one), so don't assume.

If you want to look up some of sals posts on the matter of crisp edges, feel free... I'm not going to do the work for you.

I stand by my earlier comments.
 
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