showing off my new mule team #16.

JV3

Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
4,256
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watch out! there's a new sheath maker in town.

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this knife is surprisingly comfortable to hold even without scales...the palm swells are awesome.
 
Xhp is awesome. Get some scales and a kydex sheath for that bad boy :D

good to hear! the scales and kydex is next month probably...i'm still dizzy from how much i just spent on the orange pm2 (coming tomorrow) :o only reason i actually bought this mule is because it has the same steel as that pm2.
 
Jv3 you're the &*#+# for hurting my wallet. I can't wait to start on my knives. Thanks for the intro to the mule team
 
I have already christened my XHP with my own blood while doing a cord wrap handle.. Its sharp
 
Xhp is awesome. Get some scales and a kydex sheath for that bad boy :D

Nice sheath. I cheated and had one made for me. I'm really liking this mule. Been using it to carve up some pear wood and aspen from the backyard.

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I paid to have a couple Mule sheaths made and then realized how expensive and annoying it is to send off the knife after fitting custom scales. So I watched a couple youtube videos and bought supplies to make kydex sheaths. It's surprising easy to make a functional and not unnatractive kydex sheath. My sheaths aren't professional quality but they are fully functional.
 
I fought the urge to buy a #16 for several days, and then just broke down and ordered. I have spoken to my 'service provider' up in New York, and he has agreed to make the handle. Just have to decide on G10 or Carbon Fiber. My sheath guy is lined up to do the kydex for me.
 
Nice sheath. I cheated and had one made for me. I'm really liking this mule. Been using it to carve up some pear wood and aspen from the backyard.

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It is really cool to see a mule with G10 on it. I think a lot of people are bored with G10, and do something a little extra on the Mules, but that looks nice, clean, and simple.
 
I just finished my XHP Mule this week. The scales are Camel Thorn wood from southern Africa. This stuff is very dense, very hard, and very oily - I couldn't use the sander on it because the heat burned the wood, and I had to be careful with the drill press as well. I normally lean toward burl woods, but this figured grain is really deep and interesting. I exposed the thong hole in the back and attached a lanyard made from 3mm brown leather, capped off with a square Spydie bead and a diamond knot.

I also made the scale attachment a bit different this time. The Amazon Supply site has a bunch of very small "bearing race" washers in very small sizes - and I found some 0.033" thick washers that snugly fit the 0.25" counterbored hole for the pivot bolts. It gives the handles a nice finished look.

Cheers!
TedP

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That's really striking wood! Never seen it before but it looks great on your XHP Mule.

I've got mine clad in Halpern Titanium's Earth Brown G-10 and it looks and feels quite nice. I'm going to get some of those washers and the pivots you use to attach you scales (thanks for posting them in a different thread) so I can get my other Mules up and running. I'm thinking Wenge, Ziricote and perhaps some Cocobolo or figured Ipe. Any of them will look great and last a few lifetimes. It was your wood scales that really made me take notice of the Mule team blades Ted.
 
Thanks for the kind words, PB. Here's the link to the washers I used on this knife. These work with 2-56 button head bolts nicely.

Wenge, Ziricote and Cocobolo would all make really good scales. I fiddled around with Ipe once, and it gave me a little bit of an allergic reaction. I'm not sensitive to any other woods, so just be careful when you first cut into it.

Cheers!
TedP
 
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