Sniperboy-Blackwood

Dr.Lathe

Dr.Lathe

Joined
Aug 4, 1999
Messages
2,596
Several months ago, Sniperboy and I where kicking around some ideas via phone and Email. The chord wrap over fancy wood handle was the main subject of discussion. I had previously made several other knives in this fashion including my American Ninja, a one of a kind "Mid" Ninja, my little Neck Ninja and several Tantos. We wanted to stick with that theme and the idea of applying that style handle to my Medium Tactical was decided.
At that point I agreed to make up a prototype to see how it would work. I knew some changes would have to be made to the handle profile in order to accomodate the chord wrapping. I removed the finger notch and also straightened out the bottom of the handle a bit. I also drilled the tang differently to allow me to use two small, hidden pins to align the wood during construction as well as provide a hole to finish off the wrapping. Because the wrap makes the handle rather wide, I tapered the tang and made the wood very thin from the area where the wrapping starts.
So far the response to the knife has been, LIGHT and GOOD GRIP :) I brought it to the Guild Show yesterday to show it off to a few other makers!!

Specs: 8 1/4" OAL, 3 3/4" (sharpened) blade, 3/16" D2, stabilized spalted maple under the epoxy coated chord wrap, milled thumb serrations.

Sniperboy and I are still discussing a few more minor changes to his knife but I think this will be a variation that I'll make more of!!

All feeback, thoughts and ideas will be greatly appreciated;)

Neil
 

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Two words....Way Cool!!

Grip must be outstanding. One question though, Do you feel the epoxy will adhere to the wood properly over time or will it lose its bond?
 
WOW, Neil, very COOL. That stabilized spalted maple looks gorgeous!

I'm determined to score one of your knives very soon, but I find myself holding out for the Mega Folders. Are you making progress on these? When do we get to see a proto? :)
 
Jailhack,

I can say this about the epoxy/chord wrapping.....I've restored 2 knives that have seen some hard use by customers and I've had to GRIND through the wrapping in order to remove it!! That was on ones with CF and anodized Ti panels. I'm sure it will stay attached to the wood just as well.

Eric,
The past few months have been a REAL hassle with my full time job as far as demand for my time. I'm trying to finish up the last of my custom ordered fixed blades before I spend any more time on my folders. I'm also in the process of turning over the Commander Conversions to Reese Weiland. I'm sure NO one will complain about that!! His knifemaking speeks for itself;) With my full time job schedule, I can NO longer provide any kind of accurate delivery for my customers. I will still be making plenty of knives, just not any custom orders. As a maker, I want nothing more than to persue folders!! The amount of $$$$$ I spent yesterday at the show for folder materials is evidence of this !!!! :eek:I will be finishing a "gentlemans" folder first, them the folder version of my Medium Tac...THEN.....MAYBE the Mega Folder!!!

Below is another picture of the knife above. No more checkering files!! I'm using my new milling machine to MILL them in :D
 

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Incredibly cool looking stuff, Neil! I love the cord wrapping over the fancy wood handles…it's a great hybrid of two of my favorite ways of handling a knife. I definitely hope that you make more knives in this style in the future (although I'm pretty stoked about your upcoming folders, too). Keep up the good work!

Jim
 
Well well.. I never expected taht you woud lgo thru with my preposterous idea Neil :) cool. I am glad you had fun in the bguild show.. I was :( that I couldnt have made it.. I woudl have had fun for sure.. but yeah I am really excited to work on this new knife you got.. I wil lkeep in contact by email or by phone or we can meet halfway in ruby tuesdays for a cold one :)

at any rate right now I am thinking of exposing the skullcrusher - and anyone know where to get a supply of stabalized bamboo :) ?

like the man said suggestions are always welcome.. frankly I am honoured ot have my name next to a variant of the Blackwopod call to fame american ninja :)
 
Thanks for the reply Neil.

Now I really think Sniperboy has the answer. Shorten the amount of wood to just before the thong/tie-off hole, and round the end of wood in the same direction it is now, thereby shortening the wrap by 1 section, and leave the pommel exposed as a skullcrusher. Very effective and very pretty.
 
When I was reading about wrapping cord over wood, I guess because I was thinking about wrapped raysking, I thought what a waste of good wood. Then, I saw the picture. It is fantastic! It shows the wood beautifully, and obviously provides a more stable grip than the wood could possibly provide itself.

You might try the suggested changes, but I wouldn't be in any hurry to change something that looks so cool.
 
Perfect Neil. You are an amazing maker: an inspiration to all of us newbie makers. WOW!
 
S.
Just find a source for Bamboo! I can stabilize it!! As far as the exposed, semi sharpened skull crusher..... That sound fine to me but I think it's going to look very much like the back of another makers POPULAR knife :) I think he would probably give us his blessings on this though, especially if it's the only one !! The pinky catch sketch you sent would also work. As far as the wood in front of the wrapping......This provides a nice, comfortable, wide area for the finger notch. If this is removed there will only be the bare metal??

Thanks Bugs, Jim!!

Crayola,
Afer walking around the Guild Show on saturday, I feel that I'm also a NEWBIE maker:rolleyes: I appreciate the compliments though!

Neil
 
This is too cool!! A collaboration between two of my favorite forumites!!! That knife is stunning. I think those two handle materials compliment each other incredibly well. And the overall lines of that design are fantastic. I'm sure you'll want to try different ideas, but it is hard to imagine them looking any better than this. Congratulations to you both!:D
 
Great looking knife, Neil and S. Very, very classy in my opinion. I love the serations, damn they look good. Sniper just call Raybaby he just returned from the His little island in the South Pacific and told me he had a bunch of bamboo. As you know he prefers PVC pipe but what the hell bamboo will work if you are in a bind. Dont use up all of your ideas on Neil, I might need to tap into that fertile mind of yours real soon. Seriously though if you want good bamboo look in one of the traditional bowhunter magazines like "Traditional Bowhunter"
you will find numerous sources for it . I have several custom longbows that were made with bamboo limbs and hard wood risers that I supplied. I dont know about knife handles but it makes a hell of a bow, really fast.

Regards,
Mike Snody
 
Hey Mr. Mike thanks for chiming in :) you flatter me so... I hope to see you at the NC show damn I need more toys :) i hope the job and the weather are treating you well... blue skies..
 
Neil, I think it looks great, I really like those serrations. When S first told me about this project, I thought it sounded crazy, but it appears as if I just lacked vision :).
T
 
:D

I'll be sure to give this knife a nice objective and thorough review when it arrives in a few days ;) :D Woohoooo!
 
Troy,

I also lack vision !! This blank hung on the wall for a while before I decided to attack it :) Once I got the wood attached and shaped, I knew it would work out. It really looked funny hanging next to the other Med Tac blanks with their finger notches intact!!

Marion,
The wood worked out to be relatively inexpensive. But.... I ordered it from Oregon, rough cut it, dried it, finish cut it and then sent it to WSSI for stabilization :) All the work paid off because now I have a bunch of NICE pieces!! Lots of blackline, burls and crotch grain, all in the same blocks!!!!

Derrick,

It will be on it's way tomorrow. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it !! Thanks again


Neil
 
Woke up this morning with a headache and an ugly purple shiner (ouch... how'd that happen? Oh yeah, big mean guy at bar :barf: ) Ah, but I felt much better when I found this waiting for me.

Neil, others, this knife is AWESOME! Sniperboy - thank you for your efforts in the design process. If I were you, I wouldn't change a thing (but then, I'm not you and I now own this great knife :D ).

Guys, no joke, this is really an excellent piece of cutlery.

My initial impressions on the new handle configuration:
blackwood2_wrap.jpg

The handle configuration provides an extremely sure grip that WILL NOT slip. Add to it the milled thumb notches and this knife will stick to your hand like glue. The tapered tang makes for a very light and quick feel - the balance point is right at the forefinger. The knife also comes with Neil's exquisite kydex sheaths, which can be adjusted for right or left hand horizontal carry. Add this to the Small Tac/Utility and you'll pack a heck of a one-two combo!



Here's a pic of the knife next to Neil's popular Small Tac/Utility.


By the way, this knife is so sickly sharp that my forearm is now smoother than a greased eyeball. Yikes!

Anyway, thanks Neil! I'm really going to enjoy this one.
:)

P.S. - click on the thumbnails for bigger pics...
 
WULF!!

Sorry to hear you got your "i" DOTTED :)Get yourself a pair of these-----> :cool: At least it's dead center and not off top to bottom or side to side !!!!! OUUUUUUUUUCH!!

I'm very glad you like the knife and I'm sorry I missed your phone call. I missed a grouper fishing trip yesterday but my good fishing buddies called me to come pick up a NICE grouper that THEY caught!! If I could only make fillet knives :(

Thanks for posting the review and pictures. I was quite happy with the way that knife turned out. I wasn't quite sure how it would work out, as I mentioned above!! I'll be making more of them.

Once again, it's been a pleasure doing business with you. Stay in touch and be carefull out there in the bars of Burlington!!

Neil
 
Oh you guys flatter me so :) as much as Mr. Blackwood said that I had a big hand in the design I pretty much only fueled his already creative mind by asking scenarios.. what if you used wood instead of Ti, what if you put this what if you used this blade.. I am happy to be immortalized in this thread though considering my meager efforts.. Glad you liek it Wulf :) I hope I get mine soon.. damn Bamboo.
 
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