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- Dec 5, 2013
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Back in February, I attended Johnny Stout's fine folder class. I had already made a couple folders at that point and they were far from perfect...very far. One of the things I really admire about Johnny is that he doesn't seem to believe in "good enough". If there is an inkling in his mind that it isn't right, he fixes it or does it over. He really helped me put the folder process together and I left his class with a pretty nice knife.
In March, Karen and I were in Florida visiting with some good friends. My buddy Jeff has been intrigued about my knifemaking since I announced I was going to try it. I was showing him some designs I had for folders and he suggested I make something smaller. He works among the white collar crowd and thought a fine pocket knife would be a good idea; something inconspicuous yet flashy when pulled from the pocket. I explored the idea in drawings and came up with what I thought was a good design. By the end of March I had begun to make the first of my small gentleman's linerlocks.
The knife came together pretty well and looked decent. The size was certainly right for the intended purpose but, I immediately felt the feel in-hand could be better. I showed that knife to a lot of makers and potential customers alike and asked for feedback. Everybody was very kind and several were interested in buying it. I couldn't sell it. I just felt it wasn't there. I did strike up a deal with a client that I would make him a knife with the same materials but with the improvements once I figured out what they would be.
I've now made several more folders including the small gentleman's knife with other materials. Recently the re-make of this "prototype" came up in my books. Since I am almost finished with this new knife I though it would be cool to look at the two side by side. The changes are mostly subtle and yet the new knife is so much better.
New knife is on the bottom. In the first image the biggest change is in the overall handle shape. This is a small knife at 3-1/4" closed and in the original design I was losing almost 3/8" of knife handle because the finger notch was too far back from the front. Aesthetically, I prefer the original shape but practically, the new shape is more comfortable and easier to use.
Untitled by Bob, on Flickr
Untitled by Bob, on Flickr
Untitled by Bob, on Flickr
There are a couple things to see here; all adding up to a thinner knife. First, I felt the liners were to thick for the scale of the knife. I switched from .063" Ti to .040" which resulted in a much more appropriate look and a .046" reduction in the thickness. Alan Davis also suggested to me that I might want to reduce my washer thickness. The original knife is using .015" Nylatron washers. After a discussion with Ed Caffrey about the long term durability of Nylatron, and combining Alan's advice, the new knife is sporting .010" bronze washers for an extra .010" reduction in overall thickness. Of course, it's not as easy as just switching out Ti thickness and washers. You can't fit a 1/16" detent ball in a .040" thick liner with .010" stickout; it will hang out the back. I had to switch to a 1mm detent ball to make it work. It was all totally worth the effort as the new slim profile looks much better in my opinion.
Untitled by Bob, on Flickr
Another change that can be seen in this view is that I didn't have to relieve the lockbar on the new model. The thinner Ti has less resistance and is easier to manipulate than the thicker material.
Untitled by Bob, on Flickr
Comments are welcome.
Bob
In March, Karen and I were in Florida visiting with some good friends. My buddy Jeff has been intrigued about my knifemaking since I announced I was going to try it. I was showing him some designs I had for folders and he suggested I make something smaller. He works among the white collar crowd and thought a fine pocket knife would be a good idea; something inconspicuous yet flashy when pulled from the pocket. I explored the idea in drawings and came up with what I thought was a good design. By the end of March I had begun to make the first of my small gentleman's linerlocks.
The knife came together pretty well and looked decent. The size was certainly right for the intended purpose but, I immediately felt the feel in-hand could be better. I showed that knife to a lot of makers and potential customers alike and asked for feedback. Everybody was very kind and several were interested in buying it. I couldn't sell it. I just felt it wasn't there. I did strike up a deal with a client that I would make him a knife with the same materials but with the improvements once I figured out what they would be.
I've now made several more folders including the small gentleman's knife with other materials. Recently the re-make of this "prototype" came up in my books. Since I am almost finished with this new knife I though it would be cool to look at the two side by side. The changes are mostly subtle and yet the new knife is so much better.
New knife is on the bottom. In the first image the biggest change is in the overall handle shape. This is a small knife at 3-1/4" closed and in the original design I was losing almost 3/8" of knife handle because the finger notch was too far back from the front. Aesthetically, I prefer the original shape but practically, the new shape is more comfortable and easier to use.
Untitled by Bob, on FlickrUntitled by Bob, on FlickrUntitled by Bob, on FlickrThere are a couple things to see here; all adding up to a thinner knife. First, I felt the liners were to thick for the scale of the knife. I switched from .063" Ti to .040" which resulted in a much more appropriate look and a .046" reduction in the thickness. Alan Davis also suggested to me that I might want to reduce my washer thickness. The original knife is using .015" Nylatron washers. After a discussion with Ed Caffrey about the long term durability of Nylatron, and combining Alan's advice, the new knife is sporting .010" bronze washers for an extra .010" reduction in overall thickness. Of course, it's not as easy as just switching out Ti thickness and washers. You can't fit a 1/16" detent ball in a .040" thick liner with .010" stickout; it will hang out the back. I had to switch to a 1mm detent ball to make it work. It was all totally worth the effort as the new slim profile looks much better in my opinion.
Untitled by Bob, on FlickrAnother change that can be seen in this view is that I didn't have to relieve the lockbar on the new model. The thinner Ti has less resistance and is easier to manipulate than the thicker material.
Untitled by Bob, on FlickrComments are welcome.
Bob
) really nice work, Bob. That slightly thinner knife is right up my alley.
