Want to "Striderize" a knife

Yeti Man · Jun 8, 2003

Fellow Fourmites

I have a blade (Szabo Mini UUK) that I would like to have refinished to have the same grey/black tiger stripe finish as a Strider. Any suggestions on who to go to for this?

Thanks
Yeti Man

satin · Jun 8, 2003

You might see if Szabo Inc. would do it for you. Worth a shot at least.

You could also try Bandit Knives - http://web.tampabay.rr.com/dbrunne2/bancust.htm

RH · Jun 8, 2003

I have heard of home-brew tiger striping, using masking tape and Naval Jelly.

spyken · Jun 8, 2003

I have a X-ray vision that I'm keen to put tiger-stripes on. Although I was told by some makers that they would not tiger-stripe the blade because it is Mick's trademark, I don't believe that that is a correct statement in fact or law. I mean, haven't tiger-stripes have been around for years?

So how does one put tiger stripes on the blades - my x-ray vision is presently bead-blasted.

Thanks,
Spyken

mschwoeb · Jun 8, 2003

I think that they do it before the blade is heat treated, because now that the stripes on my Strider have faded they have said that they cant be redone.

Warthog · Jun 9, 2003

Strider's trademark?

Extreme Ratio does the same thing...

An X-Ray would look wicked cool with tiger stripes...post in SOG forum if you actually do it

ReconTech · Jun 9, 2003

I would love my X-Ray Vision to be tiger stripped!!! Please, somebody post a method!

NIB · Jun 9, 2003

Spray Paint.

AlphalphaPB · Jun 9, 2003

Originally posted by mschwoeb
I think that they do it before the blade is heat treated, because now that the stripes on my Strider have faded they have said that they cant be redone.

Yes, I believe the black stripes are actually carbonised steel left over from the heat treat. Strips cut into the shape of the stripes are laid on the steel to cover the striped area, then the blade is sand/bead-blasted. I think Mick Strider mentioned something about WD-40, but I can't remember what it was used for.

From what I've read, conventional heat-treating methods attempt to minimise the formation of the black "scales" by placing something combustible (like paper) inside the foil-wrapped package that holds the blade in the oven. Perhaps Strider has Paul Bos skip this step to encourage scale formation.

I guess if you want an authentic Strider-like stripe treatment, you'd have to heat treat your blade again. Not a pretty solution.