Well, I spent the day tinkering with my CNC and some colored G-10 and made up some handles to replace the normal Green handles that come with the Spyderco Stretch. I think I need to do some more refining but I finally got everything drawn up right and they worked on the first try! Now I need to figure out a way to give it a little more texture after I am done shaping it. The knife sure feels better with the G-10 that is for sure. I also added a Titanium deep carry clip.
Oh man, thats a great first run. Love the G-10 much better the FRN.
Access to a CNC machine to make your own custom scales?
Yeah that could be dangerously addictive!!! :evil:
Yeah, It is the drawing that gets me. Trying to get all the holes to align up properly and such.
Then there was some stuff buggin me. The blade was not closing far enough for my taste. So I got out some diamond stones and ground down the choils on the bottom of the blade just enough to get it to rest in the correct position. Then the deep carry clips screws were binding up on my pants when I pulled it out. So I reprofiled the heads on those screws. I have had that knife together and apart about 6 times today! LOL. Now, I finally got done putting it together with locktite and adjusted the screws in all the right places for a good flick, and a shake to get it to break open for one handed opening and closing,.
I also hit the entire scales with some 800 grit wet dry under the faucet and smoothed it out a bit. Then buffed the rounds and she is looking much better now.
Now, it is time to fix the blade! Sharpening tomorrow! Full deep distress..they did not sharpen it correctly, I could visibly see a big burr hanging off to one side.
Looks a little better..
Anyone know how to make that harsher texture on G-10 like the paramillitary 2 has? I want that on the side that does not have the pocket clip. Or something to roughen it up but keep the deep color looks and get rid of the white tinted sections.
Ive heard people on youtube knife reviews mention different qualities and textures of G-10. Also I’ve heard of people sandblasting it lightly to roughen. Have you seen the products from Kende Industries website? Sick patterns but not sure how they would contour on the edges.
I just picked up a Lil Matriarch that has the standard delica FRN handle. Now I just need a CNC machine for Christmas to trick it out.
Excellent work man, how happy you must be to have your own one of a kind creation. So cool!
The reason I wet sanded to 800 was to get the color to show more contrast and get rid of some of the whiteish look from the rougher finish. And to remove some scratches. So you could see the layers more clear. This is my first time doing this so I just was doing what seemed to make sense to me.
This way I would have the color detail crisp, and then apply what ever method worked best to just the areas I want the grip. I have been doing some reading and most people say just sanding with rough sandpaper does not help much for the grip.
I know the finish on my Paramilitary G10 scales was not done by sanding. It must be a tool or some method to give the grip texture. I have a bead blasting chamber and may mask off many areas and see if I can get it grippy where I want it and leave it smooth and have good color where I do not care as much about the grip. Does that make sense? Some say the bead blast helps but again not as much as I am thinking.
I’ve been debating for a few months whether or not I should purchase one of these. It’s relatively affordable and super compact. However, milling material such as G10 in my 533 sq ft studio apartment isn’t a great idea… Like, at all! :S
Perhaps someone with a little more space and money can give it a shot.
The pattern on the outside of the g10 on the para2 is like that from the factory… I have no idea how they do it though. So if you want that pattern then you will have to probably get the right thickness scales and not sand the outside at all. Notice on the para2 how it is just the outside that is like that and the actual edges of the g10 aren’t? That’s why I believe…
Now, for texture you can do a bunch of stuff… I will post a pic in the next post of one that I added texture to for a guy. The handle was completely smooth and rounded before, very slippery. What you may want to try initially, just for more grip, is sandblasting it with around 100grit alum oxide and then wiping it down w/ oil so it doesn’t have that powdery look. It seems counter intuitive I know, but it works great believe me. (shoot me an email… I have a nice blast cabinet w/ 100 al ox media that I can do that for ya). Hope this helps!
After disassembly, I machined replacement titanium floating shoulder pin in place of the lanyard/pin and grooved the titanium standoff spacer:
Compound divots on handle were milled, in accordance to my personal fingertip grip location - to enhance ambidextrous grip on both side:
After confirmed satisfactory fit up check. Disassembled. Did additional milling on the inside face of both scales to remove weight - sorry, I was zoned out, seeing the end was near, hands were contaminated with cutting fluid, so I didn’t stop to take any more pictures. Followed with progressive wet/dry grit, up to 2000, then used SimiChrome for the final mirror polish. Rechecked, verified without defect, then, using controlled flame, heat treat for the final anodized chameleon effects:
