My Folding Mule Project

[CasperFatone]

This is already starting to look good !

I'd be willing to try such a project but the only Mules I have in stock are REX76 and these are at like 69 HRC

Looking forward to see the results of the contouring !

Oh man, I wish I had one of those Rex76 Mules to do this with! The high HRC shouldn’t be an issue, but if they ever make a tungsten carbide Mule all bets are off

I got the contours done and mounted a pocket clip but still need to do one or two small things before I post some updated pics.

[CasperFatone]

Regards contours: How will you bevel the edges of the scales? With a router bit or...?

I’m doing contours on the slack belt with my 2x72 grinder. I actually did them last night but want to clean some things up before posting pics. Sadly, the carbon fiber I got was not woven all the way through so it didn’t come out looking like I thought it would. If it was for someone else I’d start over with something else, but this is just for me to use/abuse.

[clinton1]

Very interesting project. Thanks Casper. Looking forward to seeing the updates.

[Bolster]

Regards contours: How will you bevel the edges of the scales? With a router bit or...?

I’m doing contours on the slack belt with my 2x72 grinder. I actually did them last night but want to clean some things up before posting pics. Sadly, the carbon fiber I got was not woven all the way through so it didn’t come out looking like I thought it would. If it was for someone else I’d start over with something else, but this is just for me to use/abuse.

Gotcha. I've been looking at the "roundover" edges on various Spyderco knives with carbon fiber and the grind lines on the bevel appear parallel with the handle, making me think they use some sort of router. Slack belt OTOH would make for perpendicular grind lines, I suspect. Sorry to hear about the unwoven fiber in the middle, I didn't know that was a thing.

[tcarltonw]

When I saw your initial post on Reddit I didn't think the project would turn out looking as good as it does. Great work man... and it's inspiration to turn ideas I have on paper, into a reality. Thank you sir

[CasperFatone]

Ok, so there are still a few little tweaks that I plan to do with this thing but figured I’d share where I am with it now.

Since my last post I have contoured the carbon fiber scales only to find out that they are only woven fiber on the top layer. This is a case of you get what you pay for and I got this CF for cheap on Amazon. You live and you learn, and since this knife is just for me to test this Mule with I’m going to stick with these scales. They don’t look terrible, just not what I’d envisioned. I have also made a recess on the show side to give better access to the liner lock.

I have also added a pocket clip, which is one of my own making that I stole off of another knife for now. There’s a good chance I’ll make a slightly different one of this knife, but decided I just want to get this thing in my pocket.

I have also enlarged the Spydie hole to 3/8”, which was all taken out of the bottom and forward edges of the hole. During this process I managed to scrape across the blade logo with a carbide burr, which will serve as a reminder not to drink and dremel. The thumb ramp on the spine always also ground to better match the handle and be more comfortable. I’m probably going to alter this a little more before calling it done.

The things left to do are the following. I plan to bead blast my liners, as well as the pocket clip that I end up making. I might adjust the lock face to give it a slightly deeper lockup, then carbidize the lock face for durability and to prevent lock stick. I’m also considering adding jimping to the thumb ramp and the to the lock for some added grip.

I’m going to try and post this as a video clip, which seems to work in the Preview if I don’t add any other pics. If it doesn’t please let me know and I will edit it with pics, and post a video link. Sorry, I’m new to this forum so still figuring things out.

[attila]

That is super cool!!! Thanks for sharing.

I had thought about doing this years ago, but that idea didn’t materialize. I’m glad to see that it is doable! Now my gears are turning…

[Bolster]

It looks great!

That you could enlarge the hole off its existing center blows my mind. I've never worked with a carbide burr before so wouldn't have even considered it. Is there a trick...just a carbite burr with a rounded tip and "drill" the clamped blade with it? But when you say Dremel it sounds like you free-handed it? It looks like it made a perfect, sharp-cornered hole.

I'm a fan of aftermarket jimping so am curious how you'll do that. Edge of a cut-off disc? Tip of a carbide engraving bit? Those are the two I've used.

Fantastic work. You have mad skills.

[Mushroom]

That is really awesome and nicely done! I think that’s the first time I’ve seen a Mule turned into a folder. The scales look really good with contouring.

[CasperFatone]

It looks great!

That you could enlarge the hole off its existing center blows my mind. I've never worked with a carbide burr before so wouldn't have even considered it. Is there a trick...just a carbite burr with a rounded tip and "drill" the clamped blade with it? But when you say Dremel it sounds like you free-handed it? It looks like it made a perfect, sharp-cornered hole.


I'm a fan of aftermarket jimping so am curious how you'll do that. Edge of a cut-off disc? Tip of a carbide engraving bit? Those are the two I've used.

Fantastic work. You have mad skills.

So it’s actually not that hard to enlarge the hole off center. My method is to use a circle template to mark out the new hole size where I want it to be, in this care I wasn’t removing anything from the top and rear parts of the hole. Then I freehand it close to shape with a carbide burr, and then there are a few ways to finish it out. For this one I used a tapered grinding stone chucked up in a drill, but another good option is to drill through it with a carbide tipped bit in a drill press.

For the jimping there are a few ways to do it as well. I’m going to most likely use a guide and some diamond files. It’s way more tedious to do on hardened blades, and I just wish someone would make a diamond checkering file!

[legOFwhat?]

Fantastic work Casper, love the ingenuity!

[jwbnyc]

That looks really good.

[Ramonade]

The image is corrupted for me, can't see it sadly.
But I bet it looks pimping !

[CasperFatone]

The image is corrupted for me, can't see it sadly.
But I bet it looks pimping !

Here are some pics for you and a link to the video I posted. I’ve been carrying it for the last two days and so far I’m loving it!







Link to video- https://imgur.com/a/9asNOQ9

[Ramonade]

Thanks a lot !

The contouring really helps the whole aesthetics. I was kinda surprise by the rather straight lines forming the butt of the handle, but it looks very nice !

And the portability must be greatly enjoyable

[Bemo]

That's awesome!

[Woodpuppy]

I really like the effect of the woven over unwoven CF. Looks great!!

[Fireman]

Wow!

[Fireman]

How much would you charge someone to do that conversion?

[Bemo]

How much would you charge someone to do that conversion?

Careful how you answer this, several of us have duplicate blades waiting to be used.....