Chaparral QI #3

[Sharp Guy]

What does the knife weigh now, with the G10 back spacer you made and installed? I should've weighed mine (the steel back spacer) when I had it apart those years ago now.

Right now I don't have a suitable scale, but I will check it.

Now my Chaparral weights 55 g. I can't compare it to the steel backspacer.

My steel back spacer is currently sitting on my desk. I'll weigh it when I get home from work. The whole thing is so small I don't think it felt much different with the plastic back spacer. A tiny bit different but not really worth the effort IMO. Again, I enjoyed the challenge but I prefer the steel. I also think it's great that cali did the mod to improve the knife for them

[u.w.]

What does the knife weigh now, with the G10 back spacer you made and installed? I should've weighed mine (the steel back spacer) when I had it apart those years ago now.

Right now I don't have a suitable scale, but I will check it.

Now my Chaparral weights 55 g. I can't compare it to the steel backspacer.

My steel back spacer is currently sitting on my desk. I'll weigh it when I get home from work. The whole thing is so small I don't think it felt much different with the plastic back spacer. A tiny bit different but not really worth the effort IMO. Again, I enjoyed the challenge but I prefer the steel. I also think it's great that cali did the mod to improve the knife for them

Very cool & interesting too.

I should've weighed mine when I had it, and I don't firmly recall what the weight difference was when I removed the small amount of metal from the liners. It's was minuscule though, like a gram or less, IF I'm remembering correctly.

I find it surprising that the liners can make that much of a difference (though, I guess I shouldn't). Thinking of my mod'd Salt 2 LC200N, and it' s 51 gram weight, when I type that. It has a longer & thicker blade, but weighs less...
Perhaps I had to look no further than comparing the LC Salt 2 vs. the Delica 4, to see that...

I am still interested to see what the weight difference is between a composite/G10, or plastic, back spacer is vs. the metal OEM one. No doubt it's isn't much, but I am still curious to know.

Thanks for the replies, and taking the time y'all

u.w.

[Sharp Guy]

My inexpensive postage scale wasn't sensitive enough to weigh the plastic back spacer. So I had to break out the fancy one....

steel back spacer


plastic back spacer


Chap FRN with plastic back spacer


So doing a little math the stock Chap FRN with metal back spacer should weigh 58.5 grams (about 2 oz). The catalog says 60 grams. I can confirm when I put the metal spacer back in it. Regardless, it's still reasonably light weight if you ask me

In case anyone's questioning...

Those are 20g scale weights




And I remembered I also have my little reloading scale that I use to measure gun powder and bullets






I know...I get carried away sometimes

[Airlsee]

Great info, thanks for taking the time and posting those up!

[u.w.]

WOW!
That's a HUGE difference in weight (mass).

I get that "carried away" in most things I do, much to the frustration of various friends and family members of mine, lol. So, I can totally relate, and don't personally think it's carried away at all.

Thank you for taking the time and posting those photos & data!

u.w.

[Sharp Guy]

WOW!
That's a HUGE difference in weight (mass).

If I did the math right the weight with the plastic back spacer is about a 8.7% lighter than the one with the steel spacer. Unfortunately I don't really see the 3D printed one as being a good alternative due to the flex from the spring. cali says his knife with the G10 back spacer now weighs 55 grams. So it would be about a 6% weight savings. Still nothing to sneeze at but for me, as much as I've always liked really light weight knives, it's not such a big priority now that I started carrying knives with clips. The Chap is too small for me to worry about balance. So again, the steel back spacer will be going back in mine.

[sethwm]

Funny, I actually really like the heft of the metal spacer. My ideal chap cqi would be to fix the back lock pressure required, and upgrade the steel to magnacut. I think it’d be a perfect choice for such a thin gentlemens knife: stainless and tough.

[amateur blacksmith]

Few years ago I bought a Chaparral FRN.
I had to do something with stiff lock right away. Moving the spring forward a bit solved the problem (I believe Spyderco hasn't changed that). That is QI #1.

Next one - the clip. Deepening the grooves solved the problems with slipping and loosing tension (Spyderco moved the screw in new runs). That's QI #2 (the bad one - I made a hole in one of the scales).

Now the time has come for the final issue, the steel, heavy backspacer (in a lightweight knife!). I made a G10 spare one, QI #3.
I am not pleased with it. I picked the most similar color, and had to use 1 mm sheeth. Still it is not as close as it should be, now I think that contrasting color would be better, especially if available in 2 mm thickness. Fit is good enough for me but still can be better. Finish of the external surface is also good enough (there is a small nick, impossible to remove). I didn't have the right tool for making the spring slot, but nobody sees that
Now the feel of the knife now is completely different, the balance is as should be! Issue solved :)




[For me the main disappointment with the Chap it the thickness BTE. With 2mm blade stock it should be a scalpel but it's not. I understand why Spyderco don't do it but it's a shame. Complaints about broken blades is probably not worth the grief. Maybe I will get a regrind. Other than that the Chap is a fine knife.]]

[Bolster]

I fully support the ongoing attempts to customize and to lighten knives. In the world of ultralight backpacking, people will pay hundreds of dollars to drop the weight of some items by 5-10%. It may seem obsessive to those who aren't ounce-shavers, but makes perfect sense to those who are.

[u.w.]

WOW!
That's a HUGE difference in weight (mass).

If I did the math right the weight with the plastic back spacer is about a 8.7% lighter than the one with the steel spacer. Unfortunately I don't really see the 3D printed one as being a good alternative due to the flex from the spring. cali says his knife with the G10 back spacer now weighs 55 grams. So it would be about a 6% weight savings. Still nothing to sneeze at but for me, as much as I've always liked really light weight knives, it's not such a big priority now that I started carrying knives with clips. The Chap is too small for me to worry about balance. So again, the steel back spacer will be going back in mine.

I was referring to the weight difference between the two different backspacers. One is considerably heavier than the other, or vise versa...

The overall weight change (i.e. the assembled knife) is not HUGE, lol. I should have been more specific it seems.
It is a measurable weight difference in the weight of the assembled knife to of course, and one that I personally would do, but that's me.
If I get another Chap, I'll definitely look into doing this mod, along with the other mods I did on the one I got a few years ago now, and one other comes to mind.

u.w.

[Sharp Guy]

WOW!
That's a HUGE difference in weight (mass).

If I did the math right the weight with the plastic back spacer is about a 8.7% lighter than the one with the steel spacer. Unfortunately I don't really see the 3D printed one as being a good alternative due to the flex from the spring. cali says his knife with the G10 back spacer now weighs 55 grams. So it would be about a 6% weight savings. Still nothing to sneeze at but for me, as much as I've always liked really light weight knives, it's not such a big priority now that I started carrying knives with clips. The Chap is too small for me to worry about balance. So again, the steel back spacer will be going back in mine.

I was referring to the weight difference between the two different backspacers. One is considerably heavier than the other, or vise versa...

The overall weight change (i.e. the assembled knife) is not HUGE, lol. I should have been more specific it seems.
It is a measurable weight difference in the weight of the assembled knife to of course, and one that I personally would do, but that's me.
If I get another Chap, I'll definitely look into doing this mod, along with the other mods I did on the one I got a few years ago now, and one other comes to mind.

u.w.

All good u.w.!

[Cscottsss]

I loved my original LW but the Micarta scales change the entire knife for the better. Yes, it's heavier but feels so much more solid. I do miss the LW and plan to eventually buy another.

Untitled by Caleb Bender, on Flickr

[Airlsee]

I loved my original LW but the Micarta scales change the entire knife for the better. Yes, it's heavier but feels so much more solid. I do miss the LW and plan to eventually buy another.

Very nice, I like that a lot!!