Anodized aluminum wire clips please! Who wants one? Is there options?

SCARLETT · #1

I would love some after market color wire clips. My new techno is screaming for a blue clip to compliment the blue backspacer. Does anyone know of some after market options?

Thanks

Evil D · #2

Aluminum is too soft, it probably wouldn't hold up well as a wire clip and would bend easy. Titanium would be the better option.

What you can do though, is go and buy some colored wire shrink tube, slip it over the wire clip and hit it with a lighter. Not only will this give you some color, but also a little more grip, and it'll hold up way better than paint.

Zendemic · #3

Evil D wrote:Aluminum is too soft, it probably wouldn't hold up well as a wire clip and would bend easy. Titanium would be the better option.

+1. You can even anodise titanium blue

Creepo · #4

I highly doubt aluminium isn't strong enough for that purpose. Now titanium however...

But I don't know of anyone who has done colored wire clips.

SCARLETT · #5

I really don't care of the material used I just want some colored clips. Ti clip would be cool :) . I just don't want painted because they look ratty to fast. It's only wire so how hard can it be!?

DCDesigns · #6

SCARLETT wrote:I would love some after market color wire clips. My new techno is screaming for a blue clip to compliment the blue backspacer. Does anyone know of some after market options?

Thanks

As others mentioned, the wire clips are Ti not Al. I doubt you will see any for sale aftermarket, it would be very difficult to find a price to sell them at that would be worth making them, as well as reasonable for such a tiny piece of Ti. Would you pay $15 for a gym clip worth of titanium?

If you want a different color, try heat anodizing the one you already have. It fun any easy to do!

DCDesigns · #7

SCARLETT wrote:I really don't care of the material used I just want some colored clips. Ti clip would be cool :) . I just don't want painted because they look ratty to fast. It's only wire so how hard can it be!?

You would care if it broke, or bent out of shape... The clips are ALREADY Titanium on many models (its used over aluminum because of its ability to store spring tension necessary to hold the knife tight. Aluminum would work at first, but eventually would loose its spring memory and would become quite loose)

How hard would it be to anodize a wire clip? really easy, do I think you will ever see them for sale from spyderco, not really.

jabba359 · #8

DCDesigns wrote:As others mentioned, the wire clips are Ti not Al. I doubt you will see any for sale aftermarket, it would be very difficult to find a price to sell them at that would be worth making them, as well as reasonable for such a tiny piece of Ti. Would you pay $15 for a gym clip worth of titanium?

If you want a different color, try heat anodizing the one you already have. It fun any easy to do!

Are the wire clips Ti? I thought they were just some sort of SS. The clips on the salt knives are Ti, but I think those are the only ones.

Blerv · #9

I think the wire is SS.

Donut · #10

Also, most of the dings you see in anodized aluminum finishes, I read, is from the aluminum bending and the anodizing not wanting to bend. I imagine it would be a nightmare finish for clips.

What do you think of cerakote? I've heard that emerson uses cerakote for their clip finishes, it works with steel, and responds well to flexing and bending.

DCDesigns · #11

Blerv wrote:I think the wire is SS.

hmm, ill have to find a magnet. I had heard somewhere it was Ti. I know all the salts are Ti.

jabba359 · #12

Just checked my D'Fly wire clip and it's magnetic. I can't check my other wire clipped knives at the moment (I'm moving soon, so most my knives are in storage), but I once inquired about getting a Ti wire clip to flame anodize and the forum consensus seemed to be that it's currently not an option. I sure wish it were!

Fred Sanford · #13

Aluminum is way too soft for a clip as others have already stated. Well, at least at the current clip thickness. You would have to probably make a thick machined clip or stamp a super thick clip to make it out of aluminum.

I'm fine with steel and titanium. Titanium is pretty darn cool but still not as good as steel for a lot of things.

dialex · #14

What David said