Sal's Idea

[gijoe945]

Did Lion Steel borrow an idea from the Q on their new TiDust knife?

[sal]

I don't think so. Gianni is a very innovative guy and he works with innovatiove designers. His "Dust" is a totally new concept done with 3D printing. The joints are very sophisticated and well thought out. Very expensive to make. In fact Eric is thinking to make a small run of "Spyderized" dust.

sal

[PayneTrain]

Super interesting, but yes the technology is still pretty restrictive. Those TiDust knives are outrageously expensive (for me, at least), and I doubt Spyderco could do it much cheaper. 3D printing, while not new technology, is still in its infancy in my opinion. Some of those metal machines cost nearly a mil, weigh 5 or 6 tons, and still have a relatively small printing area. Big enough for a knife, sure, but the time it takes and the cost of running it...it's called rapid prototyping, not rapid production. Very specialized equipment, though still very very cool!

I'm excited to see where 3D printing goes. I feel confident in saying it will never replace conventional machining methods, but it will certainly grow to compliment them and make some very cool things possible, like Spyderdust. Though I should also say that I'm not really a fan of the TiDust or the Q. I like my handles solid, or at least mostly solid. I dig the holes in the ATR (I have the Seki, more holes) and knives like CRKT M16, and I like the vent in the Harpy, but a fully skeletonized handle just doesn't speak to me. Just one man's opinion.