Spyderco Forums

Fantastic Michael, you got real talent brother, I really like your choice of scale material, one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing the process. :)

The Rhino has been my most anticipated release following the Amsterdam meet pictures, and seeing its origin story here makes it even more exciting! Congratulations Michael on the collaboration, and thank you for all the information you've shared.

Thanks for the WIP! Very interesting to see a knife come to life!

Great write up..Great looking little knife, love the color...feel like I'm stealing at that price. Thank you & keep up the good work.

BTG wrote:...feel like I'm stealing at that price.

I hear ya, BTG. Just doesn't seem possible that such a unique, intelligently-designed beast of a blade that even has a compression lock can seriously be had for only about $50. :confused: :D

abbazaba wrote:Excellent posts Michael. Thank you for taking the time to write this up!

Rhino on pre-order (obviously :D)

Thanks man! I am glad you've enjoyed it. :) I hope you will like your new Rhino too.

bearfacedkiller wrote:Enjoying the write up my man! You are a good knife maker and a good salesman. I really want one. Thanks for sharing this with us. It is inspiring.

That is very kind of you, Darby. I greatly appreciate the kind words. :) It has been my genuine pleasure to share this journey with you and the other spydernuts. :)

Spydergirl88 wrote:Great write up look forward to each update

Appreciate that, Spydergirl! :)

farnorthdan wrote:Fantastic Michael, you got real talent brother, I really like your choice of scale material, one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing the process. :)

LOL! Thank you, Dan. I'm not sure if it's talent, but I do try. :o I do appreciate you saying that, though. :) I agree--dark green canvas Micarta is a fantastic handle material. I recently purchased more, so more green-handled knives will be coming! :D

PaleMoon wrote:The Rhino has been my most anticipated release following the Amsterdam meet pictures, and seeing its origin story here makes it even more exciting! Congratulations Michael on the collaboration, and thank you for all the information you've shared.

Thank you, PaleMoon! I really appreciate your kind words. I hope you will enjoy the Rhino very much. :)

J D Wijbenga wrote:Thanks for the WIP! Very interesting to see a knife come to life!

Glad to hear you've enjoyed it, JD. I've had a bit of fun putting it together too. (For some reason, however, I don't remember taking so many pictures along the way, lol).

BTG wrote:Great write up..Great looking little knife, love the color...feel like I'm stealing at that price. Thank you & keep up the good work.

I'm glad to hear that, BTG. I know you are a connoisseur of Spyderco's knives, so this means a lot. :)

Sully wrote:

BTG wrote:...feel like I'm stealing at that price.

I hear ya, BTG. Just doesn't seem possible that such a unique, intelligently-designed beast of a blade that even has a compression lock can seriously be had for only about $50. :confused: :D

Well done, Sully! Very fitting indeed. :D

One of my my favorite current threads!

Chapter 4: The Finish Work
As we discussed in the last chapter, the next step in the journey is the finish work. This is one of my favorite things about knifemaking. During the finishing process, you become intimately aware of even the smallest aspect of the knife. The knife will be as perfect as you want it to be. If the knife is beautiful after four hours of hand-sanding, tuning, and polishing, imagine how beautiful it will look after seven hours? In truth, this is a bittersweet stage of the knifemaking process. On one hand, you are excited to see the finished product of your hard work. On the other hand, however, you realize that your time spent in making this knife is nearly complete.

As you will see in the following photos, all of the fine-tuning, polishing, buffing, and refining takes place in the finish stage. It is important to pay close attention to what you are doing and work very slowly through each step at this stage. Depending on the knife and materials, I may devote up to three or four Sunday afternoons on the finish work alone. The goal at this stage is to create a knife that is as free of flaws as possible. This means that each individual component is sanded/polished so that no visible scratches can be seen. For titanium liners and bolsters, I prefer to use a hand-rubbed satin finish (about 600 grit). On the handle scales (flats, spine, and finger groves), I generally finish sand with a high satin finish (around 800 to 1000 grit), but it also largely depends on the material being used. For instance, I recently completed a folder that features black linen Micarta scales. In order to give the appearance of a glossy ebony, I sanded the scales to around 1500 to 2000 grit and then I buffed the tar out of them until they shone like the paint on a brand new Mustang. :D In order to achieve a perfectly consistent 45 degree angle on the edge of the handles, you have two basic options. One, you can carefully shape them with a fine-toothed hand file or, two, you can set up a basic jig using a right-angle sander. This last method works quite well, but caution needs to be given so that you do not remove too much material too quickly. It is surprisingly easy to burn G-10 and Micarta on a power sander. Always move very slowly and take your time. The 45 degree bevels on the finger grooves was achieved by using a grinding point that was set at the same measurement.

In the following pictures, the Rhino is about 85% completed. The handle needs to be finish-sanded and the hardware needs to be polished. The blade will be ground thinner and sharpened to around .012" to .015" behind the edge. The screws need to be countersunk a bit more and the lanyard tubing will be recessed, chamferred, and polished. In order to establish the primary bevels on the blade with supreme accuracy, I created a special jig that attaches to my belt grinder. This jig is set for 15 degrees per side and will provide an automatic 30 degree inclusive primary edge. I then use my Sharpmaker set at 40 degrees to achieve the micro-bevel.

One other thing I should mention. You will notice that the Rhino sports a Spyderco pocket clip. Some time ago, Sal kindly suggested that I use their pocket clips on my knives after assessing one of my custom Ti pocket clips on an earlier design I had sent to him. I had spent a considerable amount of time making that clip, but I have to admit it was not nearly as refined as one of Spyderco's pocket clips. :o I have used Spyderco's clips ever since and am proud to have them on my knives:

The Rhino is nearly finished!
















To Be Continued...

I'm simply blown away. I can't imagine how good it must feel to design and then make something like this. I can't thank you enough for posting these details.

Liquid Cobra wrote:I'm simply blown away. I can't imagine how good it must feel to design and then make something like this. I can't thank you enough for posting these details.

Thank you, sir! That really means a lot. :) I am glad to hear you've enjoyed the little bio on the Rhino.

Wow! That's lookin' sweet!!

Thanks, Sharp Guy. :)

Chapter 5: Conclusion
We have nearly reached the end of our journey with the Rhino. After the knife has been completely finished, the blade is sent out to have the logo and blade steel type laser-etched onto the blade. I prefer to use a laser etching company located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for this service. Although this is an expensive process (about $40 per blade), I feel they do an excellent job and are very accurate with their laser etches. This process usually takes about a week or so, depending on scheduling.

After the blade returns from the laser shop, the knife is carefully reassembled and inspected for any issues. The blade is centered and the tension on the pivot is adjusted. Following this, the knife is ready to be tested. I usually perform a few informal cutting tests on items like cardboard and printer paper. I then finish things off by whittling on a seasoned chunk of maple to test the integrity of the edge. If everything checks out with the edge testing, I then re-sharpen the blade on the Sharpmaker and get ready to stow the knife in my pocket for a little test-drive. The first Rhino is now complete. :)





















Here are a few informal comparison shots of the Rhino alongside the Spyderco Poliwog. For your convenience, I have added the specifications of both knives (below):





Spyderco Poliwog:
Overall Length: 5.625" (143 mm)
Blade Length: 2.313" (59 mm)
Steel: VG-10
Closed Length: 3.375" (86 mm)
Edge Length: 1.875" (48 mm)
Weight: 2.5 oz (70 g)
Blade Thickness: .125" (3 mm)
Handle: G-10

Reinhold Rhino (custom):
Closed length: 3 9/16" (90 mm)
Overall length: 5 3/4" (146 mm)
Blade length: 2 1/4" (57 mm)
Edge length: 2 1/16" (52 mm)
Blade thickness: .125" (3 mm)
Blade profile: Trailing Point (Bowie-style)
Round Hole diameter: 1/2" (12 mm)
Steel: CPM-S35VN
Handle material: Canvas Micarta (dark green)
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 grams)
Grind: Full-Flat
Clip: Right/Tip-up
Lock type: Michael Walker Liner Lock


My old knife shop:
This is where the Rhino was born. My wife and I have since moved to a new home and my knife shop now enjoys a much larger area. :D



Spyderco Headquarters -- August 2015 -- Sal, Eric, and me
In light of the news about the Rhino, my loving wife and her parents blessed me with a surprise trip to Golden, Colorado last August so that I could thank Sal and Eric in person. This particular day was one of the happiest days of my life. :) My sincere gratitude to Sal and Eric for allowing my dream to become a reality:



Thank you for reading! I appreciate each and every one of you for all the support and I am excited to hear your thoughts on the Spyderco Rhino when it arrives. :)

All the best,

~Michael

Congrats Michael! What a cool and inspirational story! I have really enjoyed watching the progression of the knife being made, and so thank you very much for sharing it!

I'll be picking one of these up for sure.

I always enjoy these work-in-progress pictures. Congrats on your knife Spydernut, it looks like a sweet little thing. I can see how this one can become one of those gateway spydies: it's a handsome design in a people friendly size, with a great lock and G10, all at an affordable price.

I'm sad to see that the micarta did not make it to the production model, that would have been epic.

Excellent!
My hat's off to you, I really admire people who can do such precise stuff. A bit of an engineer and a bit of an artist mind is required I guess :)

Me, I can dream about things and "imagine" them ready, but they never ever a) end up ready or
b) they end up looking like c*ap instead of what I thought they would be :D

Capt'n Boatsalot wrote:Congrats Michael! What a cool and inspirational story! I have really enjoyed watching the progression of the knife being made, and so thank you very much for sharing it!

I'll be picking one of these up for sure.

Thank you much, Capt! It has been my pleasure to share the story with you. :)

Brock O Lee wrote:I always enjoy these work-in-progress pictures. Congrats on your knife Spydernut, it looks like a sweet little thing. I can see how this one can become one of those gateway spydies: it's a handsome design in a people friendly size, with a great lock and G10, all at an affordable price.

I'm sad to see that the micarta did not make it to the production model, that would have been epic.

Thank you, Brock O Lee. :) I appreciate the kind words. Although Micarta is a durable and attractive material, Sal mentioned having past issues with warping/shrinkage with Micarta. Maybe we would eventually see after-market scales in other colors of G-10? I will probably try making some custom scales for my own Spyderco Rhino. :)

JT wrote:Excellent!
My hat's off to you, I really admire people who can do such precise stuff. A bit of an engineer and a bit of an artist mind is required I guess :)

Me, I can dream about things and "imagine" them ready, but they never ever a) end up ready or
b) they end up looking like c*ap instead of what I thought they would be :D

JT, you are too kind. I think all it really takes is a bit of imagination and a lot of elbow grease. If you can dream it, it can be built. I think Thomas Edison said it best, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."

Thanks for sharing, Michael! It's always fascinating to see some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into knife design and making. It definitely forms an additional appreciation for the craft. I'm looking forward to adding a Rhino to my growing collection in the future.

Thanks for the behind-the-scenes perspective. Adds so much interest to an already extremely intriguing work of design. And that green micarta...

Also...I find it oddly amusing that your write-up sort of whispers "anyone could do it," while simultaneously screaming "it's nearly impossible to craft one's own Spyderco." Well done! :D