Manix mod log

[vivi]

I bought a Manix XL from the seconds sale as a project knife.

Tonight I got started.



Finished a straight spine mod and hogged off some steel from the liners.



Next I'm going to hand sand the liners to give them a more even look, then round all the corners nicely.

After that I'll try to force a tiger stripe patina on the blade with mustard.



Here's a quick look at how the blade and scales go together.



Any suggestions for hardware? I may see if Spyderco would be willing to send a set of DLC Manix hardware, but if not I'll look around on ebay for something cool. Maybe blue or something different like that.

Any other mods you guys suggest?

[JMM]

I bought a Manix XL from the seconds sale as a project knife.

Tonight I got started.



Finished a straight spine mod and hogged off some steel from the liners.



Next I'm going to hand sand the liners to give them a more even look, then round all the corners nicely.

After that I'll try to force a tiger stripe patina on the blade with mustard.



Here's a quick look at how the blade and scales go together.



Any suggestions for hardware? I may see if Spyderco would be willing to send a set of DLC Manix hardware, but if not I'll look around on ebay for something cool. Maybe blue or something different like that.

Any other mods you guys suggest?

Were you thinking of doing a ball-cage, or lanyard tube swap and/or screw set? The Manix series is my favourite to mod, so many options... :D

[vivi]

All three. I wanted to make this Manix different / unique. Different blade shape, different color hardware, etc. Purple might be fun.

[Doc Dan]

What are you going to use to tiger stripe it?

[vivi]

What are you going to use to tiger stripe it?

It's been sitting with mustard on the blade for an hour now. Not sure if it'll work on S30V but I have other things I can try if it doesn't work. Probably going to let it sit over night then try the other side tomorrow if the results are good.

[vivi]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Replaceme ... SwccNdPR0O

Maybe something like this...

[Wartstein]

Very cool! Looking forward to follow the process! :)

But: I can recall you said in another thread the Manix XL you got from the second sale would be a "dud" - could you fix the issue(s) (can´t recall what they were exactly)?

[vivi]

Very cool! Looking forward to follow the process! :)

But: I can recall you said in another thread the Manix XL you got from the second sale would be a "dud" - could you fix the issue(s) (can´t recall what they were exactly)?

I broke two bits trying to take the pivot screw out. Soaked the knife in boiling water for a minute then I could open it up. Every screw was soaked in loc-tite...blue on the clip screws, white and red on the rest.

Since it was only $57 or so I felt like going gung ho with mods I've thought about in the past. It's gonna get used hard once I'm done tinkering.

[JRinFL]

Thanks for detailing this here on the forum. And I have to say, great use of Seconds. I admit to cringing sometimes when people take a pristine example and start hacking away. They often turn out great, but still...

[TkoK83Spy]

This should be fun. Sub'd!

[zhyla]

Might as well swap the lock cage out for a metal one while you got it all apart. And ceramic balls are a thing too right? Though I don't know the benefit.

[vivi]

Might as well swap the lock cage out for a metal one while you got it all apart. And ceramic balls are a thing too right? Though I don't know the benefit.

Might as well. I already feel like a tool for thinking about spending $20 on some gaudy hardware haha, but like I said I just want this Manix to be something different compared to my others.



S30V was too corrosion resistant for 12 hours of mustard soak to do anything. Gonna have to move on to something stronger.

[Josh Crutchley]

Might as well. I already feel like a tool for thinking about spending $20 on some gaudy hardware haha, but like I said I just want this Manix to be something different compared to my others.



S30V was too corrosion resistant for 12 hours of mustard soak to do anything. Gonna have to move on to something stronger.

That 12-15 is the manufacture date right? Surprised that thing was sitting in Golden for the past 5 years. I checked my PM2 and it was 1-20 so I figured all the sales knives where newer. I wasn't expecting that much of a range.

What do you have in mind for the S30V patina? I never forced a patina but did buy Cruwear with a super heavy patina that I had to take off. It almost looked like a dlc blade.

[vivi]

Might as well. I already feel like a tool for thinking about spending $20 on some gaudy hardware haha, but like I said I just want this Manix to be something different compared to my others.



S30V was too corrosion resistant for 12 hours of mustard soak to do anything. Gonna have to move on to something stronger.

That 12-15 is the manufacture date right? Surprised that thing was sitting in Golden for the past 5 years. I checked my PM2 and it was 1-20 so I figured all the sales knives where newer. I wasn't expecting that much of a range.

What do you have in mind for the S30V patina? I never forced a patina but did buy Cruwear with a super heavy patina that I had to take off. It almost looked like a dlc blade.

I wanted something along those lines but not sure how to do that with the materials I have (vinegar, mustard, ferric acid). I've never tried to force a patina on S30V so I'm not sure if that will work, might have to mess around with the acid.

Not sure why such an old Manix got sold in 2020 either.

[Josh Crutchley]

I wanted something along those lines but not sure how to do that with the materials I have (vinegar, mustard, ferric acid). I've never tried to force a patina on S30V so I'm not sure if that will work, might have to mess around with the acid.

Not sure why such an old Manix got sold in 2020 either.

The corrosion resistance of s30v will make it hard. I wonder what it would look like if you got a heavy patina almost black. Then mask off certain areas(not sure how) then stone wash it. Take the masking off then run it a few seconds to blend. Might look cool or fail at the masking off part.

[The Meat man]

That straight spine mod looks pretty cool.

[abbazaba]

Ferric chloride might do it on the blade. You can "protect" areas with nail polish to get the stripe effect.

I've always wanted to do a Rit dye fade on scales... Fade to black on the butt and put a black clip on there?

Golden will usually include the black screws with a clip order.

[DSH007]

I know it's entirely a personal preferences thing.. but, I'm very glad that big beautiful blade survived its mustard bath unscathed! :p

Haha looking forward to seeing the finished product (even if it ends up with tiger stripes..)!

[JuPaul]

Maybe applying the ferric chloride with a small spritz bottle might give you that fade effect? I like the straight spine mod a lot.

[vivi]

Doing a test run with a byrd, then I'm hitting the Manix blade with some Ferric Chloride.





I like the results, just not sure what, if any, pattern to use. I think a solid black etch would be too close to the DLC look, so probably going with some sort of design.