Syderco Tenacious Custom Walnut Scales

[glideher]

here is my spyderco tenacious lightweight, i made some custom scales out of walnut wood, feels alot better in hand, and does not get caught in my pocket every time i take it out, the original plastic scales sadly are junk and ruin your pockets and have a very cheap plastic feel. went from 104 grams to 94g. i have also added a wooden back spacer, what do you guys think?

[Badger410]

I like it a lot.

[JRinFL]

You had me at Walnut! Looks great. I'd love to see the factory use more natural materials.

I think many will be begging you to make a set for them.

[Evil D]

Very nice.

[Wartstein]

here is my spyderco tenacious lightweight, i made some custom scales out of walnut wood, feels alot better in hand, and does not get caught in my pocket every time i take it out, the original plastic scales sadly are junk and ruin your pockets and have a very cheap plastic feel. went from 104 grams to 94g. i have also added a back spacer, what do you guys think?

Beautiful, great work! :)

/ One thing though: I would not say at all that the "original plastic scales are junk" - actually their FRN is one of the best and strongest handle materials out there, and the way they are made prevents them from being a pocket shredder in my experience.

[Holland]

Wow, looks great!

[Freediver]

Looks great, nice work. I agree with Warstein, FRN is actually an excellent scale material and i find I carry my FRN Spydercos the most.

Does your finger fit into the hole in the scales? I would be a little worried I would catch the edge reaching into my pocket.

[kennethsime]

I actually enjoy the FRN scales, but these are definitely nicer. Great work!

[Doc Dan]

Looks great!

[setldown]

Those walnut scales certainly are lookers but the FRN scales that you state: "sadly are junk and ruin your pockets and have a very cheap plastic feel" are superior to resisting damage from dings, drops, cracking, water, chemicals, and temperature. Tenacious is a value knife. If you want to put lipstick on a pig and take it to the prom don't insult it because it came from the working side of town.

[glideher]

thanks everyone, yes the FRN scales are light weight, strong and do provide great grip, but i stand by my opinion strongly, they are very cheap looking and feeling, they actually dont sit very well/flush on the liner, and they also ripped apart two of my jean pants pockets. Spydercos higher end knives do not have this issue, only these FRN scales. again this is my opinion and many years of using the tenacious

[Wartstein]

thanks everyone, yes the FRN scales are light weight, strong and do provide great grip, but i stand by my opinion strongly, they are very cheap looking and feeling, they actually dont sit very well/flush on the liner, and they also ripped apart two of my jean pants pockets. Spydercos higher end knives do not have this issue, only these FRN scales. again this is my opinion and many years of using the tenacious

Once more: I love how you did the wood scales, they look great, very classy and comfortable!
I actually thought of doing something similar to my S35VN Tenacious too (or buy a second one for that) since it is "easier" to make custom scales for full (like in "not nested") liners. "Easier" in quotes, cause to do it in the quality and fit yours show is not "easy" of course.

/ On the FRN though... see next post

[Wartstein]

thanks everyone, yes the FRN scales are light weight, strong and do provide great grip, but i stand by my opinion strongly, they are very cheap looking and feeling, they actually dont sit very well/flush on the liner, and they also ripped apart two of my jean pants pockets. Spydercos higher end knives do not have this issue, only these FRN scales. again this is my opinion and many years of using the tenacious

... once more on the FRN:

Can't argue of course how they FEEL to you, this is totally subjective and fine however one feels.
And you still described and valued the objective (good) properties of FRN perfectly well!

So these are just my experiences with my S35VN (FRN) Tenacious:

- I don't feel like this model rips the pockets more or less than other FRN knives (and is not a "pocket ripper" compared to grippier G10 for example), but I'll admit that I do not own this knife for very long now (so my opinion could change)
- On mine the fit and finish is outstanding, including how the scales sit on the liners (but perhaps the more expensive S35VN model gets better qc than the 8CR variants?)
- Are you sure you have "many years of using the FRN Tenacious"? How long does this version even exist?

Again, not doubting your experience! Just wanted to give mine more positive one too.

Congrats on your wood scales once more!

[Larry_Mott]

Nice!
I have one with Thuja burl scales

[KnifusMaximus]

Nice!
I have one with Thuja burl scales

Man!! That is Beautiful!!!!!