Heron by Chad Kelly ... collab?

[JSumm]

Really excited about this Collab.

[Cl1ff]

I'm also really interested in this!

[RamZar]

I’m in for the small and classy Piute folder.

[amateur blacksmith]

Just wanted to say what a talent Chad is. His work is incredible.

[Bolster]

I’m in for the small and classy Piute folder.

Man. That is one sweet lookin' folder.

[Xplorer]

Any update on this project?

Same question. Eagerly awaiting news.

Any update on this project?

Chad is one of the jewels of this forum! Helped/inspired me so many times with the MuleTeam! Can't wait to see the end result!

Really excited about this Collab.

I'm also really interested in this!

I’m in for the small and classy Piute folder.

Just wanted to say what a talent Chad is. His work is incredible.

Man. That is one sweet lookin' folder.

I'm sorry I didn't see all your nice comments sooner guys!

Thank you all for such kind words!!

I don't have any specific updates I can share at this time. I can definitely say there are good things to look forward to.

Best regards to all of you!

[Ramonade]

I'm down to have both a custom and a Spyderco collab'. Totally.

Like, totally.

[Fireman]

I like how the blade and choil area remind me of the Shaman. I wonder if you would consider a spydiechef style blade for this as well

[standy99]

Having seen and held the above knife…..I’m down for one. Great to hear the story of how it became to the current model.

Such a beautiful knife and a great maker and a nice guy.

Had lunch and a beer when I was in San Diego for work.
Brought a work mate with that was a laugh and gave Chad a good dose of Australian humour

[Xplorer]

I'm down to have both a custom and a Spyderco collab'. Totally.
Like, totally.

Thank you Robin! After allowing knife making to dominate my priorities 7 days a week for nearly 8 years, I had neglected too many major priorities in my life and it came time to "pay the piper" as they say. I had to temporarily step away from making knives and I've spent the past 5 months addressing critical home repairs/upgrades, my finances and other over-arching priorities that are critical to my family's happiness and security. During that time I didn't make any custom knives. I just carried and tested this folder design every day while doing all manner of construction work. Now that I am just about done with all that, I'm turning my attention to expanding the size of my shop and adding a couple new capabilities. When that expansion is completed I'll be finishing a kitchen knife project for RustyIron and a Heron for elena86. After that, I will be making a small run of (4-6) custom folders. I'll let you know when they're done in case you want one.

I like how the blade and choil area remind me of the Shaman. I wonder if you would consider a spydiechef style blade for this as well

You're right, I also see some similarity. I hadn't noticed the similarity until you mentioned it. When I'm developing a design I'm very focused on every little detail but I don't compare what I'm doing to other knives at all. I just stay focused on making it good at doing it's intended job and then I try to make it look good afterward. There have been so many knife designs already that even if I design a knife without internet access, without looking at books, without seeing my knife collection, while working entirely in my window-less shop it will still come out looking similar to some other design in some way.

While I see the similarity you see, there are also significant differences in that same area. The choil/blade transition on the Shaman includes a safety "nub" to keep your finger off the blade. This also means you can only use the front half of the blade on a horizontal surface, as is the case with most pocket knives. This particular design of mine leaves the rear end of the blade exposed like a Spydiechef and relies on the size of the choil, the shape of the handle and a little bit of your good judgement to keep your finger away from the edge. Also, there's a subtle but significant difference in the blade-to-handle angle. The angle of my design allows the entire length of the blade to be used on a horizontal surface (like a Spydiechef) without the more extreme handle/blade angle that is used in the Spydiechef. The intention behind that aspect of my design is that it be as much like a traditional pocket knife blade orientation as possible while maximizing the usability and versatility of the compact blade.

Since I'm already explaining...I'll add a bit more. I designed this knife to be my backpacking companion. The latest design revision is as compact and light weight as possible without sacrificing the functionality I require. For a couple of years I assessed my actual knife usage while backpacking. I logged every cut I made and every cut my friends made while in the wilderness. I used the cut logs to inform a lot of my design decisions so that the final product would be excellent for what I actually do while backpacking instead of what I imagine I might need a knife for. Realistically, mundane things like slicing dry salami, cutting cheese, spreading peanut butter and cutting paracord usually topped the lists while fish cleaning and wood processing were very important but less frequent events. Given the somewhat compact blade length, I could have made the handle shorter if I was trying to make the whole package as small as possible. However, I designed the handle to be just as safe and secure in an upside down grip for fish processing as it is right-side-up. This leads to a slightly longer handle that also offers greater leverage while processing kindling. There are reasons and intentions informing every aspect of the design and I will be explaining those design intentions and all of the specific features in much greater detail when the knife goes into production and we are closer to a drop date.

Keep in mind that the knife that is pictured in this thread is a prototype and there have already been a lot of refinements to that design. For the past 5 months I have been carrying a newer version that is more of a pre-production prototype. It includes at least half a dozen significant improvements, including blade shape refinement, lighter weight and an overall thinner body for more comfortable carry. The final Spyderco version will not be as fancy as the one pictured here (because I doubt anyone would buy it if it retails for like $800 ) but the production version will be considerably more refined in both functionality and ergonomics.

Having seen and held the above knife…..I’m down for one. Great to hear the story of how it became to the current model.

Such a beautiful knife and a great maker and a nice guy.

Had lunch and a beer when I was in San Diego for work.
Brought a work mate with that was a laugh and gave Chad a good dose of Australian humour

It's certainly nice to hear positive words from one of the only people to have held that knife. .

It was great to have had the opportunity to meet you and talk about knives over lunch while you were in San Diego. I hope we're able to get together again next time you're on this side of the earth. Please say hi to 'Ol Dirty Dave for me when you see him again.

[standy99]

Having seen and held the above knife…..I’m down for one. Great to hear the story of how it became to the current model.

Such a beautiful knife and a great maker and a nice guy.

Had lunch and a beer when I was in San Diego for work.
Brought a work mate with that was a laugh and gave Chad a good dose of Australian humour

It's certainly nice to hear positive words from one of the only people to have held that knife. .

It was great to have had the opportunity to meet you and talk about knives over lunch while you were in San Diego. I hope we're able to get together again next time you're on this side of the earth. Please say hi to 'Ol Dirty Dave for me when you see him again.

Pictures only just do that knife justice. The Fit, Feel and Finish of the knife was beautiful on so many levels and on every part of the knife. Very much like the fixed blade you made for me. To also see the drawings for the design and history of why you made the knife like you did was something special also.

Most of all the time you took to drive to meet half way and all the time you have spent with threads on handle building and kydex sheath making for the Mule Team forum.

Dirty Dave said to say Gday the last time we spoke Rang him and he was on a day off at the pub having a beer of all things

[Cl1ff]

Im not really a maker yet, but hearing that design process is sweet because I’ve been designing and recording ideas a lot recently.
I suppose the inspiration spring is flowing good right now.
Anyway, it just reminded me how many versions I can make of the same design and still find ways to improve it.
A little while ago, Sal suggested I send in a knife design I’d been talking about a lot, but I decided it wasn’t ready and recently made what I think are significant improvements to the design (very similar to the kinds of tweaks you described, Xplorer). It’s a fun process.
I hadn’t considered ever actually sending in my designs until Sal said so, because I was only satisfying my own curiosities and trying to keep my artistic skill from completely atrophying.

Xplorer, I’m really looking forward to seeing your knives and hearing more about them! You are certainly part of that inspiration now.

[Bolster]

I caught RustyIron's post in the off-topic subforum regarding this stunning Chad Kelly (Xplorer) kitchen knife:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=94704

Look at that lovely curved plunge line. Look at that titanium bolster. Look at those ironwood handles! In Vanax!! With Chad's own Vanax-tuned heat treat. In the thread, Kelly mentions 20 revisions and 5 prototypes to get to RustyIron's knife.

This got me to wondering if there are any updates on the Kelly/Spyderco collaboration?

[JRinFL]

The world needs a Chad Kelly collab now more than ever!

[Xplorer]

I caught RustyIron's post in the off-topic subforum regarding this stunning Chad Kelly (Xplorer) kitchen knife:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=94704

Look at that lovely curved plunge line. Look at that titanium bolster. Look at those ironwood handles! In Vanax!! With Chad's own Vanax-tuned heat treat. In the thread, Kelly mentions 20 revisions and 5 prototypes to get to RustyIron's knife.

This got me to wondering if there are any updates on the Kelly/Spyderco collaboration?

I can update you a bit, it's probably not what you'd prefer to hear..

Early last April I completed a prototype folder that I intended to send to Sal so that he could carry it for a while and begin the process of evaluating and moving toward production. By the end of April my entire world was turned upside down. I was hit with a nearly overwhelming financial challenge and had to make some extremely tough decisions. In order to do what was right for my family, I had to stop all of my knife work and spend every moment focused on securing our future. Knife making is a break-even venture for me at this point, at best. I worked on 2 potential solutions simultaneously. My fail-safe solution was to sell my house and so I worked 7 days a week for 6 months straight to get the house into the best possible condition for selling.

Fortunately for me and my family, plan A worked out and by late October I was able to restore our financial security and took my house off the market. In the months leading up to that moment, I could not be sure what my future was going to look like and when I might be able to get back to designing and making knives.

I figured if Sal or Eric contacted me and said they wanted anything I would do my best to find a way to oblige their request, but if I didn't hear from them I planned to just hold onto the prototype folder and use it throughout all of my home remodeling. I know they have a long line for production as it is, and I saw some benefit in getting that much practical use out of my design. I'm happy to report it performed great, it's still working perfectly and I only cut myself once all year (because I was being totally stupid ) .

The part that makes me feel the worst is I have a beautiful knife I made for Gail Glesser that I had completed just as all this hit me and I was suddenly so broke I couldn't afford $20 to ship it. It has sat in a drawer since last April. I assume Gail thinks I forgot about her request or something, and I've let it go longer than necessary because I haven't exactly been looking forward to telling people about the difficulties I've had.

Once my finances were stabilized and it appeared life might actually be going back to normal, I had a lot of work to do to bring my shop back. I spent November and half of December cleaning and expanding my shop. It's now twice the size it had been and far more functional than ever.

Basically the beginning of 2023 was the first opportunity I've had to seriously get back into the knife work I love. The first thing I wanted to get done was to repay Rustyiron for a generous gift of tooling he gave me last year. Even though I've been studying for that project in the evenings off-and-on for nearly a year, it was a new type of knife for me and it took a lot of prototyping and testing...therefor time to get it right. I'm presently wrapping up another 2 knives that I agreed to build for people.

As time has passed I've also learned more. I've decided to make a change to my folder design. It's a change that I prefer and I know most people will prefer as well, thanks to the polling you did Bolster.

So...I have all the materials in hand, milled and surfaced to their required thicknesses. In about 3 weeks I will begin making 2 prototypes that incorporate the latest change. I will keep one and I will send one to Sal along with the original proto I'm carrying now. I'll send Gail's knife along with them unless she requests it sooner. After that...I have absolutely no idea what will happen or when. Your guess will be as good as mine.

I genuinely appreciate your interest and thank you for asking.

CK

[ZrowsN1s]

Man it's a struggle to do what we love vs what we need sometimes. Glad you weathered the storm and are back in the knife game Chad.

[Xplorer]

Man it's a struggle to do what we love vs what we need sometimes. Glad you weathered the storm and are back in the knife game Chad.

Thank you!

[JSumm]

Great to hear you are back to where you want and need to be with your family!

As far as the Collab goes, I think this is a project demanding patience for the right outcome at the right time. I'm sure Sal (and Gail) haven't lost interest. They seem to be extremely patient and understanding people. Look forward to the future!

**Edit to add: so, so, selflessly interested in what you learned and took from the poll...

[elena86]

My Heron just arrived. What can I say ?! It is a superb Knife and Chad is an awesome skilled custom knife maker and a gracious person.His attention to details is mind blowing and it was a pleasure to follow him as he created this beauty. Vanax blade steel, supertusk/nickel/G10 handle, cowhide and stingray hide sheath. Thank you Chad, I have no words to describe my gratitude. I shall enjoy and treasure our Heron ! It is yours as much as it is mine. Keep up the great job brother !

[Bemo]

Gorgeous.