Spyderco Forums

This was a bad idea. Don’t do this.

I’ve taken apart every knife I ever bought. I thought that the janisong couldn’t be more difficult to reassemble than the autonomy - I was wrong.

I had to walk away and revisit the reassembly later because I couldn’t get the scales back on the liners. I’d like to congratulate Spyderco for purposefully making a handful of small parts that look centered but are actually off center lobes when you look really close. You got me. :)

For anyone wondering, there’s 50 pieces that make up the janisong.

First of all, kudos to doing this, AND to being successful in the end!!

Two observations from your pic:

The blade in the assembled Janisong on top looks very short :confused: if you relate it to the handles. If it just is this way, then I've never yet realized this...

And apparently you own TWO of these? :eek: Why?

Yiikes!

They really should have made every screw a different size as well. Just to make it more fun.

Wow. Looks like a kit purposely designed to teach you zen / patience...

archangel wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:52 am

Two observations from your pic:

The blade in the assembled Janisong on top looks very short :confused: if you relate it to the handles. If it just is this way, then I've never yet realized this...

And apparently you own TWO of these? :eek: Why?

The blade has to be shorter than both handles to accommodate the latch mechanism on the butt end.

And, no, that's not two JaniSongs, just one.

Now you know what it looks like inside my head...

Stay safe,

Mike

Mike, you really confuse me. :) How can YOU answer the second of my questions when Rinzler is the OP? :) Also, the one picture posted in this thread shows one assembled JaniSong on top, and all the parts of a second JaniSong that was taken apart - or are we looking at different pics?

The fact that the blade needs to be as much shorter as the handles are, in order to work like it does, I get that. Just never had realized it before.

Hey, Archangel:

I guess I misunderstood your reference to two knives. I thought you meant the disassembled parts represented more than one knife. Yes, the photo shows two--one assembled and one disassembled. Sorry for the confusion.

For the record, the Spyderco version is also slightly different than my original design and the patent. It was re-engineered to include two stop pins and an arcuate slot in the blade tang. I don't know that was necessary, but it is different.

Stay safe,

Mike

AOK, thanks for the insight Mike!

Man, that's a lot of parts!

Anyway, the knife is just fun to play around with. It is simply a knife category in itself. Btw, thanks for the photo of how it looks from the inside.

Rinzler wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:30 pm

This was a bad idea. Don’t do this.

I’ve taken apart every knife I ever bought. I thought that the janisong couldn’t be more difficult to reassemble than the autonomy - I was wrong.

I had to walk away and revisit the reassembly later because I couldn’t get the scales back on the liners. I’d like to congratulate Spyderco for purposefully making a handful of small parts that look centered but are actually off center lobes when you look really close. You got me. :)

For anyone wondering, there’s 50 pieces that make up the janisong.

That's a lot of parts, thanks for taking the time to disassemble and sharing this, don't think I'be seen any of tttttoddday influencers taking this knife apart...

I'm enjoying mine, fun knife indeed.

I see you have two of them, that makes me wonder why do I have only one :D

That's it, I'm not disassembling mine, ever!

Thank you for taking one for the team, Rinzler. If you handle the Janisong, you'd think it was as simple as an ordinary butterfly knife.

I really enjoy mine and I'm glad I got it for a good price, though the import taxes were killer. It's really a good piece and it's amazing how Mike designed this knife from the ground up. I wonder why there isn't any more hype on this knife, it's one of the most unique and original designs ever.

Kudos, Mike J.

Please tell me, what is the advantage of this particular shape of the handle, coffin-style, for this knife? Why exactly this? The question is rather for Mr. Janich.

Hey, DerRock:

The pivot-pin end of the handle had to be wide enough to accommodate the lock mechanism. I wanted the "waist" to be narrow enough to allow some ability to roll the handle during manipulation. The flare at the butt end helps with grip retention and gives it a bit of an old-school switchblade look.

My original drawings of the design actually looked a lot like a Phil Boguszewski "Spike," but when I began modeling it, I realized it needed more grip. That's when I added the other contours.

Like any other lock mechanism, there is room for other stylistic expression of the JaniSong, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.

I hope this helps.

Stay safe,

Mike

Mike,
Do you think we might ever see another iteration of the Janisong or perhaps a US made model? The Janisong is a really nice knife and such a unique design, it’s a shame that all knife geeks aren’t able to enjoy your design.

Dear Rinzler:

Thank you for your enthusiasm for the JaniSong.

I remain hopeful that it will someday see broader distribution and maybe a US-made version. Spyderco's US factory is working at maximum capacity and the JaniSong is a very complex design, so it's very difficult to fit it in to our production efforts here. Compared to our mainstream designs, it is also a niche product with more limited appeal. Despite its cool factor, from a business perspective, it's still more of a novelty.

Stay safe,

Mike

Mike, thanks for the answer. You have a very interesting knife. Nowadays, something really new rarely appears. Therefore, all the design features are interesting.

Thank you for sharing this...for being brave enough to attempt and patient enough to finish and reassemble. I have been wanting to do the same, just to look and see, but have put it off because it looked daunting.

Now I don't have too. Thanks!

I also found it interesting to see that you get a lot of parts for your money. It's a great knife and I still "play" with it regularly.