Friction folder

[noseoil]

Got this in the mail yesterday, a nice little friction folder by Michael Morris. Nicely made & finished, plain vanilla, nothing fancy. Decided to re-profile it to 19 degrees per side. The edge he ships with is fairly thick compared to what I'm used to. Pretty hard steel, he says about 58 & I'd have to say that's about right or a bit under what it might be. Good guy to do business with & quality work. Takes about 9-10 months from order to delivery now.

The blade is much thicker than my Spyderco types, but it's a decent slicer, hollow ground, made from an old file (W1 or W2 steel) & cuts well with the finer bevel. I like seeing the file marks on this blade, just a nice touch which makes it a bit more interesting. His files are old work stuff left over from from Detroit's better days. Actual thickness is about .130" at the spine. Although this is fairly thick, it handles well, is comfortable & fairly light. It doesn't feel at all "clunky" or unwieldy to grasp or cut with.





All in all this is a nice little knife.

[farnorthdan]

I really like the handle shape on yours, goes great with the blade and you are right about blade thickness and grind. I ended up doing the same with mine and re profiled as soon as I got it. MM folders are well worth the wait.

[Dr. Snubnose]

Very Nicely Done!...I have to be honest I know very little about friction folders, and whenever I had one I felt them awkward to use and carry....Maybe this would be a good place to enlighten me and maybe others as to the advantages, positive attributes, and your reasons for selecting a friction folder for carry and use.....I know I would appreciate your thoughts and first hand experience....Thanks...Doc:)

[noseoil]

OK Doc, I just wanted something different for a pocket-carry, every-day use knife. The cutting edge is about 2 1/4", so it's pretty compact to carry & also very light & handy. It's surprisingly rugged, has no lock, no clip or frills at all. It takes two hands to open since there's no spyder hole, but that's fine with me. No hurries when I'm using it. When it's "locked" in place, the grip keeps the blade in place & open.

I used it this weekend on the camper I'm building. Sliced some foam for the cabin-to-frame assembly, cleaned out a joint of polyurethane adhesive, to laminate a new piece of aluminum skin in place. I generally used it like I would any EDC blade. One nice thing about not having a clip is the painted sides I'm using on the camper. I can't have a pocket clip sticking out as it could damage the paint when I work on different things & the roof. It's just a simple use knife. Here's the camper so far. Been on it for a year plus now. Hope to finish some day...

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Man that is a beautiful and functional work of knife art! Great find, great find. Now I want to get one :)

Here is his website I was looking at the pieces:

http://www.michaelmorrisknives.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for this post, noseoil. Appreciated.

[Dr. Snubnose]

OK Doc, I just wanted something different for a pocket-carry, every-day use knife. The cutting edge is about 2 1/4", so it's pretty compact to carry & also very light & handy. It's surprisingly rugged, has no lock, no clip or frills at all. It takes two hands to open since there's no spyder hole, but that's fine with me. No hurries when I'm using it. When it's "locked" in place, the grip keeps the blade in place & open.

I used it this weekend on the camper I'm building. Sliced some foam for the cabin-to-frame assembly, cleaned out a joint of polyurethane adhesive, to laminate a new piece of aluminum skin in place. I generally used it like I would any EDC blade. One nice thing about not having a clip is the painted sides I'm using on the camper. I can't have a pocket clip sticking out as it could damage the paint when I work on different things & the roof. It's just a simple use knife. Here's the camper so far. Been on it for a year plus now. Hope to finish some day...

Looking Real Good....Can't decide now if I want your knife or your camper....LOL...Enjoy!! Doc:)

[Birdman21]

Just checked out the site. Really nice knife! U forgot to mention that the tang doubles as a bottle opener as well! Lol!

[SpeedHoles]

I really dig the simplicity and file texture on that knife!
Also that re-use idea behind it.
Beautiful!


Oh, and great camper, those style seem to be getting fairly popular where I'm at! Popular with cyclists who road trip.

[Birdman21]

I keep clicking on the link to go back to the site..... Think I'm gonna have to get me one of these! Did the sheath come with the knife, or was it separate?

[noseoil]

I'm going to make a sheath for mine, as I do holsters already & pretty easy to do. I ordered mine without a sheath, but Michael makes them to go with the knives he makes.

[farnorthdan]

I keep clicking on the link to go back to the site..... Think I'm gonna have to get me one of these! Did the sheath come with the knife, or was it separate?

He does make them and they are a little extra but not much, totally worth it, fits like a glove and very well made.

[Birdman21]

Thx guys! This will be my very first friction folder! Sent him an email earlier, about how long was his turn around time in your experiences? Also if I don't spring for a sheath right away, how does it ride in a pocket? I have absolutely no experience with these types of knives

[defenestrate]

His prices look pretty reasonable and he has a reasonable line of knives he puts out. I have yet to handle a friction folder but would like to at least try one. I figure I'd handle it about the same as I do my UKPK - just certain motions with the knife don't make a lot of sense without a lock.

[Evil D]

I talked with Michael a couple years ago about having one made, but unfortunately he wasn't willing to make one the size that I want so I passed on it. I guess he was having some issues with people using these knives too hard and breaking the handles, so he started making the blades shorter to lower the amount of leverage that the pivots see. I can understand that, I just wanted one with a bit longer blade. Realistically though, it's probably not a knife I'd carry very much. I just bought a Svord a couple months ago and literally have not cut a single thing with it...so that kinda tells me all I need to know about me carrying a non-clip friction folder.

[SpeedHoles]

Man, every time this thread gets bumped I just can't help but stare more and more at those photos! :D

He is apparently only an hour or two away from where I live. Maybe I should go see if he needs a weekend apprentice who'll work for knives, lol

[Evil D]

Man, every time this thread gets bumped I just can't help but stare more and more at those photos! :D

He is apparently only an hour or two away from where I live. Maybe I should go see if he needs a weekend apprentice who'll work for knives, lol

If you don't already know, he has some step by step videos on You Tube showing how he makes his knives. They were the main reason I decided I wanted one.

[SpeedHoles]

Man, every time this thread gets bumped I just can't help but stare more and more at those photos! :D

He is apparently only an hour or two away from where I live. Maybe I should go see if he needs a weekend apprentice who'll work for knives, lol

If you don't already know, he has some step by step videos on You Tube showing how he makes his knives. They were the main reason I decided I wanted one.

Cool, thanks for the heads up, I'll check in to them!

[pmel018]

That knife brought back some memories. I am pretty sure Mr Morris was at the Knives-UK show a few years ago, bought a small friction folder very similar to the OPs one(my grip scales are red) He was a very nice guy and the knives were not too expensive.
Now have go and find mine!
Phil