Show your Mule
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- Tucson Tom
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Re: Show your Mule
I like it! Nice work all around. Thanks very much for sharing.ScreechOwl wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:31 pmIt's just a cool way to attach scales to the Mule with its strange hole pattern in the handle. It makes them stand out too me thinks. I also think this handle style goes along well with Spydercos "hole motif".
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- legOFwhat?
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Re: Show your Mule
You're killing it! Very nice! Would you mind showing the clip side of the sheaths?
-Larry
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
MNOSD #0049
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
MNOSD #0049
Re: Show your Mule
First knife I have finished. Veneer woods glued together and pinned with leftover Bamboo pieces from a flyrod I made. Hand and dremel sanded/polished. Moderately happy with it, and learned some important lessons; 1. Can't add back what is sanded off, and 2. Don't use soft woods even when laminating. I used butcher block oil and melted paraffin wax for protecting the handle, but looking for something more protective in case anyone have any suggestions.
Re: Show your Mule
Sorry, no idea why the image does not pop up...
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/y1 ... a1gXGnn_co
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/y1 ... a1gXGnn_co
Re: Show your Mule
Edit..I see your pic now that I clicked the new link :D .alexct wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:49 amFirst knife I have finished. Veneer woods glued together and pinned with leftover Bamboo pieces from a flyrod I made. Hand and dremel sanded/polished. Moderately happy with it, and learned some important lessons; 1. Can't add back what is sanded off, and 2. Don't use soft woods even when laminating. I used butcher block oil and melted paraffin wax for protecting the handle, but looking for something more protective in case anyone have any suggestions.
I think it looks nice. The pins were a cool creative idea and came out great, and I like the way the lines in the layers show up in the contouring. :) Nice work!
As for protection for raw wood, you can apply a coat boiled linseed oil once each day for 5 consecutive days. Steel wool and wipe down just prior to each new application. It will darken the wood but it will also give it the same type of protection that is traditionally used for walnut gun stocks. When you've completed the 5 days of coating, finishing with a wood wax would be ideal. If you want to make your own surface wax/oil combination bees wax will be more durable than paraffin. (tip, don't spend $8 for 1 oz of beeswax at Tandy leather or other retailer when you can get an entire brick of it from a bee keeper for about $10, check local farmer's markets).
Even with all that I said above, I have to warn that I don't know if there's really anything you'll be able to do to substantially preserve any soft woods that were used (short of having stabilized them). There's just too much air in the grain of soft woods to be able to seal them properly or keep them from getting beat up. But, so what..right? All woods will last quite a while no matter what and if it wears down, great! That's just an opportunity to make a new handle and start enjoying that one. :)
Best regards,
CK
:spyder: Spyderco fan and collector since 1991. :spyder:
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Re: Show your Mule
I have decided that I'm gonna sell my one set of olive green Halpern G10 scales [Check the SpydercoSwap] and switch over to selfmade paracord wraps, for the two MTs I already own and all mules to come. The result will never be perfect, as I'm neither super talented not patient enough to reach that level. But A) they will be one of a kind, with the colors that I like, B) it's super low-cost, and C) because I can! :p Oh, and I must add D) the result is a super grippy mule handle! :rolleyes:
The two that already exist: Both are double-layered 550 paracord. By far the most difficult part for me is the butt end of the handle area, where the steel is rounded. It's good that there are holes to put the paracord through, gives you some kind of means to pinch the cord and keep it from slipping off. But still it's tricky. If you have a foolproof solution how to end your wrappings, please point me to it! :)
On the next MT, I think I'm gonna try to dip the handle end in this liquid rubber stuff a couple of times, instead of putting a base wrapping. We'll see how this turns out. It sounds promising!
The two that already exist: Both are double-layered 550 paracord. By far the most difficult part for me is the butt end of the handle area, where the steel is rounded. It's good that there are holes to put the paracord through, gives you some kind of means to pinch the cord and keep it from slipping off. But still it's tricky. If you have a foolproof solution how to end your wrappings, please point me to it! :)
On the next MT, I think I'm gonna try to dip the handle end in this liquid rubber stuff a couple of times, instead of putting a base wrapping. We'll see how this turns out. It sounds promising!
Michael
48 Spydies, 44 different models, 43 different steels
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Grail knife, still to be acquired: original Tuff by Ed Schempp Feel free to help me find one at a reasonable price...
48 Spydies, 44 different models, 43 different steels
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Grail knife, still to be acquired: original Tuff by Ed Schempp Feel free to help me find one at a reasonable price...
Re: Show your Mule
Mail call today. :D
I had to pull the VERY talent David Williamson out of retirement for these two. The one on the bottom has an African Blackwood (a huge favorite of mine) handle with red G10 liners (pics of that later), and was done completely by David. Blackwood being... Well... Black, makes it hard to take pictures of, so this really doesn't do it justice.
The one on top is Canvas Micarta and was fixed by David. I tried my hand at making scales and had some issues getting all the high spots out of the scales (the curves on a Mule Team can be a bit tricky), and he graciously evened it out for me. I'll likely do a little work on the finish at some point.
All in all, I couldn't be more pleased. :D
And here's a group shot of my current Mule Team knives. I used to have a Super Blue version with beautiful Desert Ironwood scales, but it was unfortunately stolen last year. The next project is going to be to hit the bone handled K390 Mule with some micro-mesh pads and get it to shine. :)
I had to pull the VERY talent David Williamson out of retirement for these two. The one on the bottom has an African Blackwood (a huge favorite of mine) handle with red G10 liners (pics of that later), and was done completely by David. Blackwood being... Well... Black, makes it hard to take pictures of, so this really doesn't do it justice.
The one on top is Canvas Micarta and was fixed by David. I tried my hand at making scales and had some issues getting all the high spots out of the scales (the curves on a Mule Team can be a bit tricky), and he graciously evened it out for me. I'll likely do a little work on the finish at some point.
All in all, I couldn't be more pleased. :D
And here's a group shot of my current Mule Team knives. I used to have a Super Blue version with beautiful Desert Ironwood scales, but it was unfortunately stolen last year. The next project is going to be to hit the bone handled K390 Mule with some micro-mesh pads and get it to shine. :)
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Re: Show your Mule
Thought I would show a few I have done. On the picture with two knives, the top one I believe was a PMA11 and the bottom one (green) was a CTS-BD1. Both of these were gifted to my daughter. She asked it I could sharpen the green handled one for her just recently. Turns out she's been using it as a vegetable chopper in her kitchen for the past 2-3 years. Still had the factory edge. While it was definitely in need of a sharpening, the blade was still in good shape. No nicks or kind of damage which is a testament to the good steel. The second picture is a SPY27 blade I gifted to my son last night. He's excited! Green is his favorite color. [/attachment]
Re: Show your Mule
Those are beautiful and your set is quite nice!! It's a little hard to tell in the picture, are those Loveless style sexbolts in the handle David Williamson made? Looks fantastic! :) Congrats!!
:spyder: Spyderco fan and collector since 1991. :spyder:
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Re: Show your Mule
Very nice work catfish333! That green raffir(?) handle looks like seaweed flowing in water or something..really cool looking stuff :cool: .catfish333 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:45 amThought I would show a few I have done. On the picture with two knives, the top one I believe was a PMA11 and the bottom one (green) was a CTS-BD1. Both of these were gifted to my daughter. She asked it I could sharpen the green handled one for her just recently. Turns out she's been using it as a vegetable chopper in her kitchen for the past 2-3 years. Still had the factory edge. While it was definitely in need of a sharpening, the blade was still in good shape. No nicks or kind of damage which is a testament to the good steel. The second picture is a SPY27 blade I gifted to my son last night. He's excited! Green is his favorite color. [/attachment]Knife 1.jpg
:spyder: Spyderco fan and collector since 1991. :spyder:
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Re: Show your Mule
Thanks, I'm very happy with them. :)
They are actually stainless Corby Bolts. I asked David about the sex bolts and he said they tend to leave a gap in the thread pattern. He suggested Corby Bolts along with a countersink which Pop's Knife Supply sells.
Re: Show your Mule
:D :D David's reasoning is the same reason I prefer not to use sex bolts and opt for corbys 99% of the time. The large thread leaves an inevitable gap. I wasn't sure if I was seeing a reflection or if somehow he had made the gap in the sex bolts disappear :) . If you had said they were sex bolts I was going to try to contact David to see if he'd share that secret trick :p .
Congrats once again. Those are beautiful knives! :)
:spyder: Spyderco fan and collector since 1991. :spyder:
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Re: Show your Mule
fixall wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:52 amThe one on the bottom has an African Blackwood (a huge favorite of mine) handle with red G10 liners (pics of that later), and was done completely by David. Blackwood being... Well... Black, makes it hard to take pictures of, so this really doesn't do it justice.
O man! That rings the bell for me, clad in black and silver is just stunningly beautiful.
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Re: Show your Mule
^Very nice! I especially like the spalted handle. Sheaths look great too. :)
:spyder: Spyderco fan and collector since 1991. :spyder:
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
Father of 2, nature explorer, custom knife maker.
@ckc_knifemaker on Instagram.
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Re: Show your Mule
Every last one of them looks great. I don't know if I'd want a Mule anymore, as I couldn't make it look anywhere near that good!
Regular carrier: zome green Delica 4
Occasional/situational carrier: Dragonfly 2 with Wharncliffe blade
Display only: Manbug with Wharncliffe blade, Dragonfly 2 with Wharncliffe blade, zome green Delica 4
Occasional/situational carrier: Dragonfly 2 with Wharncliffe blade
Display only: Manbug with Wharncliffe blade, Dragonfly 2 with Wharncliffe blade, zome green Delica 4
Re: Show your Mule
Sure you could. :)
It just takes some practice.
If you try it out, you might be surprised how fast you are able to pick it up and make things you never thought you could.