Alternative to Zip Ties

knkali · #21

which method are you talking about? The band winding, the kydex, the acrylic? A few approaches have been mentioned here.

If you are asking me, I used finger nail acrylic. I made a putty out of it and put it on and sanded with a small dremmel type rig. It doesw not come on and off.

Evil D · #22

You could make a hook out of kydex or a similar rigid plastic so that when you fold it over from the inside of the hole, you could melt it together at the top so it wouldn't move. It should work as well as a zip tie, and wouldn't be permanent. I played around with doing similar setups with sheet metal and even a penny cut in half and it worked great. Ugly, but quite functional.

That is just smashed on with vice grips. It didn't even scratch the blade either (i later took it off and traded that Delica in). Your only concern there would be corrosion if you got moisture underneath it, but if you dry out your knife after getting it wet that shouldn't be a problem.

knkali · #23

I like the kydex approach so far. KISS approach. Light, easily reversed, black color. Where do you get ONE sheet of kydex and what thickness?

knkali · #24

EvilD inspired me though to not use a ziptie. His approach is clean and durable.

Frapiscide · #25

knkali wrote:I like the kydex approach so far. KISS approach. Light, easily reversed, black color. Where do you get ONE sheet of kydex and what thickness?

You can get Kydex at any knifemaker's supply shop.
This is where I got mine at:
http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_i ... cts_id=271

knkali · #26

thanx Frap

whats the best way to heat it?

Frapiscide · #27

knkali wrote:thanx Frap

whats the best way to heat it?

We have one of those small oven thingys. I find it best to work with at 300 F for 2-3 minutes. It's like soft rubber then. I usually get one of those cookie trays and cover it with aluminum foil, that way, you can see the Kydex become supple and start to conform to the folds on the aluminum. Not recommended to use the oven that you cook with.

knkali · #28

perfect..thanks

Zendemic · #29

knkali wrote:I like your approach. How did you heat it? Boiling water? Heat gun? hair dryer? Torch? Lighter?

Personally I prefer a heat gun as i can soften up a piece of kydex in about 30 seconds. I had a spare scrap of .06" kydex left so i cut a strip that would fit, heated it up then threaded it through and pinched it with gloved fingers. After letting it cool i then used my dremmel to trim it. I ended up trimming it way more after shooting that video and ended with about .5 cm sticking above the spine of the blade and it still worked very nicely! The most annoying part about kyex though is that if you're just looking for a small piece, the shipping usually more expensive then the materials.

BAL · #30

I usually just cut a hunk of old barbed wire, about 6", and wrap around the spyder hole. You hardly notice it.

unit · #31

Or you could grind the blade to actually have an integrated hook?
Honestly though, I like what the OP has done. I did the permanent mod to mine and after a week or so I was asking what I really needed that extra 0.5 seconds for?

Waves have their place, and so do I. I make sure my place is one that does not require me to produce a knife faster than a typical thumb deployment (which can be quite quick and highly controlled).

That is just my opinion, and yours may be different

knkali · #32

Ultimately, I would rather have a hook ground into the blade but I do not have the tools to do that kind of work and have the blade look nice and smooth ect. I emailed a guy from this board named "brad", who does a lot of custom work on spydies, but I never heard back.

unit · #33

I heard something about Brad recently. I do not recall if he was sick or injured, but I think he was recovering from an injury. In any event, be patient, many of these guys have other jobs that keep them busy.

Have you carried a wave before? You might want to try the temporary thing for a while to make sure it is what you want long term. Just some thoughts.

tonydahose · #34

Emerson has the patent on the wave. Spyderco is licensed by them so they can make their waved models. i waved an endura and was asked to wave a few other member's knives. i contacted Emerson and they declined on licensing me to wave knives so i won't do them for others, it just doesn't seem the right thing to do. Brad might be in the same mindset about not waving them as well.

chuck_roxas45 · #35

Why not just get a waved endura?

knkali · #36

yes i have had waved knives in the past and like them very much.

I hope Brad is OK.

Are there others on the board that could do a good job for me?

Evil D · #37

Has anyone thought about trying to drill a small hole in the spine for a pin to stick into like the P'Kal has? Im sure it would be a challenge but it would work awesome and be removable.

The Deacon · #38

I hope Brad is ok as well.

Steve Rice (STR) is licensed by Emerson to add the wave opener to knives. Not sure if he still does it or not, know there are some things he's stopped doing, but if someone wants one done it might be worthwhile for them to ask him on his BladeForums forum.

unit · #39

Evil D wrote:Has anyone thought about trying to drill a small hole in the spine for a pin to stick into like the P'Kal has? Im sure it would be a challenge but it would work awesome and be removable.

I have thought about it. The properties (hardness) of the blade steel coupled with the size that this hole would have to be would make this notion nearly impossible.

If you tempered the blade, then re-heat treated it, it would be a lot more reasonable...but for that trouble, you might as well get a custom knife made.

Donut · #40

The last I heard about Brad is that he is moving from Colorado to Arizona this week. He has to move his shop and everything, I am sure it will take some time.

I hope it goes smoothly.