Rounded/Contoured/Polished G10 Kiwi 4

[Brock O Lee]

Impressive! I am now tempted to buy one to do the same!

[jmh58]

That's SWEEEETTT!!! :D John :)

[OldSarSwmr]

I really like how that turned out! Makes me want to break out the dremel.


Dan

[ohcyclist]

I could not remember what knife the handle you modified reminded me of, then it hit me. The street beat. Great ergonomics and very clean lines. Amazing work.

[Evil D]

I could not remember what knife the handle you modified reminded me of, then it hit me. The street beat. Great ergonomics and very clean lines. Amazing work.

Yeah, the Street Beat is a gorgeous knife.

[Nasgul]

:D Sweet, newer wanted one before now

Nearly the same as you.

[Evil D]

Did a bit more polishing on the Kiwi today. I got some 1500, 2000, and 3000 grit paper. It's starting to get shiny :cool:

It's hard to tell just by the shine since it was already pretty glossy, but the shinier it gets the more the grain shows through.

[bearfacedkiller]

Classy!

[DigDug72]

This mod has yielded gallons of drool from me over the last year, and I finally copped a Kiwi4 to try this beeyootiful mod out Evil. Thanks for the inspiration brotha!
sidenote: I am really loving this knife (pre-mod). The way it locks into my hand is awesome, plus the low edge and tip make for a super effective edc blade. I like to sharpen, so I like Vg10 a lot.

[Evil D]

It's a really awesome knife. The only down side I've found with this mod is the clip friction isn't as good, it comes out of your pocket much easier. But, it's also super light so it hasn't been an issue.

[DigDug72]

Cool, I'll probably pre-bend the clip in a lil to compensate, thanks for the advice D. I'll probably jump into the mod tomorrow, and will post pics - if mine turns out half as awesome as yours I'll be satisfied. Definitely takin it up to 3000 grit based on those pics...

[awa54]

late to the show here, but have you tried Novus 2 plastic polish to get a shine on that G10? It might cut slowly though, since the abrasive is silicon...

[Evil D]

late to the show here, but have you tried Novus 2 plastic polish to get a shine on that G10? It might cut slowly though, since the abrasive is silicon...

No but I do want to polish it further, I'd like it to look as good as the Vallotton for example. I tried to polish it on a mini grinder with a buffing wheel but the resulting polishing compound getting into every crevice of the knife was not worth the end result.

[HarleyXJGuy]

So I am to lazy to re read the whole thread but did you sand it wet or dry?

Have a regular S30V Millie that might be a good guinea pig to try this out on.

[Evil D]

So I am to lazy to re read the whole thread but did you sand it wet or dry?

Have a regular S30V Millie that might be a good guinea pig to try this out on.

Both, dry for shaping and eventually wet for polishing.

[DigDug72]

Finished my copycat version of this awesome mod, and I'm just kicking myself for not jumping into this way earlier. Thanks D, you paved an awesome path with this one!

[Evil D]

Looks awesome! When I did mine, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything was really blend the corners in as far as I could get them so that the grain of the G10 really showed through. I started of just softening the corners down but the lower you get with the angles in the corners the more the grain shows through. Because of that I think my scales are probably a lot thinner than yours and it looks like I got into the pins more than you did, which is kind of not a good thing really, someday mine may pop loose on me. If they do I'll probably just get some brass and try to pin the knife back together and then sand them down again. In the end that may actually be better than the rivets they used in the factory.

Oh, and by chance did you handle it before you put the clip back on? Talk about an amazing feeling in hand...it feels so smooth and sculpted without the clip, it's almost enough to make me take the clip off ala Deacon.

I just hope Sal and company are taking note of this. The original Kiwi was such a nice knife, I really love the new version and I love G10, but I think it's a huge shame that this one has plain old flat peel ply G10. It really deserves a contoured scale treatment. If nothing else I really hope we see a stainless version someday that has contoured scales (or contoured titanium!). I don't buy many SS knives but I think that would be an amazing knife and I would definitely buy one. I also think there's potential for bolsters and inlays. There's just so much untapped potential with this knife.

[DigDug72]

I love the grain visibility on yours D, and have been debating going through another sanding progression to bring that out on mine. Thanks for the words of advice re: the pins tho, I might have to keep it as is!
That's a trip that you mention the feel w/out clip - I came to the same conclusion, and was/is debating letting it go clipless, it feels incredible! I've been going that route more and more with other knives as I experience the difference...
And yeah, this knife needs a contoured production model. This just ramps it into another stratosphere!

[Evil D]

I want Spyderco to do it because they can do it far better than me, it'll be properly thick and evenly contoured and polished far better than I can do myself.