Spyderco Forums

Very nice wrap :)

Agreed & nice pics too.

:)

My s110v Mule was a pleasure to work on. One thing the Taiwanese producer did was improve the finish of the tang and edges of the Mule. They were smooth and polished - and didn't show the irregular grind marks that were left on many of the Golden Mules. Nice touch - it saved me some work polishing them myself!

The wood I chose for this one is stabilized Hawaiian Silky Oak with a 1/16" dark green linen micarta liner. Silky oak is actually related to the sycamore, and was brought to the islands from Australia in the 1880s. It is prized in the islands as an ornamental tree with fern-like foliage and colorful flowers. The wood is often called "lacewood" and is used for inlays and furniture. The wood works and finishes well, but needs to be stabilized to be good for knife scales. Personally, i just love the multiple colors, patterns and grain weaving throughout the wood - extremely interesting to look at.

I attached the micarta with West Systems epoxy, then cut and shaped the scales by hand using coping saw, files, rasps, and a variety of sandpaper. I finished the scales to 1200 grit and topped the wood with four thin coats of TruOil and a polish with Ren Wax.

TedP

Very nice work, Ted. I love the irregular appearance of the grain and the notched look. It's hard to tell without having it in hand what is actually 3-dimensional irregularities, whether caused by the softness of some grain when sanding or by your file and rasp work. In any case, the final product is very interesting to look at.

Thanks, Doug. Actually, the scales are smooth - I sanded them out to 1200 grit. All the "3D" things you see in the wood are characteristics of the wood itself. It is almost holographic - the larger flecks seem to float on top of the grain and the underneath grain shimmers and moves in the light. Fascinating stuff.

TedP

It's amazing stuff. I thought some of the 3D effect might be an illusion from grain, but am really surprised that all of it is.

Simply stunning I must say.

:)

TedP, those may be the most beautiful Mule scales I've ever seen! Just jaw-dropping! :D

Phillipsted- I think we might frequent the same vendor. I just got a package that has some of that Silky Oak from the oregon coast. I was thinking of using it on my mule, but you seem to have been there, done that.
Still, the odds of us ever running into each other toting the same knife and handle might be pretty rare

Cuscadi glow scales

Just received my K390 Mule with the green "glow in the dark" scales, and some extra blue scales for the S110V (installed them myself). Glow is extremely bright for the first few minutes, then slowly fades off. Still bright enough to find it in the dark Wood (if exposed to light when leaving the car).
Thanks to Luke who did an excellent Job attaching and evening out the grips, also very good communication.

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Nice Ted, lovely wood! I really like that combi of wood and resin-stuff!

Ted, that is a very unique grain structure on there. Thanks for trying out all these different woods and sharing your experiences with them. You've certainly given me a lot of materials to consider.

Ted - I like those scales! Well done sir!

Ted,

Your wood work, choice of woods, and photography always blow my mind! That is beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.

Will

dtoad wrote:

Well done! Is the grey G-10 from Halpern as well?

phillipsted wrote:My s110v Mule was a pleasure to work on. One thing the Taiwanese producer did was improve the finish of the tang and edges of the Mule. They were smooth and polished - and didn't show the irregular grind marks that were left on many of the Golden Mules. Nice touch - it saved me some work polishing them myself!

The wood I chose for this one is stabilized Hawaiian Silky Oak with a 1/16" dark green linen micarta liner. Silky oak is actually related to the sycamore, and was brought to the islands from Australia in the 1880s. It is prized in the islands as an ornamental tree with fern-like foliage and colorful flowers. The wood is often called "lacewood" and is used for inlays and furniture. The wood works and finishes well, but needs to be stabilized to be good for knife scales. Personally, i just love the multiple colors, patterns and grain weaving throughout the wood - extremely interesting to look at.

I attached the micarta with West Systems epoxy, then cut and shaped the scales by hand using coping saw, files, rasps, and a variety of sandpaper. I finished the scales to 1200 grit and topped the wood with four thin coats of TruOil and a polish with Ren Wax.

TedP

See the quality work is still coming Ted :) that's a lovely MT right there .
Been out of the game a while what # MT are we on now 18.? .
Nice choice of liners compliments the scales to a T ATB fella .

Halpern option 5 natural micarta and Cuscadi OD micarta

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nkk6ubsb9h56z4i/DSC00874.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iqkbrxv433zczjh/DSC00876.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yn83clu6m0ymraz/DSC00877.JPG

Wonderful Ted!!! Looks amazing.

Hello to All,

The below is my M4 Mule, scaled and sheathed by Mr Stewart Light (picture courtesy of Mr Light) :



The scales are maroon micarta.

I needed a no-nonsense tough working blade, and this knife has certainly delivered :)

Have fun :)

Best regards

Russ

Hi guys and girls,

here is my lastest mule, 110V in 'Grenadille' wood. Grenadille is an ebony-species and has just a little shrinkage. I hadn't tried this wood, so I had to. Sorry Ted, next time I will combine some epoxy with wood, great idea :rolleyes: The wood is hard, deep dark brown with lighter brown striping and takes a great luster when polished. As usual I corbied the wooden slabs and forgot about a tube this time.
A little accident ocurred when making the slabs. I never had this before with any mule. While clamped in a vise for filing and sanding the steelpart above the spyderhole cracked. It is barely visible in the picture but there. It will hardly effect the performance of the knife and this one is a keeper, so no problem. Although because of this I am doubting the tensile strength of 110v in my blade. This because I never had broken mule in the past and the vise is always there making handleslabs. Nevertheless enjoy the pictures as I will enjoy this mule :) Cheers, Tomas

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