Spyderco Forums

Edit: So I will keep my adventures in making scales in this one thread to not clog forum up, and occasionally bump upon completions.

v1.1 (2nd Micarta, w/BurlyRamp)
I've been messing around in the shop with some random micarta sheets I had laying around. I have to say, this stuff is very easy to work with, and very uniform in feel when machining and sanding. Here are some pics of some roughed out scales I made yesterday. Going to touch up a few spots, add the lanyard hole, then make a sheath later today.
I used a 3d printed version shared on the forums here as the micarta v1.0 template, but I thought the thumb ramp was a hot-spot for any sort of whittling/bushcrafting. So the 1.1 has an extended ramp that is much more comfortable. I'm open to feedback or suggestions for the next iteration. I'll post pics of the sheath once it is done as well (got to make a press first). Next up will be some exotic woods...

Edit: The top of the scales don't actually go over the grind - it is flush there, just bad angle/shadow. I might take that down a bit to ease sharpening in future.

v2.0 (1st wood, w/BurlyRamp)

Using the Micarta v1.1 as a template, I laminated up some scraps and roughed out some new scales. Contoured them today, will need to remove them from mule and finish the top section in a bit. So far so good. Woods are: Denim-dyed spalted maple, flamed maple, and buckeye burl. Pins are not flared, just in there to keep it all together while profiling. I will take this up to about 2000 grit, then seal and finish the wood. Still undecided on how to fix these. I have Halpern hardware I can use with various lengths of female threaded tubing, but also like the idea of flared tubing. I was also thinking of recessing the halpern hardware and making a small plug to hide them. TBD I guess.
Edit 02/04/22:
And here is the final cut:
Edit 02/07/22:
Evolution so far:
Edit 02/05/22:
New Mock-ups:
L to R:
Wenge, flame maple, buckeye burl;
palm, paduk, orangewood;
dyed spalted maple, flame maple, walnut burl.
Edit 03/14/22
Ok, made some upgrades to the shop (jointer, drum sander, etc), so a bit delayed, but here's a new one, next to a re-finished MagnaCut. Reminds me of Ukraine colors...
Edit 03/21/22
Here's another one close to finished...playing around with finishing lacquers, oils, polymers, etc. This one came out great - thinner, less exaggerated BurlyRamp, but still very functional. I like this one a lot.
Edit 03/24/22
Ok, here we go - SRS13 with a wa-style handle in progress. There's a little Omega in there...not sure if I will leave it, or creatively fill it. :) On another note - I've run out of mules...
Edit 04/17/22
This is getting pretty close. Need to clean/touch-up the blade and do the final epoxy, but this feels good so far. Cheers,
-burly

I like that this enlarges the mini-ramp (that's how I decided to call-it after handling a Mule), this must be good to hammer grip at that place now.

Bump for completed 2.0. :)

Planning on laying out 3-4 more this weekend - will wait until complete before bumping again, but will post pics throughout process.

Cheers!
-burly

Bump. Nice work deserves it. It looks hand filling, like you could use it for hours.

Thanks. It is more filling than either Halpern, but not fat or bulky in my hands at least. Very comfortable, and I left the scales just the slightest bit higher on the "control" spots for a little grip. That, along with the burly thumb ramp, should make for some precise cutting.

Now it's time to start using, testing and logging information on this blade's steel experience!

Cheers,
-burly

I will keep iterating on scales, and see where it goes.

Really nice work, both the craftsmanship the ergos look great to me. Love to see a fat mule grip.

Thanks for sharing. I love getting inspired seeing work like this. Very nice.

cholla_remover wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 07, 2022 12:54 pm

Really nice work, both the craftsmanship the ergos look great to me. Love to see a fat mule grip.

"cholla remover" eh? What a name! I have a yard full of cholla here, but it is funny....
After living in Arizona a number of years and doing lots of off trail hiking, it is like an
automatic instinct to avoid the stuff, my needs for removal are quite rare now.

At any event, welcome aboard!

Thank you! I encountered some during my first visit to your state. And I will never come again without a pair of pliers

Tucson Tom wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 07, 2022 10:49 pm

Thanks for sharing. I love getting inspired seeing work like this. Very nice.

Cheers! I actually started woodworking while living in SE Tucson, by UofA tech park/Raytheon. Practically Vail... Kind of miss all the cool flyovers from DMAFB.

-burly

Many updates - bump. Let me know if you have any questions - having fun with the scaling. Takes away time from me pushing the MagnaCut through it's paces though....

Cheers!
-chris

burlyspyder wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:58 pm

Many updates - bump. Let me know if you have any questions - having fun with the scaling. Takes away time from me pushing the MagnaCut through it's paces though....

Cheers!
-chris

When you do your multi wood scales do you cut, clamp and glue them with something like Titebond III? Also do you stabilize the wood, then cut it up and then glue? Will the glue hold on a stabilized piece of wood as the wood glue could not penetrate the wood?

Thanks.

I use epoxy to join the different pieces of the scale together. For standard scales, I generally glue all the pieces to a G-10 liner to make sure they line up well and hold tight (since the G-10 layer gives a lot more total epoxy area).

I've never tried using standard wood glue on stabilized wood. I don't think it would work as well as epoxy.

TomAiello wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:24 pm

I use epoxy to join the different pieces of the scale together. For standard scales, I generally glue all the pieces to a G-10 liner to make sure they line up well and hold tight (since the G-10 layer gives a lot more total epoxy area).

I've never tried using standard wood glue on stabilized wood. I don't think it would work as well as epoxy.

That's great to know, I can't even see your G-10 layer in there on the knife. I am assuming all wood you use is stabilized?

Note that I'm not talking about the photos--those aren't mine. I was just volunteering information on things that have worked for me.

You can use a very thin g-10 layer (or a vulcanized paper layer) and make it almost invisible on the knife. I your goal is to hide it, you can also inlay it inside the scale so it doesn't show at the edges at all, but that's substantially more work.

I stabilize my own wood, and pretty much only use stabilized wood (there are some exceptions for wood that doesn't need stabilization like Lignum Vitae and Desert Ironwood).

WilliamMunny wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 24, 2022 5:27 pm

When you do your multi wood scales do you cut, clamp and glue them with something like Titebond III? Also do you stabilize the wood, then cut it up and then glue? Will the glue hold on a stabilized piece of wood as the wood glue could not penetrate the wood?

Thanks.

Hi WM,
I rough cut, rough sand, then use a granite surface plate (<1um/30cm) to flatten mating sides with 220 grit for hardwoods, 320-400 for softer woods. Making sure to blow out all dust before using Titebond 3 and clamping uniformly. The scales above used 5 clamps! Even pressure on multiple axis is always a good target. All figured woods are stabilized with epoxy and a small vacuum chamber. Solid woods are treated during the finishing phase.

I have never had an issue with bonding stabilized wood when prepped appropriately. You want the mating faces to be flat and smooth, but not TOO smooth. After you've done it a few dozen times (and had a glue-up or two fail), you kind of get the sight and feel of it.

-burly

Impressive work Burly,

So we can agree that your SRS13's (like new in box) life is over. Just wanted to express respect for anyone that is willing to push the form so far to get the best out of the blade. I'm keen to see the finale.

It is objective, I can see it, but I still can not believe you cut the handle in half! Subjectively, I know it's a magic trick and a brand new knife will appear, one that is even better.