Page 1 of 1
Hic folding knives
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2025 10:05 am
by oli sb
I know its hard to work with but maybe you could get harcane to manufacture and sharpen the blade and you just do the knife assembly but i feel like it would fit incredibly well with the salt series as a material thats immune to corrosion i have been loving the hic mule sure its hard to sharpen but you almost never have to it also has a very durable edge and is generally very sturdy
@sal what do you think? what are your plans for hic ?
as i mentioned in a previous topic if i could choose one to use it it would be a manix 2 salt
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2025 12:59 pm
by sal
Hi Oli sb,
No plans at this time.
sal
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2025 1:50 pm
by oli sb
sal wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 12:59 pm
Hi Oli sb,
No plans at this time.
sal
Is there a reason youre hesitant to work with it? like is it similar to the difficulties with rex 121 because of the extreme hardness?
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2025 4:45 pm
by sal
Hi Oli sb,
There are a number of issues with trying to make a folder with the HIC material;
The tooling costs to make a mold for a blade is quite expensive. I doubt that we'll ever recover the investment in the HIC Mule team. The group said they were interested in getting a Mule, so we tried to provide one. But, it's always a crap shoot as to results.
I cannot think of an effective way to make a lock that would work effectively, long term for a HIC blade. How the Ceramic blade affects the lock material is always a question due to the hardness of the material. That pretty restricts the model to be a slip joint, but even that is questionable as to what material to use for the lock. Sharpening is also a challenge. We provide effective sharpening tools for the knives that we make.
We built a ceramic slip joint with a hipped blade many years ago. Had a Magnesium handle. Wasn't super popular. I'll watch the thread.
sal
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2025 6:38 pm
by WilliamMunny
sal wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 4:45 pm
Hi Oli sb,
There are a number of issues with trying to make a folder with the HIC material;
The tooling costs to make a mold for a blade is quite expensive. I doubt that we'll ever recover the investment in the HIC Mule team. The group said they were interested in getting a Mule, so we tried to provide one. But, it's always a crap shoot as to results.
I cannot think of an effective way to make a lock that would work effectively, long term for a HIC blade. How the Ceramic blade affects the lock material is always a question due to the hardness of the material. That pretty restricts the model to be a slip joint, but even that is questionable as to what material to use for the lock. Sharpening is also a challenge. We provide effective sharpening tools for the knives that we make.
We built a ceramic slip joint with a hipped blade many years ago. Had a Magnesium handle. Wasn't super popular. I'll watch the thread.
sal
I would suggest the BBL from the Manix, less chance of wearing down or damaging the HIC material I would think.
Good luck with this one if you try to make it, seem like a huge challenge.
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 3:14 am
by horzuff
Especially if the ball in the BBL was made of a similar ceramic
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 2:13 pm
by BornIn1500
WilliamMunny wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 6:38 pm
I would suggest the BBL from the Manix, less chance of wearing down or damaging the HIC material I would think.
A small ball would put a lot of pressure on a tiny spot, which may end up doing damage to the ceramic knife. Seems like a problem that would take a lot of testing and money. The knife Sal is talking about with the magnesium handle was a back lock, which seems like it would have the lowest impact on the blade.
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 2:20 pm
by oli sb
BornIn1500 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 2:13 pm
WilliamMunny wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 6:38 pm
I would suggest the BBL from the Manix, less chance of wearing down or damaging the HIC material I would think.
A small ball would put a lot of pressure on a tiny spot, which may end up doing damage to the ceramic knife. Seems like a problem that would take a lot of testing and money. The knife Sal is talking about with the magnesium handle was a back lock, which seems like it would have the lowest impact on the blade.
hic is way different than regular zirconia ceramic ive used these to chop into really hard wood with no damage its actualyl pretty tough and has an extremly stable edge
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 6:04 pm
by Danke
Something like those composite Kershaws where the cutting edge is HIC and the pivot and lockface are steel.
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 6:28 pm
by Scandi Grind
Danke wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 6:04 pm
Something like those composite Kershaws where the cutting edge is HIC and the pivot and lockface are steel.
Hmm, interesting. This is maybe the first practical way to do something like this that I have heard.
That said I am not into ceramic as a blade material. I prefer easy maintenance over less frequent maintenance as a general rule so this just doesn't suit my tendencies. I was pretty curious when Spyderco decided to try a mule, but after they did it, everything that I supposed might be a problem seems to have been a problem, so I am not expecting there is much of a chance of them pursuing a folder in the foreseeable future.
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 11:52 pm
by sal
All Locks will have the potential issues. I've not tested single point contact impact on the HIC. Could it crack the material? and at what amount of force?
The easiest and most practical path, in my current opinion, would be the UK Pen Knife.
sal
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2025 2:01 am
by horzuff
Considering the HIC is not too durable it actually pairs really well ideologically with a slip joint to me as it won't be loaded too much sans lock. I'm in
Re: Hic folding knives
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2025 4:02 am
by oli sb
sal wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 11:52 pm
All Locks will have the potential issues. I've not tested single point contact impact on the HIC. Could it crack the material? and at what amount of force?
The easiest and most practical path, in my current opinion, would be the UK Pen Knife.
sal
From my experience you can treat it exactly like steel it doesnt really crack its tough and even flexible i tested these by chopping into really hard wood and even stabbed it with a screwdriver but this did not cause any cracking or damage any lock should work fine even the strongest knife lock is far below what it can handle