I’ve been a long-time reader here and very long Spydie fan, admiring the way this community dissects steels, geometry, ergonomics etc. I’ve always been more of a reader than a poster, but I’ve spent the last few years modifying and building knives to learn, and fit my specific needs, and I feel like finally have something I feel is worth sharing with the group.
I have a lot of neat knives and each of them has their own charm but I often found myself wanting something from 2 or more different knives at the same time. That's when i began making and modifying them to fit my purposes.
I wanted to design the knife I couldn't find on the market—one that packed a full-sized sheepsfoot blade into a sub-compact carry footprint without sacrificing ergonomics.
I started with a bunch of sketches and 3d prints to get a feel for what I really wanted. I've had this design for a few months now and and petty happy with it.
The Aracari is what I call the 'Smallest Big Knife.' I named it after the small Toucan because of its compact size and the blade shape which looks kind of like the bird. While this specific design is entirely my own, it shares the same 'core' and pivot structure as the Spyderco Amalgam and borrows many ideas and design cues from many of my favorite knives.
There's too much to post on a single message but here's an overview of the general specs of this knife.
- Choked up grip is standard. I moved the choil as close to the pivot as possible and made a huge finger guard. This way I can grip as close to the edge as I can with my pm2 and para 3. I know it can be controversial but I personally love the Sydrrco choil.
- A 3.5" cutting edge in a 4.565" closed frame (8.030" OAL). I wanted as much usable blade for the size. 3.3oz (94g)
- 0.100" Full Flat Grind in CPM MagnaCut. I aimed for 0.015" to 0.020" BTE for a slicy but tough cutting edge. Sharpened at 17.5 dps. Very slicey but sturdy
- All T8 Hardware for simple, one-tool maintenance.
- The butter-knife spine: A smooth, polished, convexed spine with no jimping and a central divet. It acts as a comfortable extension of the index finger for a "pointer" grip and allows the spine to be used as a butterknife. Great for spreading jam and Nutella and is shaped so I lick the blade clean without poking or cutting my tongue.
-Self-Supporting Tripod: When opened and placed blade-down on a flat surface, the tail of the handle and choil suspend the cutting edge up off the surface. This let's me safely put down the knife and pick it up to use it again safely.
- Spyderco deep-carry wire clip for a lightweight, discreet carry that doesn't chew up pockets.
There's tons more considerations that I didn't mention but I'm around and happy to answer any questions.
Here's some mediocre images of the current version. I'll take some nicer ones later and some closer up details
I also only made it for a standard compression lock clip in this version, I've left enough space to eventually make it button actuated like the smock or sage 6.
So glad to finally be participating
. Don’t add a flaw to a good design just so someone can run a lanyard thru it.