This one just up. I had this one sold before I started it. The request was for a hunter outdoorsman blade for field use but a folder built with titanium screws. As requested thats what I did. I kind of took the liberty to make it without a pocket clip. This gent that ordered it is a repeat customer and a friend of mine and has never used a clip on any of the knives I've worked on to repair for him so I'm assuming he won't be using one on this folder either. This He-Man weighs 2.9 ounces as shown. The titanium slabs are .095 thick on each side and the blade is 3 and 1/8" long and the closed length is 4 and 3/8". The lock is sprung solid with absolutely no lock cut in it at all in the rear to make bending it easier. This is as requested by the customer who specifically asked to get one of my He-Man folders done this way. As most that follow my work know I started the He-Man model and it got its name just from doing this. Its a real advantage having a lock sprung solid like this when you have no clip as a back up stop to prevent hyper extension of the lock. It takes a tool and lots of muscle to even make the bend in this lock at .095 thickness so there is no way a thumb is going to cause it to lose spring tension. Trust me it would take a lot more than a thumb to do that.
This one is also 12C27 blade steel, and also heat treated by Peters heat treat to 60 Rockwell hardness just like the one posted yesterday in the He-Man Wharncliffe. The blade is also hollow ground just like the one yesterday but this one has a higher grind. Its built much like the others but still unique enough to call it one of a kind. I used two washers per side on this one also, and it also sports a 2mm detent ball for the lock. Fancy stand off threaded spacers are used in back held in place by phillips head titanium screws that were quite surprisingly costly!
Someone asked me last night why I run the edges clear back on some of these. My answer is that it is a use and function thing as opposed to looks. I realize that it can look a bit better if I stop the edge and leave the distinct grind line out there in front where it can be seen like I have done on other models but the truth of the matter is when I'm cutting open bags or poking my knives clear through something I wish to cut open that back unsharpened part of the blade pops through and then the blade snags getting hung up instead of cutting. I've had this issue with some production knives also and honestly it just pisses me off. So my solution, again thinking function and use, was to simply run the edge all the way back making it full length or pretty close to full length edges so the blade simply can't get hung like that from a kick that hangs down with a little hook like some do. It works so I repeated it on several of my knives and feel its worth having at least one model with some blades done this way. My deal is that a knife has to work first and foremost. It can look good doing that and thats fine but truth be told even if it cost someone a thousand bucks, if the lock can't be trusted or the blade doesn't make short work of jobs its no better to me than a wrench that won't turn a nut!
Someone asked me last night why I run the edges clear back on some of these. My answer is that it is a use and function thing as opposed to looks. I realize that it can look a bit better if I stop the edge and leave the distinct grind line out there in front where it can be seen like I have done on other models but the truth of the matter is when I'm cutting open bags or poking my knives clear through something I wish to cut open that back unsharpened part of the blade pops through and then the blade snags getting hung up instead of cutting. I've had this issue with some production knives also and honestly it just pisses me off. So my solution, again thinking function and use, was to simply run the edge all the way back making it full length or pretty close to full length edges so the blade simply can't get hung like that from a kick that hangs down with a little hook like some do. It works so I repeated it on several of my knives and feel its worth having at least one model with some blades done this way. My deal is that a knife has to work first and foremost. It can look good doing that and thats fine but truth be told even if it cost someone a thousand bucks, if the lock can't be trusted or the blade doesn't make short work of jobs its no better to me than a wrench that won't turn a nut!
Anyway this one is special ordered by Mike for life in the Louisiana Bayou where it will see salt water marshes and lots of game. I figure like all the knives my friend Mike uses that it will be flat out worked to death to skin and field dress anything from white tail deer to alligators and all in between in no time flat. You'll have to excuse the marks staining the sides on this one. I was playing with it some before snapping these pics. I actually wiped it off and thought I cleaned it pretty well before going out to take these pictures but apparently my eyes ain't what they used to be. :-) Thanks for looking
STR
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