Show your mods!

[Donut]

Nice work, they look good.

[vadel]

Modded Military CTS-XHP

- black painted spacer >>> normal backspacers with modern design and very high-tech looking
- pivot screw >>> alien-head custom screw. polished screw and pivot head. veeeery high-tech looking
- torx-6 >>> good torx-9. slightly polished. better look, no more chance to break screws
- new (better quality) screws for clip. slightly polished
- little work with clip. deleted fins and factory defects on clip's edge
- red fiber "tuning tag" under clip. with hidden unique number and my signature

[Jazz]

vadel - nice, hot rodded Milli! Looks great. Thanks for sharing.

- best wishes, Jazz.

[Jazz]

Hey Boss, just hit the edged with the torch and the heat will conduct through and bronze the middle. Saw a Kevin Wilkins custom with something similar and copied as best I could. Havnt done it to many spydies, but here's a kershaw i did in the same way.

Well, it looks sweet - very nice. Thanks.

- best wishes, Jazz.

[Donut]

Nice work on that millie, it really looks nice.

[Half Sack]

Belive me, it IS sharp :-)


Closed shot:



I couldnt get a better shot, I hope you can see what I did:
I dremelt a longish hole into the FRN for the tip to sit in.

Hey modders love what's been done so far, its great to see what people have done to personalize/improve on these designs so far.
My question, can others with Hawkbill blades confirm what TheHunt said in his post, that to correct the "sealing" of the blade (little/no blade visible when closed) you need to remove some of the handle area where the tip rests?
I have a Ladybug Hawkbill and will be getting a Byrd Hawkbill very soon thanks to #Byrdweek I suspect it will have the same issue and I'd prefer to have all/most of the blade hidden, especially if I just need to dremel the frn down.
But, looking at my Ladybug I can't confirm that my problem is in the handle area and not the lower blade area, the unsharpened area near the pivot.

Just looking for confirmation before I cut anything, worst come to worst I'll wait for my Byrd and experiment on that.

Secondary question, are the replacement scales for Byrds or do Spyderco scales fit? I may want to play with that aswell, or look into dying the scales.
I've got other questions but that's it for now.

SPYDERCOOOOO!

[unit]

The FRN should not govern the restIng position of the blade. This position should be governed by the kick located on the blade near the pivot. By this mechanism the edge is parked without contacting anything and therefore is not dulled in the process.

[Donut]

I think the Byrd Hawkbills don't have as much curve as the Spyderco ones do, so having the gap between the handle and the blade might not be there at all.

I would check it out when you get it, then figure out if you want to mod it.

As far as the mod goes... what is stopping the blade when closed is the flat part of the blade closest to the handle when opened, it is hitting usually the lock bar on a lock back. The mod took some metal off the flat part of the blade closest to the handle so that the blade would close more into the handle. After that, when the tip of the blade hit the far end, part of the plastic was taken off to eliminate the contact.

*edit* Ken, sorry for repeating what you said, maybe saying it twice can't hurt.

[thehunt]

Well, the handle of the Ladybug wasnt originally designed to house a hawkbill-blade.
Believe me if I say, the tip rested on the handle.

All I had to do to let the blade rest a little deeper in the handle was making some space for the tip.

I did "mod" a Crossbill in that fashion too, but there you have to remove some material from the ricasso as well.

[Half Sack]

Good replies thanks, it does seem its the blade "kick" meeting with the lock bar is the issue. I tried using marker on the blade tip and didn't see any on the handle, could be the marker wasn't wet enough to mark the handle but trying to look at it, seems the issue is the lock bar blade area.
Whats good for shaving an H1 blade down with a dremel? Its all I have.

Then again I could start with the handle like Hunt did, its just plastic, easier to start there especially if your telling me that is the issue. Why ask if I'm not going to listen right?

[dwong]

Did you make those backspacers or order somewhere? I would like the same open back for my org millies.

Modded Military CTS-XHP

- black painted spacer >>> normal backspacers with modern design and very high-tech looking
- pivot screw >>> alien-head custom screw. polished screw and pivot head. veeeery high-tech looking
- torx-6 >>> good torx-9. slightly polished. better look, no more chance to break screws
- new (better quality) screws for clip. slightly polished
- little work with clip. deleted fins and factory defects on clip's edge
- red fiber "tuning tag" under clip. with hidden unique number and my signature

[RoBoTech]

I know this has been done before, but I am very happy with the way these turned out.
I have a home made Kydex press and do make a few sheaths and holsters.
I had some Desert Sand .08" kydex scraps lying on the bench and said to myself "self, there is just enough there to make neck sheaths for a couple of Ladybugs".
I have an older version in Forest Green that has a slightly different shape to the head than the two later models I have. I also have a Jester in Black FRN (NIB) and may make an orange sheath for it.
So, I cut the pieces, heated and pressed, riveted the top, shaped on the belt sander, and added Paracord with break away barrels for safety.
The Ladybugs are so light, the sheath only needed the rivets at the top. This also makes the knife easy to pull and insert. They "click" in.
The Forest green is mine, the black is for my youngest daughter for Xmas. I purchased a Victorinox Black Spartan for my Son in Law.
Stocking stuffers.
Anyway, here's the pics.



and here is my Daughter's Xmas present by itself.



Chea...er.... inexpensive gift ideas ROCK!

[Azwaiian]

That is a kick a$$ present for sure! I dig your Ladybug sheaths, very nice, very nice.

[HellHound]

I have done this before but I wanted a good feel for my ol' para, so here we have a single point clip, heated stainless steel and a ziptie mod. Love it

[EDCTAC]

[vadel]

- all screws >>> TORX-8
- red vulcanized fiber inserts, and accompanying works - modification of seats of barrels, adjustment of length/depth of threaded connections, adjustment and polishing of elements of a handle, change of seats under screws, preparation for installation of additional accessories
- clip's mod: clearing of a factory paint, elimination of defects of edge, change of seats under screws
- nine add screws-"caps" for empty holes
- Audit of the pivot mechanism, exact adjustment and polishing of surfaces on purpose to remove cracks between plates and the back-lock
- some polish work...

[Heespharm]

- all screws >>> TORX-8
- red vulcanized fiber inserts, and accompanying works - modification of seats of barrels, adjustment of length/depth of threaded connections, adjustment and polishing of elements of a handle, change of seats under screws, preparation for installation of additional accessories
- clip's mod: clearing of a factory paint, elimination of defects of edge, change of seats under screws
- nine add screws-"caps" for empty holes
- Audit of the pivot mechanism, exact adjustment and polishing of surfaces on purpose to remove cracks between plates and the back-lock
- some polish work...

Love the look what kind of material is that red ?

[Spydesense]

- all screws >>> TORX-8
- red vulcanized fiber inserts, and accompanying works - modification of seats of barrels, adjustment of length/depth of threaded connections, adjustment and polishing of elements of a handle, change of seats under screws, preparation for installation of additional accessories
- clip's mod: clearing of a factory paint, elimination of defects of edge, change of seats under screws
- nine add screws-"caps" for empty holes
- Audit of the pivot mechanism, exact adjustment and polishing of surfaces on purpose to remove cracks between plates and the back-lock
- some polish work...

Very nice!

[1623]

That is a sexy Stretch my good man.

Nicely executed.

[cosmo7809]

Wow! Very nice!

Great work