Spyderco Forums

The Spyderco Amalgam



Designer: Brian Lai
Factory: Taichung, Taiwan

STATS

Peel ply CF
Functional spydiehole
Compression Lock
Flipper
Conventional Spyderco spoon clip, 4 way reversible


MORE INFORMATION:

RETAIL PRICE: ~$175
S30V steel
Blade Length: around 3.8 inches
Blade stock thickness (at the pivot): .138 inches

ACTION VIDEOS

https://youtu.be/zjnJNNE4F6U
https://youtu.be/ktF3aZqZlN4

PICTURES:
We are fortunate to have the blade designer, Gundamaniac (Brian Lai), in the thread to enlighten us about the design process!

Gundamaniac's Posts:

On Choils:

viewtopic.php?p=1207859#p1207859

Design Process:

viewtopic.php?p=1208440#p1208440

Prototype pictures and discussion:

viewtopic.php?p=1209324#p1209324
viewtopic.php?p=1209556#p1209556
viewtopic.php?p=1210891#p1210891
viewtopic.php?p=1211104#p1211104

Did anyone else notice Condor also had an Amalgam? They even have it on their website already. I wouldn't be surprised if like the Silverax it gets a new name but it did look like a very interesting design that I would love to try.

I think it looks great but I would be much more interested if it didn't have a choil. Without the choil it would be a must buy for me. With the choil it is a maybe.

It looks like a nice enough knife but I've got a mouthful of Amalgam! :rolleyes:

Really excited for this one. Although I think it may be slightly pricier than I would like.

bearfacedkiller wrote:I think it looks great but I would be much more interested if it didn't have a choil. Without the choil it would be a must buy for me. With the choil it is a maybe.

Same. I just don't get the "100% blade choil", it's even more a waste of edge space than a 50/50. This would have been another great all around EDC like the Sliverax, possibly even more popular due to the more mainstream design.

Not interested. I don't like the blade shape.

Defintely excited for this one. I love the look, shape and size of the blade, and I'm a fan of the choil. I'll need to see a review or two first but there's an excellent chance that this will be added to the collection. I also love Eric's explanation of how the blade came to be. Gives the knife more character.

I think my favorite thing about it is the blade shape. A conventional drop point with a long straight - coupled with a full flat grind, a flipper, AND a functional spydiehole.

Personally, I like choils. The way the choil meets the edge means it serves as a sharpening choil and you can really bring that edge angle down when sharpening without accidentally nicking the handle on the stone. It's large enough to double as a finger choil, allowing you to choke up and get your hand right up to the start of the edge if you need to. And the slope of the choil where it meets the blade should be gentle enough that material being cut shouldn't accidentally bind in the choil but rather slide onto the edge if you're drawing the knife back in a pull cut motion.

I do concede that it results in the loss of some cutting edge though. But that's one of the nice things about Spyderco; they offer a wealth of designs and different combinations of features to fit various preferences and needs. The debate over choil preferences continues as it always has, but in the meantime Spyderco has you covered, whatever your preference may be :D

gundamaniac wrote:Personally, I like choils. The way the choil meets the edge means it serves as a sharpening choil and you can really bring that edge angle down when sharpening without accidentally nicking the handle on the stone. It's large enough to double as a finger choil, allowing you to choke up and get your hand right up to the start of the edge if you need to. And the slope of the choil where it meets the blade should be gentle enough that material being cut shouldn't accidentally bind in the choil but rather slide onto the edge if you're drawing the knife back in a pull cut motion.

I do concede that it results in the loss of some cutting edge though. But that's one of the nice things about Spyderco; they offer a wealth of designs and different combinations of features to fit various preferences and needs. The debate over choil preferences continues as it always has, but in the meantime Spyderco has you covered, whatever your preference may be :D

welcome!

and thanks

Yay...

So happily we have the knife designer in the thread (GundaManiac) and hopefully he can enlighten us about the design process a little more.

How long is the blade? How thick is it? :D

Hmm, a big flat ground flipper. This is one that may grow on me. I'm totally down with the choil. It looks like a pretty comfy knife! I'll stay tuned...

Thanks for the welcome! Long time lurker, first time poster (...technically I guess this is my second post, but hey, semantics :p )

Curlyhairedboy, unfortunately I don't have numbers like that on hand as I don't have the actual prototype with me. But based on the original model I submitted, it should be something like 3.85 inches from the edge of the handle to the blade tip, and approximately 4mm thick (I know, shame on me, mixing my units).

Excellent! I was hoping for something beefy and under 4 inches :D

This one made the top of my watch list among all the 2018 Spydercos announced. Eagerly awaiting more specs, photos, and in-hand reviews.

This is a must for me. I really like the offerings this year. Almost like they got inside of my head somehow...

Hey GundaManiac, any insight into the design process? Is there a particular task that the amalgam is designed for?

I'd buy one in a lefty version. I can't do right-handed compression locks.