Spyderco Forums

Hi everyone,

I thought I would show off a new design I have been working on. I just had them on the table at the Australian Knifemaker Guild Show in Melbourne over the weekend. A little background on the design.. Over the years working in an office job I was putting on some weight, late last year I decided to do something about it, do some more exercise and try to eat a bit healthier. For me that meant eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. I found myself preparing food with one of the flippers I had made in the past and I found the flipper tab annoying as ****. It kept getting in the way hitting the cutting board and really restricted the cutting area on the blade. I wanted to design a one handed opening folder that I could use for preparing my lunch that would allow me to use the majority of the blade for cutting and slicing on a board without the handle or my grip hitting the board. I went out and bought a bunch of apples, tomatoes, avocados and all sorts of stuff and measured them all to make sure the blade would be long enough to handle chopping through them. Anyway I am really proud of this design, I have been using the prototype for my EDC and food prep needs since Christmas and I am really loving the ergonomics of it. On top of that with the new diet and exercise regime I have lost 8.5 kilos

Onto the knife itself.. The blade is RWL34 a really nice clean steel to work with, excellent corrosion resistance and nice for the knifemaker to use. I went with a screw together construction so if there is ever any need to pull it apart for cleaning it can be done. The handle is G10, it isn't going to be affected by cleaning it by submerging in water etc. The blade is flat ground to it's full height with 0.25mm (0.010") behind the edge.

Blade and spring: RWL34
Handle: G10
Closed length: 108mm (4 1/4")
Open Length: 190mm (7 1/2")
Cutting Edge: 79 mm (3 1/8")
Width: 11mm The spring width is 2.5mm and I surface ground the blade thinner to accommodate washers between the G10 and the blade.
Weight: 54 gms (1.9 oz)









Big thanks for Spyderco for licencing the use of the Spyderco Round Hole to knifemakers around the world. I am really happy to be one of them.

Thanks for looking
Alistair Phillips

That's pretty nice. The only thing I'd change is to rework the area at the tang/pivot so the tang isn't an exposed snag risk.

Beautiful knife & great story, looks perfect for food prep. Keep up the good work!

That's a beautiful knife you've made there. I use my knives on a lot of fruit so I appreciate the design and its intended use. It needs a pocket clip though

Sleek. Seems ideal for its intended use. Picnic perfect also. Congrats on cutting the weight too. :)

That is a good and useful looking knife! Thanks for showing!

I like this design very much. Nicely contoured handle area, screw together construction, full flat ground blade with gentle curve, and ground thin for efficient cutting. My kind of working folder. Very nicely done!!

The only part I would perhaps change is to make the forward portion of the handle scales similar to a Copperhead pattern folder so that the scales would cover the run up portion of the blade when in the closed position to protect from snagging, as dplafoll suggested. :)

Very nice work, Alistair. It looks like it would be a very comfortable design--both as in-hand and also as in pocket carry. I also like how you 3D contoured the G-10 scales. That is a nice touch. At 1.9 oz, I'm guessing it is linerless? By the way, what material do you prefer for the backspring?

Love the design and the size. I find blades just over 3" but less than 3.5" are perfect for edc.

This would be cool as a locking knife also.

Very nice Alistair.

sal

Hi Cubane!


It's a very nice design. Looks clean & neat, and very light too.

Would add a lanyard hole and that's it. :D

Thanks everyone. On the back of the tang snagging, it is always a trade off in knife design. If I covered that then the handle would interfere more when using the blade for its intended task. I agree, though, ideally it would be possible to cover everything. For a pocket clip I think it would be possible to move the rear most screw a bit and mill in some space for a wire spring clip. Not having liners I am not sure I 100% trust a small thread in the G10 for holding a pocket clip in place.

@SpyderNut the backspring is also RWL34 heat treated to act as a spring.

I would love to do a locking version of it, I am not sure how well it would go as a liner lock given how "upwards" the handle goes. That isn't ideal for a liner lock. As there is a lot of room up the top of the handle it would probably go well with a compression lock though. I have never made on of them before.

I had some ideas about using the notch joint for this one now that I have the slipjoint aspects of it worked out, we shall see how it goes.

Thanks again,
Alistair

That's beautiful. Looks good _and_ functional, which is really the highest form of art.

10/10 would buy pingo's bigger brother. :D

Whoa, that looks stunning. Excellent design and perfect size/weight for actual use.

While a locking version could be nice, given your purpose (food prep) I'd want something with as few moving parts and nooks and crannies to hold grime/juices/etc (making cleanup without disassembly as easy as possible). For that, the slipjoint is probably better than most locking mechanisms. In fact, maybe consider making a friction folder version--that would also solve the issue of the tang snagging or trapping lint when closed.

I like the blade shape. If it wasn't a slip joint I'd buy a production model of this.

Great looking knife. I'd love one.

That's a great looking knife Alistair! :)

Neat!
Very clean lines that look just as functional and comfortable.

I feel like by looking at it, the grip position and control may feel similar to an Ocelot, which is a great knife to use, by the way.

If you shorten the blade to 3", it can be legal in the UK.