Waved Spyderco

[krept]

In case some have heard of this being done and were curious about it...

I love the concept behind the wave feature so much that I cut out the ring on my beater Endura to make it function like a wave. Did this @ 6 months ago. Others have reported that using a ziptie or two on the hole would accomplish the same thing, but because I had no zipties and needed a fun project, I decided to chop up my Spyderco.


Pic 1


Pic 2

The other knife is a Microtech Amphibian, my other beater blade.

The whole job took about 10 min. It worked out so well that my bro in law wanted his Delica done in the same manner... that took about 5 min to do.

IMO it makes the blade a lot more fun and certainly faster to deploy. I have a knock off of an Emerson karambit and the smaller tip of the wave feature makes it a little tricky to wave open. On this modded spyderco, the wave is fairly large and I reground some of the spine so the clothing, etc falls right into the catch. Even opens up reliably when carrying IWB w/boxers.

On the down side, the ring made it very easy to open up with one hand. Now, in order to open it up without waving I have to put my finger on the point of the wave which is a little trickier. Even if the wave mechanism only partially deploys the blade, it is still very easy to swing open into the locked position.

If I had more tip-up spydercos, I'd mod those as well... the fun factor is worth it alone, but IMO this is great for self defense. If I had the zip ties, I probably would have tried those first before cutting the steel.

fwiw,

cheers

 

[Mr. Bombastic]

So how did you do it? Dremel?

 

[krept]

I used an angle grinder to cut out most of the hole and reprofile the spine, then used a dremel on low with a diamond deburring tool to round out the edges a little. I would have used a saw/belt grinder/files and sandpaper to make it look nicer, but since it was already a beater I did a chop job.

cheers

 

[Ol' Badger]

The pictures didn't work 4 me

 

[krept]

they should be up? here is the direct link... i didn't want to embed them because they are a little large...

http://dimworks.com/waved1.jpg

http://dimworks.com/waved2.jpg

cheers

 

[Ol' Badger]

Must be my end. I'm at work now.

 

[Kevlarman]

Whoa, that's neat! I'm not about to take a grinder to my Benchmade 806D2, but I'll sure try that zip tie idea!

Is there any chance of the grinder heating up the blade and messing up the temper?

 

[Kevlarman]

Ok all, I just tried the ziptie technique on my Benchmade, and it works! So much for spending almost $200 on a new knife!

I made a video:

http://student.ucr.edu/~robilj01/806d2wave2.avi

 

[krept]

awesome! I can't get the vid to work at home but I'll be sure to check it out...

The grinder won't hurt the heat treat as you are using it only on the spine. I think the annealing temperature is high enough that the plastic around the blade would acutally melt before the temper is ruined... could be wrong. When I grind, I don't use gloves and apply the general rule that if it gets too hot to hold, it's time to quench. That might be more applicable to work hardening steel vs. annealing it, however...

cheers

 

[Kevlarman]

You'll need DivX 5.0.2 (or higher) to view the video.

Now all I have to do is get used to tip-up carrying.

Yeah, ugly, but it works and it spends most of its time in my pocket out of sight anyways.

 

[krept]

That looks great, just how it is supposed to work. I'm going to post that on the weapons forum of MMA.tv if that's ok (if not i will kill the link and just reference this thread)... there would probably be a lot of interest in actually seeing the ziptie idea in action and in the photo as it does not require permanent alteration of the blade.

IMO it's a great way to deploy the blade and increases the fun factor a couple times to boot.

cheers

 

[Kevlarman]

Sure, go right ahead!

Keep in mind that I did change the location of the file. The video was originally on a friend's webspace, but I don't want to hammer her so I moved it to my school account.

 

[clipse]

Ok, I am new to the world of weaponry that doesn't go bang. I just watched the video and I didn't realize that someone could pull a blade out and open it that quickly. I am in awwww. Neat ideas on the wave and the zip tie.


clipse

 

[BerettaNut92]

Neat!!!

 

[krept]

good stuff, thanks again for the links.

Just wanted to add, in case some didn't know... the original concept was created by Ernest Emerson of Emerson Knives. The ziptie idea was mentioned on Bladeforums.com.

cheers

 

[444]

When I first saw the wave, I didn't fully understand what it was. I was able to do the same thing using a different knife that had a "thing" on the blade used to open the blade with your thumb. I thought that was the wave. In other words, I think anything on the blade that allows it to catch your pocket is going to work pretty much like the wave.
I eventually bought an Emerson Commander that has the real wave. I think it is great. I am no knife fighter, but I do often need to open a knife with only one hand.
I have carried the Commander for about a year now and I love it. I think the wave is great and have noticed no drawbacks to it at all. No, I haven't had any problems with tearing my pants or pocket either.

 

[giese]

what model benchmade is that kevlarman, I like it.

BTW the video was very nice.

 

[Kevlarman]

It's the 806D2; AFCK with the Axis lock.

 

[Kalindras]

Hey, guys...

I've often thought about doing something like this with one of my Spydercos, but I've always had a misgiving about it. Why?

Well, look at a blade that has a wave-device "built in" to it. The wave is a comparatively tiny addition at the top of the blade, leaving almost the entire width of the blade intact. Now, look at a modified spyderco. Notice where the bevel stops, relative to the hole? By chopping away that extra little bit of steel connecting 'round the top of the hole, you're leaving a relative HAIR of full-thickness blade to support the blade. I'm betting that this will put PHENOMENAL stress on that point. And sooner or later, probably when you need it most, it'll snap.

This is just a guess, but it seems to be born out by most of the knives I've made, where I've tried (for reasons artistic or mechanical) to get too close on my bevels. I've a collection of very, very short box cutters!! :banghead:

Maybe it won't...who knows? After a year or so of using this as your EDC, Krept, come back and let us know how it's holding up, willya? Until then, I guess I'll just stick to zip ties (or autos!!! )

 

[Mr. Bombastic]

Kalindras, some people have been carrying knives modified like this for quite a while already.

Waving the hole does not seem to make any significant difference in blade strength considering the normal uses of a pocket-knife. Though, if the Spyderco is used as a pry-bar, the blade might snap...after the handle splits in half at the pivot pin.

Gray Fallen's page (I believe):

Some may worry that because of the amount of material removed the blade would then be weakened, and could break, but I do not share their concerns. First, knives aren’t pry-bars, especially not defensive knives, and self defense isn’t going to snap a blade like that. Second, I took the trainer and locked the blade in the vice then applied side to side pressure, like I was using it to pry with and came to the conclusion that the FRN handle would break at the pivot/tang of the blade, long before the steel itself ever snapped.

 

[444]

I have snapped the end off of a Sperderco knife from prying. And I wasn't doing anything that I thought was real crazy at the time. I don't remember what it was that I was prying, but at the time I didn't consider it to be something that would break the blade; but it did. I was able to use a very corse stone to reshape the blade and you almost couldn't tell that I had snapped the tip off the blade, but, the blade will break. I don't know about grinding it and how that would effect it's strength because you would be dealing with the strongest part of the blade. Obviously the tip (where I broke mine) was probably the weakest part of the blade.

 

[krept]

Yes, especially on the Spydercos the tip is fairly fragile due to the pointy edge geometry.

I did notice that the way the Spyderco is constructed, the pivot (on my version w/ poly handle) is indeed the weak link. The knife feels like it would fail here long before the steel of the blade is broken. When the knife is locked open and I apply force perpindicular to the pivot direction, there is a significant amount of flex in this pivot area; I feel like with serious exertion I could break the knife in this manner much easier than breaking the steel under the hole.

 

[TaxPhd]

I've got an original AFCK, but the clip is positioned for tip down carry. Can it be changed, or am I SOL with this knife?

 

[krept]

Don't know anything about the knife, but worst case scenario, you should be able to get screw taps the same size as the clip screws that allow you to bore holes in the grip on the other side for tip up carry? (maybe Benchmade could do this for you?)

 

[Gray_Fallen]

"On the down side, the ring made it very easy to open up with one hand. Now, in order to open it up without waving I have to put my finger on the point of the wave which is a little trickier. Even if the wave mechanism only partially deploys the blade, it is still very easy to swing open into the locked position. "

You took too much off the top of the hole.
Look at my page, that Mr.BomBastic linked to, you will see that while I re-grind the spine, I only actually remove about 1/4" of the entire diameter of the hole - this leaves a lot more there, and I can still put my thumb intot he hole, and open it just like I could before. I find this very important when doing these modifications - because the hole opener is, IMO, the easiest and fastest to access under stress, when fine motor skill is down.

For those interested I will re-link, http://www.geocities.com/mad_tactical/Combat_Customizing.html

A quick word about that article and anyone's concerns over patents, etc.
The article has bene published around the web, but as of now I'm the only one who still has it up do to patent concerns, this is very cool with me, as it makes it all fall on my head, no one elses. Supposedly teaching methods of creating X product or device, may be in violation of patents owned by the creator of the original version of X. I dont know, havent bothered to ask my lawyer. As of now, no one from EKI has asked me to stop or said anything to me about it. When that day comes, things will most likely change. As much as I want to share this info, I also dont want to be in trouble. Feel free to archive it for yourselves incase it is not available at a later date, infact I encourage this. Once knowledge is put out there, it can never fully be stopped

I'm gonna attach a pic of my current EDC Endura, a new style, so folks can see the really ideal amount of metal removal, this one is the best I have ever done int he terms of 100% function on all fronts, and good looks.

Have fun, and be safe guys. (P.S. Waved Civilian's are bad a$$ mofo's If you want to wave a knife that is normally tip down, just go to your local machine shop and have them switch the clip orientation, should cost about $10)