Knives are useful tools for many different applications (as Mrballeng has demonstrated), but what if you've got an aspiring boy scout around or you just want to teach someone how to handle knives safely? Or maybe you're like me; you're trying to make a knife of your own design and need to make a prototype first. Well then this is just the thing for you!
The main reason I chose to make my own folder is because most of the nicer ones you find on the market nowadays are over 3" long or are a bit too wide to fit comfortably in "girl pockets" (if you've never experienced them you have no idea how lucky you are). Plus I figured it'd be a nice challenge.
**Note** Please make an effort to read the annotations, I think they're more helpful than the formal instructions.
The main reason I chose to make my own folder is because most of the nicer ones you find on the market nowadays are over 3" long or are a bit too wide to fit comfortably in "girl pockets" (if you've never experienced them you have no idea how lucky you are). Plus I figured it'd be a nice challenge.
**Note** Please make an effort to read the annotations, I think they're more helpful than the formal instructions.
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Signing UpStep 1: The Design
Now this is where you get creative. You have to keep a few things in mind, but other than that you have free reign here. Just do whatever you want and by the end of it you should have a nice blade and handle shape.
Remember that you need to leave room for standoffs or a backspacer while the blade is in the closed position (see last pic). Also you should put a fair bit of care into figuring out the placement of the pivot and adjusting the blade length accordingly. If the pivot isn't aligned properly you're liable to end up losing a lot of blade and handle width by trying to correct it (or you could turn the misalignment into a "feature").
Remember that you need to leave room for standoffs or a backspacer while the blade is in the closed position (see last pic). Also you should put a fair bit of care into figuring out the placement of the pivot and adjusting the blade length accordingly. If the pivot isn't aligned properly you're liable to end up losing a lot of blade and handle width by trying to correct it (or you could turn the misalignment into a "feature").
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in the wrong hands, with the wrong intentions, the perfect weapon. Schools and colleges should be right to be concerned.
Instructables should take a view on whether this sort of content is appropriate.
What next... build your own IED?
It is quite literally insane to think that you can stop a person who intends to be violent from being violent AND also allow them freedom of movement.
And, despite what the media might lead you to believe, most people are, in fact, nice people. Very few kids actually commit serious violence UNLESS... they're subjected to peer pressure (e.g. gangs), or psychotropic drugs, or other factors of that nature. Instead of "we need to prohibit weapons" policies, we need "this is a safe place to learn and grow" policies. Instead of expelling/suspending children for drawing pictures of guns, or bringing water guns to school, we need to stop the much more insidious problem of kids verbally abusing other kids. Remember Casey, the kid who (quite awesomely) power bombed the much smaller bullies because he /felt he had no other recourse/? Yeah, Casey did the right thing - the school totally failed to prevent the behavior that leads to violence in the first place. The bully? Yeah, that's totally gang behavior on the small scale.
So yes, building your own wooden knife *is* appropriate.
Look around you, paper weight on your desk, or tire iron in your car. What about a PC mouse as improvised garrotte, PC keyboard, wire from spiral bound tablet. Bare hands with the "wrong intentions" ..... and on and on. Just looking at the bigger picture.
seriously, it's people like you that are getting our liberties slowly stripped away from us and are going to be part of the ruination of this country. being paranoid about what can be used as a weapon and all. like in california, because of your logic, you can't even carry certain pens because they can be potential weapons. dirk (and dagger) definition in the law, see Dirk Or Dagger in PC 16100-17360 definitions, covers pretty much anything, because ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death applies to the screwdrives and pens just as well. And those things do get used in crimes as a stabbing weapon.
If you're worried about wooden weapons, baseball players will have to start switching over to using polyethylene foam bats (a.k.a. pool noodles), since wooden or metal bats can be (and frequently are) used as weapons. This Instructable shows only how to create a non-dangerous model for instructing a young person in the proper use of a knife (and that is as a tool).
And in regards to your quip about an IED, you might want to think about your timing, seeing as how tomorrow's the 11th anniversary of 9/11.
I understand your concern, but I just don't think your points are quite valid in this case. You may disagree, but hey, that's how these things work :)
There is a strongly postivie correlation between edc-ing a knife and edc-ing a flashlight. Based on your fist/last photos, I suspect that you do both. :-)
As someone else has suggested, there are a number of very good choices for those with small hands and/or pockets. Your Paraframe is larger than anything I edc, and of marginal quality as well. If you've never handled a Spyderco Dragonfly with fibre reinforced nylon scales, I encourage you to do so. It is a very nice, well made, lightweight, small locking folder with excellent steel and ergonomics.
Again, thank-you for sharing your work with us.
Frank
I'll definitely keep an eye on the Dragonfly. The main reason I've been hesitating about getting one is that I'm not much of a fan of lockbacks. I feel much safer with linerlocks or framelocks when it comes to closing the blades one-handed (yeah, I know it's a bit backwards). So I figured if I could make something more to my liking at roughly the same cost, why not?
Plus, for better or for worse, I'll be reminded of my craftsmanship every time I use it, and it'll make me work harder to produce a higher quality version next time around!
And that's a neat observation about the correlation between knives and flashlights.
Take care :)
...and how I wish you anglophones would use centimeters instead of inches!!! I don't know who's to blame, but he must be in History books somewhere...I think I might track his descendants down and tell them a thing or two. :-/
Great work, and so plainly and funnily explained! Thank you!
Haha I have no idea how we managed to earn our rep as cutting edge innovators and not switch over to metric... tsk tsk. However, if it makes you feel better, my brother and I are currently working on a project that's strictly metric (life is just so much easier that way).
Cheers!
Both of my daughters carry folding/lockable knives and have for many years, there are quality knives out there that fit a females smaller hand (and smaller pockets) just as there are handguns designed with females in mind,
I hope you follow through and make this knife and then share it with us
By the way, nice use of recycled flooring! We've got a bunch lying around and I've just been doing turning projects to use it up.
And I'll definitely keep you guys posted on the real knife :)
waiting for wooden 1911 instructable!