Happy Holidays!

I'm taking it (somewhat) easy here between Christmas and New Year - other than the mountain of paperwork I have to get done for the Taxman!

Still, I wanted to say a big Thank You to everyone for your support in 2011. Operating a small business with enough work for three people and revenues to keep one hanging on is difficult. I really appreciate all the positive feedback. It's always a lift to get up in the morning, turn on the computer and read email from happy customers!

It is already clear that 2012 will be a challenging year. So let's rest up this week and get ready to come out swinging in 2012!

WilkinsGRIP BMGmini TITANIUM Gripsets

A lot of people have been asking for these and I only had enough Ti to make less than a dozen pair. These are now SOLD OUT!

Grey Ghost Matt

These have been matt bead blasted and then tumble polished for a dead matt grey surface. Everything here is matt fnished.

Grey Stonewash with Bright Details

This version is not bead blasted before tumble polishing. Edges are lightly buffed and the milled BeeSting indentations on the grips remain bright in contrast to the rest of the surface which is matt grey.

Fire Anodized from Bronze to Purple and Blue

These will all be a bit different as I do them with a torch one at a time!

The difference between the Grey Ghost and the Grey Stonewashed is in the details. Grey Stonewashed will be slightly more resistant to showing scratches; Grey Ghost is all dead matt and really elegant.

Each gripset includes a hardcoat anodized Alu spacer and Wilkins W Logo Soft PVC Patch.

SOLD OUT!!

More New WilkinsGRIP BMGmini Gripsets in Stock!

In addition to the Pale Olive gripsets shown below (don't confuse Pale Olive with Pale Green!) I now also have gripsets in stock and ready to ship made from:

Pale Green G11

Swimming Pool Green G11

 


Every gripset comes with a black hardcoat anodized Alu spacer and Wilkins W Logo Soft PVC Velcro Patch.

Both of these materials have MUCH more glass than the standard G10 material usually seen. The Swimming Pool Green G11 is really hard due to the high glass content. I don't know if I will be able to obtain any more of this stúff, so if you've been waiting for 'em, now's the Time.

Price per Gripset is €107.10 (€90 for non-EU sales)
plus shipping, €7 inside Germany, €10 for most of the Rest of the World

WilkinsGRIP BMGmini Pale Olive G11: A First for Blog Readers

I finished 5 pair of Wilkins GRIP BMGmini grips today and am offering these to readers of my blog first ... I just wanna see who's reading this thing!

Evidently a lot of folks are reading, these are SOLD OUT!

Kydex Sheaths for all HTevolution Knives

I now have Kydex belt sheaths in stock for all HTevolution fixed blade knives.

These may be ordered with a new HTevolution or if you've already purchased a HTevolution, you can now order a sheath without having to send in your knife for a fitting.

Thanks to the fact that blades and grips are precision milled and ground, buyers of sheaths can be assured of a precise fit without any adjustment.

For a limited time, each sheath comes complete with an Original, old-school made-in-USA Tek-Lok belt adapter.

I have sheaths in stock in Black or Flame orange Kydex.

Price for the sheath alone is €55 (€46.22 non-EU sales)
plus €7 for shipping in Germany or €10 shipping to all other EU countries, Switzerland, the USA or Canada.

Damasteel Gysinge Mytuko Minis in Stock

I have two Mytuko Mini HGs hand ground from 3mm Damasteel Gysinge PM stainless Damascus steel ready to ship. The knives have grips machined from a new, custom made glass fiber laminate called Longlite.

This material is very similar to G10 except that after exposure to light, it will glow in the dark for up to 12 hours. Unlike some othr glow in the dark products, Longlite is every bit as hard as G10 and just as durable. In daylight it's very similar in color to pale green G10. I'll try and get an evening pic done asap to show how it looks glowing!

These knives fit the standard Mytuko Mini slip sheaths, which I also have in stock.

Monday Update

Well, the CNC mill is back up and running. The local Haas Tech came round, checked everything out again and installed a brand new 320V Power Supply.

I hope to God this will be the last trouble for a while. In retrospect I should have had him install a new Power Supply right away when the old one failed instead of independently trying to have the old one repaired. In the end that cost me a lot of downtime and money.

Live and learn.

I hope to have another large Ghost Dog Folder and a couple of Leafstorms ready before Christmas. The Leafstorms will have M2 HSS steel blades at around HRC 63-64.

Special Price on HTevolutions with Bocote Grips

Seeing as how fixing my CNC mill is costing a ton of money, I've decided to reduce the price on HTevolution fixed blades with Bocote Wood grips from €199 to €169. I don't know how long I'll do this ... I have several HTevolutions in stock for immediate shipment, once they're gone that will certainly be the end of the sale but I may end it earlier if I win Lotto or find a shoebox full of cash I forgot I had.

I now have Kydex belt sheaths for all HTevolution knives in stock for immediate delivery!! Price per sheath is €55 (€46,22 non-EU sales) and the first batch includes an old style large Made-in-USA Tek-Lok.

Another Leafstorm VI in stock

Got this little guy ready go yesterday. The blade is hand ground from 3mm Damasteel powder metal stainless Damascus from Sweden. This is a special pattern called Gysinge and it does look good... hopefully Damasteel will make it on a regular basis.

The grips are stoneswahed and heat colored dark bronze with matching Ti pivot collar and screws. The spacer is made from G11 that matches the grips.

Clip is TiAlN coated and I'm including an extra stonewashed clip too. (Anybody who owns any of my folders fitted with one of these clips can always receive an replacement from me for a nominal charge.)

SOLD

Strange Days have Found Me

Well, just when you think things can't get weirder ... they do.

I was back in the shop today, turned on the CNC mill and immediately received an error message indicating a major problem.

I thought it might be the power supply which was just repaired a week or so ago. I got the guys who fixed it on the phone and they talked me through a few tests which quickly showed the problem not to be with the power supply. I then got the Haas technician on the phone and it looks like there may be a problem in one of the axis motors (bad) or vector drives (not good).

In any case, the Haas tech will have to come out asap next week and find out what's broken, order the part and either come back and install it or else I'll install it if it's something I can handle.

I just sunk €1200 in the machine and now I'm sure to be out another chunk of change and the machine will be down until end of next week.

On the way back a stone flew up on the expressway and broke the windshield on my car.

When it rains it pours.

News not fit to Print

Well, the cnc mill is back up and running but something went wonky with Telekom while they were switching my service over to an IP telephone system and faster DSL ... now I have NO phone service, NO internet and NO Television.

I have surf stick for temp net access. So if you send me an email now, it make a take a day or 2 to answer.

Also I have a cold and fell like crap.

Did I mention te cnc mill is working again?? I want to close on a positive note...

Ghost Dog Folder for sale from stock!

Finished this monster Ghost Dog yesterday. The blade is hand ground from 4.3mm stonewashed Becut stainless with a slight false edge. The grips are machined from 3mm 6Al4V titanium and stonewashed to match the blade. The grip overlays are Grade 2 titanium fire anodized mostly blue. The 8mm custom hardened pivot is press fit into the frame and secured with stainless collars and M5 screws, all heat colored.

This is one heavy folder and is too big for pocket carry. That's why it doesn't have a clip. The spacer is made from olive Micarta and uses my one sided lanyard hole. The stop pin is custom made, heat treated and press fit.  
Specs:
overall length open: 255mm
blade length: 110mm
knife closed: 145mm
weight: 312 grams

SOLD

New Model: Meet the Mini Thorn Tactical

This is the first new design I've brought out in quite a while. And as the name suggests, it isn't totally new. The original Mini Thorn design is almost 10 years old and remains the most popular hand ground fixed blade I've produced.

The Mini Thorn Tactical is an updated, highly usable knife building on my experience with the original. The knife shown is one of three design prototypes hand ground from 4mm CPM S30V stainless steel. It is -SOLD- and features a matt grey stonewshed finish and removeable rubber grip grommet. The knife is 150mm long, 30mm high and the sharpened section of the blade measures 60mm.

I will be bringing out a semi-production (machine flat ground) version in time for the Holidays crafted from Sandvik 14C28N stainless steel.

The Mini Thorn Tactical is designed for users who like to customize their knives by adding distinctive Paracord wrapping or individual grip scales.

I plan on offering various grip scales for the production knives as an option as well as a Kydex sheath.

Hopefully my CNC mill will be back in operation next week and I can MAKE SOME CHIPS!

My CNC Mill is Down

Which is a real drag. The power supply crapped out. I sent the powersupply off to an outfit in western Germany who should be able to repair it. A new one costs a lot of money. I hope to be back up in another week or so. Untill then, I'm doing a lot of other jobs I've been putting off ... like sweeping the floor!

New Design: Mini Thorn 2011

Looks like I finally have the design finalized for my next production knife! This is a substantially overhauled Mini Thorn. Overall length is 150mm, blade length is 60mm sharpened and blade height is 30mm.

The production version will be flat ground not hollow ground like the handmade prototype pictured. Steel stock is 4mm and will remain so in the production run.

The rubber insert in the grip is removable, yet won't come out unless you take it out.

I gotsta' get these ready for Christmas sale!

First Look: Mytuko Major with Restyled Grips

I finished up the last of the Mytuko Major protos last week. All have black Micarta grips as shown on this knife. This one has a slight false edge and a matt stonewashed finish on the blade. It's a one of a kind. Price is €199 (€167.23 for non-EU sales).

Most of this last batch are unique so I'll be taking individual pics and posting them asap.

A few of the knives have narrower blades and most have unique false edges. I tried out a lot of different styles! Three knives will be sold only with a custom fitted leather sheath. The other knives - including the one show - may be purchased with or without a leather belt sheath.

More pics to come!

Mytuko Major update

I've redesigned the grip of the Mytuko Major following the lines of the new grip for the Mytuko Mini shown below. All Major grips are done in black Micarta. I have several test knives with variations in the blade shape as well as a couple that are stonewashed matte grey. As soon as I finish these up, I will have them for sale.

A small production run of these is still up in the air. I have to decide if the sales potential warrants the investment. The production knives will most certainly be done from thinner stock, I expect it would be around 4mm+.

Handground Mytuko Mini V knives in Stock

These are all Sold OUT! Thanks for the great response!!

 

 

 

 

Next Up: Hand Ground S30V Mytuko Minis

I'm FINALLY getting the S30V Mytuko Minis finished. These have been in a box on my desk for months.

I redesigned the grips and am making the first ones from Grade 2 Titanium. I also figured out a way to hollow grind the blades that I like better than previous hand ground Mytuko Minis. I expect to have these up for sale by the weekend.

He's a couple of WIP pics from my shop. The first pic shows one of the knives with the grips on for a test fit. The last two show the grips being machined. (It took me 2 full days to make the 5 pair of grips.)

Sunday, Sunday....

Spent the day FINALLY getting all the Ryback Kitchen knives up on my site for sale that I have in stock. This includes the Carbon Series knives and several RS2s with wood grips.

I also found a box of completed Ryback Series 2 knives I#d totally forgotten. These are all machine satin finished and have grips of either Corian or PE Recycling Plastic that I won't be offering in the future. I decided to sell these knives at a reduced closeout price so check 'em out!

Next up...

Will be several Mytuko Mini HG's hand ground from S30V with stonewashed finsih. I've had these knives half finished for MONTHS and finally decidied to get down and do 'em up. I will have these ready for sale next week.

New Folders 24th August

Got those last 2 Leafstorms in S30V finished.
First one up is all matt stonewashed Ti with an olive green G11 grp overlay. The CPM S30V blade is stonewashed to match the grips as is the stainless pocket clip. The spacer is also made from green G11.
This one is SOLD many thanks!

 

Next Leafstorm is all matt greay stonewashed 6Al4V titanium with matching CPM S30V blade and stainless clip. The pivot collar is fire anodized Ti and the spacers is bright orange G10. This knife features my single-side lanyard hole for slimm pocket carry.

SOLD

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope to have the last 2 Leafstorms with M2 HSS blades ready in September.

Update

I finished my prototyping job and am back on the S30V Leafstorms.

There is a new addition to the worksop... may I present my new (used) Jun Air 4000-40M compressor! This little guy is about the size of a wash machine and is almost tottally silent when running. I don't think it will put out the air I need for bead blasting but the old compressor wasn't up to that either.

Still more Leafstorms...

I expect to have the last 2 S30V Leafstorms finished and up for sale by this time next week. After that I think I'll do a couple with M2 HSS blades and after that ... who knows!

...and 1 more S30V Leafstorm!

This one is actually appearing here on the blog before it makes it to my website. I'm too tired tonight to recode the in stock page ... tomorrow's another day!

This Leafstorm has a stonewashed, matt grey S30V stainless blade. The titanium grips are 2-tone blue / bronze anodized and then stone wshed for a distressed look. The stainless clip is stonewashed to match the blade. This one has the single sided lanyard hole and a black Micarta spacer. Titanium pivot collar is fire anodized. Price is €595 (€500 for non-EU sales)

The next S30V Leafstorm is up!

This one has stonewashed Titanium grips - 2.6mm lockside, 2mm overlay side - that are anodized dark bronze. The stonewashed matt grey CPM S30V stainless blade is marked with my "W" logo and the stainles clip is stonewashed to match the blade. The pivot collar is fire anodized Ti and the grip overlay is fossilized Bark Mammoth. SOLD

First S30V Leafstorm is up!

I call this finish Grey Ghost because just about everrything on the knife is finished with a matt stoneswashed surface. The Titanium sacer on this knife is fire anodized mostly bright blue which really pops against the grey. The blade is made from CPM S30V stainless steel. SOLD

I'm working' on 'em!

Here's a few WIP pics from the shop today. First pic shows me parting off a pivot screw collar from 12mm titanium round stock. The collars then get attached to a fixture where I do the front lathe ops.

 

Next is a pic from the bench of some Leafstorm parts I'm fitting together. The overlay is some nice bark mammoth. I finished the knife except for sharpening after I took this pic and will be posting it for sale as soon as I photograph it.