Friday, July 17, 2009

One Sweet Emerson Horseman Frame Lock Conversion

UPDATE: My bad on this last part. I forgot totally that one of my signature low rider pocket clips was ordered on this one but thankfully the owner looked at the photos and caught me before packing this beauty up to mail it off. For the record I always caution folks with Waved knives against a low rider because it does cause a shift in the hand position for how you extract the knife making it such that you'll have to choke up on the handle after getting it out but in this case the owner weighed the pros and cons and made a choice to go with better concealment and a smaller looking clip than what you'd expect on the folder so as to not make it such an advertisement that he had a bigger folder on him. I agree that most would still consider this Mini 8 to be a bigger knife because of the blade length so in this case after he cleared his throat at me confirming he knew what he wanted...:-) I said, "sir yes sir" and hopped to it! I know one active duty Marine that will have a second love in his life here soon besides his wife and this here knife is it! At least thats my guess.














































Ok, details. On this one I rebuilt the lock side in .160 ti and the non lock side in .050 ti and then used a scale material the owner of this knife sent me as well. I guess it would be more accurate to say five times sweet though. As a final touch I added a custom back spacer with the same jimping as the lock got for grip. As you can also see from my update I have added a low rider clip of my own making also of titanium. Final weight is 4.9 ounces. This one is going back from leave of absence to come visit me to active duty Marine life once again. All the old parts are going back home including the old pocket clip. This folder can still be put right back together just the way it came from Emerson knives so nothing was really permanently changed on the folder parts. Even the hardware is all still stock lengths and finishes.

I must say when I first opened the box and saw this imitation ivory my thoughts were not pleasant at all. I just hate the stuff I've used like this in the past. I mean it gums up my belts and drum sanders even if brand spankin' new just terribly, melts and heats up cutting it on the band saw and has even caused a blade or two to snap on me while cutting and in my experience it is just flat aweful to work so, my heart kind of dropped a little when I saw it but after working with this particular imitation ivory from Macecraft Supply that all changed. I can say now it was a joy to work and machine this stuff. I'm not sure how strong it is or even what its actually composed of to make it but one other thing I also liked about it was that it didn't stink up my shop real bad at all.

I mean to tell you I was dreading having to work it at first but I knew the minute I drilled the first hole that something was different about this stuff than the stuff I'd used in the past. Once I cut it I was sure of it and after sanding it well, that was just surprising as all get out! I took this down from .175 thickness to a thickness closer to the .105 that I needed to match up to the original G10 scale thickness so the original hardware would work and in record time so if there is a draw back that could come up working this material its that a fast moving sharp belt will possibly get ahead of you right quick before you know what ya done and next thing you know yer startin' over! Other than this it was just shear pleasure to work with compared to any other ivory micarta or linier paper antique micarta or otherwise similar stuff that this maker has ever used. Thanks for looking. Be sure to hit refresh once you get here or you may not get the most recent stuff I'm posting. Click any pic to go full size. Also, feel free to comment. There is a way to post here if you want to guys.

Next up? Another Horseman. :-) I know I know some of these are gettin' redundant but hey man. Its all in good fun. I just take em in the order they get here is all and there is no rhyme or reason to that sometimes.

STR





2 comments:

Tuna said...

Steve, The knife is still looking good, and now has made two trips to Afghanistan.
The Macecraft ivory has held up great, and with pocket wear looks even better. I get lots of positive comments on the knife all the time.
Thanks again for a great knife.
I hope you and the Mrs are doing well.
God Bless & Semper Fi.
Col Bob

Steve A/K/A STR said...

So good to hear! Wife and I are fine. This is a nice blast from the past Bob. I quit doing the big rebuilds in 2010 after my low rider clips and mini ti pry bars took off taking up all my time. These days they are all I offer but I do appreciate that you got one before I had to drop things from my daily routine. Glad to hear from you my friend> Take care.
STR