Hi Folks,
Sorry for the long radio silence, there has been much work to do recently to prepare tools for heat treat and get projects going. I'm happy to report though that a whole lot of stuff is nearing completion and things are about to be finished at long last. So that means a bunch of tool sales over the next two weeks. I have S30v Atwrenches and more S30v Ghosts on the way.
In other news, and this is big news, a long term project has finally entered the final stages of completion. This has been almost two years in the making so to finally get to the end of it is a huge relief to me. I hope you are as intrigued by it as I have been. You guys like stuff that is new and different, right? :D
OK, so a bit of back story first...This whole thing actually started about 10 years ago when I first began making folding knives. I kept thinking about grenade pins and fire extinguisher pins and I wondered how I could incorporate something like that into a folding knife as the ultimate safety lock. I experimented with a few folders in this way but nothing really ever came of it and the idea went onto the back burner.
Fast forward several years. My buddy Brian came over one afternoon for some beers. He and I have a habit of finding interesting little gadgets and buying two at a time so that we can give the other guy one when we meet up. So Brian gives me a couple of these nifty little S shaped carabiners one day. I thought they were kind of cool but I wasn't sure what I would ever do with them so they got tossed onto my cluttered work bench and I promptly forgot about them. Well, two winters ago I rediscovered them and I thought that perhaps this was what I had been looking for in a simple folding knife safety mechanism. I worked out a little proto, realized this idea had legs after all and then set out to make it happen. The rest is now history.
The FrankenSlice is a new kind of folding tool. Although it is similar in some ways to the many friction folders that have become popular these past few years, it differs in several key ways. As seen in many of my other popular one piece tools, we have a pry tool, nail puller slot, cap lifter and 1/4" hex opening. But...this tool also has a small semi sheep's foot blade on the other end. :)
For the blade steel I chose the premium super steel Elmax at 1/8" thick. The titanium rear spacer and custom pivot assembly and screws are all Swiss turned for precision. After much deliberation I opted for teflon washers over phosphor bronze for the smoothest possible action. The handle sandwich is composed of 1/8" titanium plates. There are grooves and slots that have been machined on both sides so that a #1 s-biner clip can pass through both the handles AND the blade. This forms the safety lock and it effectively turns this simple friction folder into a FIXED BLADE knife. It will lock in either position.
To my knowledge, no production folding knife has ever been able to transform into an actual fixed blade so this might be something of a first. At any rate, the s-clip allows for belt loop or key ring attachment...or simply dangle it into your pants pocket from the pocket edge similar to a normal pocket clip. Alternatively you can crank down the pivot a little bit so it's stiff to open, leave the clip off and simply toss it in your pocket. It will be up to the user how you want to carry it. I will actually be shipping these with a fairly stiff adjustment but with a common T10 torx driver you will be able to make it as stiff or loose as you like. I think stiffer is always better in any tool though... ;)
The FrankenSlice can be safely used with or without the clip because the user's hand is always completely engaged with the tool. Another way to think of it might be to imagine that this is a fixed blade knife with a swinging blade guard. In any case, you will NOT be able to stop fiddling with it, these are addictively fun to play with.
Yes it is small. The cutting edge is just slightly more than 1 inch. The overall length without clip is 3.75 inches. They are SHAVING sharp so be CAREFUL! I have a few cuts already just from putting them together.
With the clip installed it takes two hands to open the tool. But my feeling is, we are so inundated with one handed knives, assisted opening, etc that I think it's time for the Slow Knife Movement to get back underway. After all, your grandpa didn't need one handed operation in his pocket knife and he managed to get through life. What's your darned hurry anyway? Your cardboard box or bag of chips isn't running away!
The basic FrankenSlice with stonewashed finish will run $400 plus shipping. I will give a choice for Priority Mail Insured for $12 or Express Mail for $20 for US customers. International orders will ship via Express Mail only for $50, $35 to Canada, because I must have real tracking and reasonably short delivery times for an item of this value if it's leaving the country. The last thing I want to deal with is lost packages for these little guys.
The Sign Up Sale will run for 6 hours (ends 8:30 PM Eastern Time tonight) so that folks all over the world get a chance at them. The Response Time Limit after I send emails with purchase instructions to the winners will be 12 hours which should be more than enough time to get back to me. There are 58 finished right now but by the time the sale is over I will probably have more completed. I anticipate at least one more wave of these this year and I probably will make another batch next year as well, so there will be more coming, not to worry.
One Entry Per Customer Please! Any duplicates will be discarded. The sign up link is below. Newbies: Simply click on the link where it says "FrankenSlice Sign Up Sale Link" and it takes you to a simple form where you leave your name and email. Please make sure your email and other info is correct or I won't be able to reach you if your number comes up.
So that's it. Thanks so much for your patience everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful, safe and pleasant Thanksgiving!
FrankenSlice Sign Up Sale is over. Please bear with me while I sort through the entries, will take a while. Thank you everyone for the amazing response!
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