Orion Balisong Update 12/30/11

I wanted to update my blog in response to some recent questions about the Orion Balisongs.  These knives are going to be super popular when I release them, but in my usual tradition, I wasn't really satisfied with the status quo.

Still designing, from initial prototype to final it's probably going to be a couple months just working on this knife.  Balisongs are hard because theres so many little features people want in a knife and you still have to get your own unique style in there somewhere.  I'm trying to include the community on this one in addition to making a knife that I would personally want, so it's a balance that I'm trying to get right on this one.  At the end of the day, I do hope this is a popular knife, just like I hope all of my work is popular.

So I just wanted to update you guys on some of the final thoughts and modifications I had before sending DXF's off to my water jetter.  I swapped a few things around on the innards and I'm making a couple prototypes to see how they work out.

The first is a regular tang pin construction with the latchless titanium handles, which will likely be the one I end up taking to market.

The second is a concept knife, and includes a few ideas I had.  The first big change is the removal of the tang pins.  It uses internal stop pins which are machined into the handles and interface on the inside of the tang of the blade as the stops.  This eliminates the need for tang pins AND zen pins, a system that as far as I know is unique to this Bali (although not entirely unique to regular folders).  It does mean I will have to make my own washers for the system, but I want to see if this kind of system is even possible.  Theoretically, along with the tolerances I'm holding using CNC and waterjetting, it should eliminate most if not all of the play in the handles characteristic to Balisongs.  The second big change is the latch; I have a tentative design for the latch kit which I will be testing, and I'm making myself on the CNC Mill.

The latch consists of a trunion which fits into where the original latchless standoffs were but utilizes a spring loaded ball bearing detent which locks into place with a predetermined amount of force dependent on the spring and size of the bearing.  Instead of using a T latch or a spring latch which interface with the bite handle, my Inertial Opening Latch locks into a bearing detent in latch and can be opened with a heavy flick of the bite handle whilst holding the safe handle.  This overcomes the bearings detent and breaks the latch free without having to use an external toggle or tang on the latch.

I'll still put an extended tang on the latch if you still want to use that to open the latch, but it enables you to open the Bali with one hand and a good flick of the wrist.  Again, this is a system that as far as I know is unique to this Bali, and I've never heard of it being used in this application so I went ahead and filed a mechanical patent for the system.  I'm not saying all of the latches will be like this, but it's an option I'm considering right now.  I may just go with a standard T latch kit for the drop ins.  However, if I can get it to work properly, it'll be brilliant.

For those of y'all concerned with weight, I sourced some magnesium for the handles.  I will do an ultra-lite version of the knife with magnesium handles, which gives you a 5 inch Bali with .2 inch thick handles and a .2 inch thick blade weighing only 5.6oz.  Magnesium is the strength of a good quality stainless, so it should be the lightest, strongest 5 inch Bali in the world.  Of course all the handles are interchangable, so if you decide you want to go back to Ti or you want to add Magnesium handles at a later date, you'll be able to do that with drop in handles, since they'll all be watercut to extreme tolerance.

Will

Merry Christmas from Will Moon Custom Knives!

I just wanted to post a quick Merry Christmas to all my readers, friends and customers!  It's nearly that time for presents, embarrassing photos, gaudy holiday sweaters and my personal favorite, the delightful cloying sweetness of eggnog.  I'm joking of course, but in all seriousness, I love Christmas, it's a great holiday and I want all of y'all to enjoy it, take a break from the stress of life, spend some time with your friends and family and get back to the things that really matter, if only for a couple days.

I'll be taking a brief vacation for a couple days following Christmas, with normal service resuming sometime around the first of the year.  Thanks guys for a great 2011, I look forward to 2012 and another great year!

Merry Christmas!

Will

Proper vs. Improperly done Heat Anodization

So one of the big trends these days is to modify your knives.  I do it, it's a pretty big part of my business for now, and I know a lot of guys like modified and customized production knives as a cheaper alternative to high priced customs.  One of the biggest things most people do to their knives is heat anodize their titanium, or "flame" their titanium, and I wanted to offer a bit of insight on this process.

Heat anodization works by artificially coaxing the natural oxides that grow on titanium over time to bond more readily with the oxygen in the air.  Titanium oxide relects light differently based on how thick it has grown, and so the colors change from a gold to purple to blue, and so on.  The same effect can be achieved by electrecution, but this is the poor man's way of doing it which doesn't require any kind of titanium wire, conductor solution or power source.

The biggest problem I see people encountering is that their "flaming" looks extremely dull after it's finished.  To give you some comparison, I heat anodize nearly all of my knives, custom and customized, and they look extremely bright:

The problem I have found is most customizers "flame" media blasted titanium, and this does not produce a very bright effect, but rather a subdued and (in my opinion) inferior looking finish.  While there are different ways of achieving good results in brightening up the finish, I prefer hitting the buffing wheel.  It takes a very long time to polish titanium correctly and it needs to be taken to a mirror polish.  On top of that, one of my signature finishes, the Cosmic finish, is jeweled after polishing, producing a further holographic effect which looks great when anodized.  

After mirror polishing, anodization isn't as straight forward as taking a blow torch to titanium.  It requires some significant finesse to get the finish even, and not everyone has the patience to do it.  The Cosmic finish, for example, is a very specific shade of purple/blue in which the centers of the jeweling swirls turn blue but the rest of the titanium is left purple, and this is extremely difficult to do with heat anodization given the time it takes to turn purple colored titanium to blue is near instantaneous.  After anodizing I usually polish the titanium further to make sure there is no carbon residue from the torch and let it cool naturally.

As far as maintaining a good heat anodized finish, it's relativly easy.  Inferior "flamed" finishes will wear off with time as the titanium's media blast scratches.  However anodized titanium is actually harder wearing than unanodized titanium and has a tendency to hide minor scratches, especially my Cosmic finish, which wears nearly as well as a stonewash.  Anodized titanium does need to be cleaned occasionally as the oils from your hands will cause the finish to dull over time.  Washing the titanium with warm soapy water and then drying lightly on a towel will restore the finish to luster and is the best way to keep your properly finished heat anodized Ti looking good.  After several years the finish will wear down, in which case it's very simple to reanodize the titanium, and this is a service I do for free under my warrantee.

If you have any questions about anodizing titanium or my refinishing services, please feel free to send me an email to willmooncustomknives@gmail.com.  Good luck and Merry Christmas!

  Will

Orion Continued: changes and modifications

The Orion Balisong project continues.  I am still currently in the prototyping stages for the new butterfly knives, and I have some news.  Without divulging too much information as to the final product (because simply put I don't know quite yet exactly what it's going to be made out of or look like), I spent most of the day yesterday putting my design in Solidworks, and so far I think I have a workable latchless model.  The T-Latch version will come at a later time.

Since there seems to be a relativly large latchless Balisong following, I think the first run of these knives will be without a latch.  I have modified the design so that it now has precision ground stainless steel standoffs for weight, and beefed up the tang pins to eighth inch steel rod.

Because I have CAD models now, I'm strongly considering having the blanks of the blades and handles water cut to save on time and cost and allow me to offer an overall more affordable product.  The blades would still be hand ground, all fit and finish done by hand with custom handles available.  However, this would allow me, for example, to more precisely control the handle fit and create a tighter Bali for the end user.  If I end up going with waterjet cut parts, it will significantly reduce the cost and allow me to use higher end materials, like titanium handles and nicer blade steels, so it may be worth it.  I will have a prototype made this way and see how expensive it turns out to be, and then I will make my final decision as to the construction methods of the Balisong.

Keep posted...

Will

New Knife Customization: Orange Crush Benchmade/HK Nitrous Blitz

I just finished up a new customized knife, this one based on my favorite knife of all time, the Benchmade/HK Nitrous Blitz.  For those of you who follow me on Youtube, you'll know why I love this knife so much, it's lightweight, it's affordable, it's ergonomic, it has a killer assisted opening mech, it has great materials... there's honestly only one thing I'd criticize about the knife- it's somewhat lackluster appearance.

But with a little Orange G10 and some mosaic pin I can correct that...

Double Post

Double Post

December Update: Changes in service

Hey all,

  I just wanted to update my customes and followers on a few changes I'm making to my business.

Firstly, a couple words on international shipping and perhaps biggest change, I'm discontinuing international shipping for the forseeable future.  I have been having a lot of problems with slow international mail service and it's frankly beginning to wear away at my sanity. I just don't want to deal with it anymore, and I'm sick of hearing complaints about slow international mail.  As such, I'm not shipping outside of the US anymore.  Period.  No express mail, no tracked mail, no insured mail.  It's just too much of a headache.

Secondly, I'm going to be taking a break from accepting new orders for a while until I get caught up on the stuff that I have already agreed to do/ stuff I want to do for myself.  I've been getting pretty burnt out on constantly working on knives during nearly 100% of my free time and I just think that if I continue at this rate I'm going to end up hating the hobby I once loved.  As such, for right now i'm not taking any orders.  I will still offer the occasional knife for sale tho.

Third, if you're waiting on a knife or think I may have forgotten you, send me an email.  I'll get back to you with a status update.  I've been trying my best to keep up with the Holiday rush, but one of my biggest fears is that I forget to ship something and then I'll have an angry or upset customer.  I'm here to make sure my customers are happy, so if you think you may have been left out please just let me know, I am human and I make mistakes.

With that, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and I really appreciate all the support!  Take care!

  Will