Merry Christmas and Other Updates!

Hey All,

  I wanted to post a quick Merry Christmas.  Please keep safe and warm this holiday season.  I think this is a season for reflecting on the things that really matter- family, friends, loved ones- and for reflecting on the life and deeds of Jesus Christ.  Each day we should seek to be better people than we were yesterday, and seek to love one another in the same way.  Please have a very Merry Christmas!

  A couple more updates while I'm at it!  I'm building Mk12's as fast as possible, but naturally demand currently far outstrips supply.  For the folks who are very patiently bearing with me, I'll have another batch up for sale soon, which will include the new harpoon lum and drop point shapes and the wharncliffe shape.  I spent a bit of time grinding the latter yesterday, and I'm really loving how they're coming out.  These blades will also have new inlays into the blade flats for a little extra accent.

  I've created an updated logo for the business, which I'll link below.  I wanted something simple, but also something that communicated what Will Moon Custom Knives is all about.  I chose the latin phrase "Sic Itur Ad Astra", a line from the Aeneid meaning "You Shall Go to the Stars" for our motto, which I really think captures what I try to do.  I try to design space-age kit and gear, stuff that looks and feels futuristic that would be at home in space.  It also certainly connotes a certain degree of indestructibility for those privy to the Virgil reference.

  Lastly, the Mk6's are going into initial prototyping stages this week.  This is our new bolster-lock design, which will be a bit more affordable than the integrals.  I realize that spending a thousand dollars on a pocket knife is simply unassailable for a lot of folks, so the Mk6 will be a much more afforable, yet still awesome and feature rich version of the Mk12 built as a non-integral bolster-lock.  I hope to have the knives prototyped and into production by the end of January at the very latest.

  That wraps it up folks, thanks for all the support this year, and I look forward to another great year in 2013!  Stay safe, stay warm, and stay sharp!

 -Will

Blue Orange Peel Mk12

Hey All,

 I wanted to show off another Mk12, this one's sold but here're some photos and video for the knife:

Here's a rundown of the specs for this knife:

Blade Length: 4

Over All Length: 9.25

Blade Material: CPM-154

Blade Thickness: .1875 

Handle, Overtravelstop and Pocket Clip Materials: 6Al4V Titanium

Weight: 6.3 ounces

Custom Options:

-Crowned Blade Spine and Frame

-Drop Point Blade

-Hand Rubbed Satin Finish

-Blue Anodized Orange Peel Frame

-Satin finished Pocket Clip

-Satin Finished Overtravel Stop

Here are photos:

The First Moon Mk12 Heading Out!

Hey all,

  It's been a long and tough journey going from concept to completion but I finally have the first Mark 12 ready and heading out the door.  I'd like to take a quick moment to thank all of my supporters, friends, cohorts, subs on Youtube and everyone else who's taken time out of their lives to send notes and emails of positivity, leave comments, invested in my brand and made this all possible.  I cannot express my gratitude enough, your support for Will Moon Custom Knives not only goes to helping a startup small business, but also helps me pay for my education.  Thank you all!

  So without further noise, here's some hastily snapped photographs of the first Moon Mk12.  

This knife has a two-tone blade and frame.  The blade is my Lum style tanto grind, which has a polished near zero ground tip.  The bevels are all mirror polished with satin flats, and the blade is crowned.  The blade features drilled and milled gimping, which is very grippy.  Inside the knife I have a thrust bearing system, this is the first integral in the world to utilize ball bearings in the pivot.

When closed, the blade centers nicely due to the use of a dual detent system that automatically centers the blade.  The under-side of the knife and the spine are both crowned to match the blade.  This rounding really helps to make the knife more comfortable in the pocket and in the hand.  Comfort is really key in my book.

On the rear of the knife I have my overtravel stop and billet titanium pocket clip.  These are both custom made for this knife.  The pocket clip is keyed and attaches with two 4-40 screws.  I chose to use flat head screws in this particular knife, but I also have titanium Torx screws that will be available as an upgrade.  The pocket clip has a matching texture and finish to the milling on the non-locking side of the  frame, which aids in gripping the knife and extracting it from the pocket.  Additionally, not shown is my lanyard hole which is located on the spine of the knife.  Due to the angle of the lanyard hole and its placement, it allows me to attach the pocket clip further back for deeper carry in the pocket.

This knife sold in only a few minutes, but I have more on the way. If you're interested in getting a Mk12, please email me at willmooncustomknives@gmail.com.

-Will

Moon Mark 12's Finally Finished

Hey all,

  I wanted to post some info on the Mark 12's.  After 11 months of designing, building revising and building again, I think I have a design refined enough to compete with the best custom knives out there.  The goal was to build something that was aethetically pleasing and provided excellent utility.  To that end, the final design is feature centric.  The knives weigh 6.3 ounces with the drop point and lum grinds, and 5.7 ounces with the multigrinds (some variation will be natural due to various frame designs and custom grinds).  Each knife is equiped with a captive bearing system that's inset into the blade on either side for increadibly easy assembly/disassembly.  Since the handle is one solid piece of titanium, the only screws in the knife are the pivot and stop pin as well as the two screws in the pocket clip.  The knife features a biller titanium pocket clip and custom titanium overtravel stop.  Additionally the knife has a dual detent for an exceptional flipping action on the blade.  The blades are .1875 inch thick steel and will initially come in CPM154 and S30V.  Each has a hand crowned spine.  The handles taper for user comfort, weight and for better pocket carry.  Every frame and blade is CNC machined and then hand finished, the blades are hand ground.  Heat treating on the blades is done professionally. by East Carolina Metal Treating in Raleigh NC.

  I'm very proud of this design.  Despite haters, hardships in production and constant revisions, the Mark 12 Integral is now a reality.  I will have some pieces available by the end of the week on a page dedicated to the knives.

-Will

Tormach LLC Owner Showcase

Hey All,

  I wanted to put a link on my Blog to an article recently written about Will Moon Custom Knives by Tormach LLC.  Tormach produces the PCNC 1100, the mill that I'm currently using to build the Mark XII Integral Framelocks.  Our PCNC is one of the first ever produced and it's been in our shop making robotics parts for about seven years now, and I like it quite a bit.  This is the same mill that John Grismo uses for his knife making as well.  Here's the link to the story:

http://www.tormach.com/Will-Moon-Knife-Making.html


-Will

From the Ashes

Hey All,

  I wanted to share a couple photos of a Spyderco Phoenix I was sent by a customer.  This knife was pretty badly beat up, you can see in the before photograph that the frame was completely scratched, likewise the blade had a lot of marring, and the scales were pretty beat up.

I did a complete refinish, surfaced the handle scales and then satin'ed the frame with blue ano.  Then I added new scales made of silver twill G10, a material that's sometimes called platinum carbon fiber but it's really aluminum coated fiberglass.  Lastly I polished and reshaped the blade spine with a crown at the owner's request.  It's hard to tell this is the same knife, it looks brand new.  I'm pretty happy with it.

-Will

What does Integral Mean Anyway?!

Hey All,

  I wanted to take a quick moment and answer a question I get very frequently via PM and email, and it goes something along the lines of "What do you mean when you say your framelocks are Integral?"

  The origins of the term integral are somewhat muddy.  The original R.I.L., or Reeve Integral Lock, was invented by famous knife maker Chris Reeve in the early 90's.  Based on the Walker Liner Lock, Reeve's Integral Lock featured a beefed up liner which served as the frame for the knife and featured no scale cover.  This allows the users hand to contact the lock bar and in effect keep the knife securely locked while the knife is open and in hand, and help prevent unwanted closure.

  As time has gone on, there have been countless renditions of this mechanism, but the term "Integral Frame Lock" is now somewhat archaic.  In fixed blades, the term "Integral" refers to the knife, and perhaps bolsters, being forged or milled out of one solid piece of steel.  With the introduction of similarly designed folding knives like Scott Cook's Lochsa or the Lionsteel SR-1, the word "Integral" took on a new meaning with framelock knives.  "Integral" now refers to the construction of the handle rather than the construction of the lock, and it means that the handle is machined out of one solid piece of material, lock and all.

  An Integral folding knife has very few parts.  One would think that due to the simplicity of construction, Integrals would be easy to make, but in fact they are astonishingly tricky to perfect.  My own Integral design has taken around 10 months to come to fruition, and I don't think that I'm an outlier.  However, a polished Integral design is remarkably easy to maintain, extremely strong and offers the end user eternal bragging rights with its off the charts cool factor.  The solid one-piece construction is generally considered to be the strongest way to build a framelock, and there's something inherently special about a one piece handle, especially from the design and engineering standpoint.  For those of you who enjoy mechanical design, I think you'll agree with me that Integrals are very cool in that respect.

  Hopefully this clears up exactly what people mean by Integral, it can be somewhat confusing but I think this will help to shed some light on the differences between the R.I.L. and the modern term "Integral", as well as some of the advantages of Integral knives.

  -Will

October Service Changes

Hey All,

  I wanted to post an update regarding service changes for the remainder of the month of October.  Mid-late October is my busiest time of the year, with prep for the Holiday Season and midterms, things get pretty hectic.  As such I will be suspending customization orders until the beginning of November while I catch up with my existing work load.  Current orders will still be processed along with retail orders for custom and production knives currently in stock.  Please be aware that while I will try my best to keep communications fast and timely, I'm extremely busy between now and the end of the year and my time is very limited.  I may be unable to answer phone calls and emails straight away, but I will get back to you ASAP.  Have a great October!

-Will

Moon Integral October Update

Hey All,

   I wanted to post a quick update to the Integral Framelocks.  Unfortunatly scheduling conflicts and some tooling issues have arisin that have caused some delays and setbacks in the production schedule, but we're still moving toward having a finished product by the beginning of the holiday season.  One thing I want to reiterate is that these knives will not leave the shop unless they are absolutly perfect in every respect; I had some issues with the initial offering of the Orion balisongs, which by now are squared away, but I want these to be as good as they can be straight from the gate.  Likewise I've been getting daily inquiries as to the price of the knives.  The Integrals will be priced somewhere around a grand owing to the extreme amount of labor, machining, fitting and materials involved in each knife.  At the end of the day I have to keep the lights, so there's not much I can do on that front.
   However I will be introducing a more affordable liner lock alternative for the folks who don't want to shell out such a large amount of money, which will be about half the cost of the Integrals.  It will still be handmade, however it will not require the use of a billet of titanium and weekend's worth of milling time.  Please check the Blog for more updates on the liner locks in the coming months.
   Lastly but certainly not least I wanted to thank all of my customers, friends and supporters all around the work, without you I can't make these kinds of projects happen.  Thank you!

  -Will

Customized Emersons: Super Roadhouse and CQC7V

Hey All,

  I'd like to take a quick moment to show off a couple customized Emerson knives that I just finished.  Emerson knives provided a great starting point for customization, not only are they fairly simple to work on they also usually give the customizer a great blank canvas with which to design.  The first is a CQC7V, one of my favorite Emerson designs, which I've given a set of orange G10 grips.  These grips have a stripe of silver twill inlaid into the handles as well as traction flutes for grip located where the majority of the hand meets the scale.  This keeps the knife smooth in the pocket as not to damage your clothes, but tactile enough to prevent slipping during use.  

The second knife in the series is a Emerson Super Roadhouse.  This massive knife is an awesome tactical blade, so I didn't want to use a lot of bright color as per my usual style.  However, I still wanted to keep it a little "space-punk", so I chose natural canvas micarta for the scales with copper and black micarta inlays.  Again I used a fluting design for the handle scales to give the knife some traction.

Both knives have refinished liners.  Emerson knives typically come with relatively rough liners, which have water jet marks on them from their construction.  By mating the scales to the liners, I refinish the edges and eliminate these machining marks, creating a consistant satin finish around the edge of the knife.  Likewise I hand sand each scale's edges to fit the knife, there's nothing I hate more than ragged edges on knives, and it's the little things that really make a piece scream quality.

More customized Emerson goodness to come!

-Will

A quick Thank You

Hey All,

 I wanted to take a quick moment and post a quick "thank you" on my Blog.  Over the past three months I've endured an extraordinary amount of hatred from a certain group of malcontents in my industry. I wanted to thank all those who have been friends to me in these tough times, your support means the world to me.  I want to personally thank each and every one of my customers who has spent their hard earned money with me.  Thank you for allowing me to earn your business, and for allowing me to continue to do what I love.  Because of your generosity and support, the past three months have been my most successful months in my knife making career.  Thank you for all of your support and friendships.  Have a wonderful October!

  -Will

Moon Integral Folder Finalized?

Hey All,

  It's been a while since I updated my Blog, unfortunately I haven't kept the progress reports coming as well as I should have and now here suddenly I'm more or less finished with the design and build process of the first prototype.  My father and I have been working non-stop on these knives to get them ready for the fall/Christmas season, and I'm happy to say the finish line is in sight.  We made some pretty significant changes to the design internally, so I wanted to outline those first:

One of the big issues we've been having is getting these knives to really rocket out of the handle.  The mark of a good flipper is that the blade comes out fast.  A great flipper deploys in the blink of an eye, and that's what we really want.  We had spent a lot of time and money milling PB washers and bushings for this project, but after having the first prototype together it became clear that we really needed to include some kind of bearing system.  The knife deployed without wrist, but it could have been better so we went back to the drawing board and have come up with a bearing system for the knives.  As such these will be the first integral framelocks in the world to utilize a bearing system, and its something we're really excited about.

Another big change comes in the form of an auto centering secondary bearing set into the non-locking side of the frame.  This is a nifty way of insuring the blade self centers and stays smooth in opening at the same time.

We've also changed the locking geometry slightly to something a little more conventional which really has improved the overal solid feel of the knife.

The blade shape has been slightly altered to rebalance it and allow for easier closure.

The pocket clips have been refined slightly to allow for easier donning and doffing during day to day use, and to keep the clips from tearing up even delicate pants.

Lastly I've put a huge amount of effort into figuring out how to properly fit the knives.  These will be fairly fitting and finishing intensive.

All that said I'm very happy with how the first prototype of the Gen 7 Integral came out.  With the Gen 8 improvements (mentioned above) I think we're really going to have a winner on our hands.  Not to toot my own horn, but these knives have a design refined over the course of 10 months, we have countless hours of RnD in these and I think that the end product will truly reflect the amount of work we've put in on the front end.

-Will

Integral Framelock 3D Machined Pocket Clips

Hey all,

  Just wanted to show off the new pocket clip and overtravel stop for the Integral framelocks.  These are 3D machined out of billet titanium for the new Integral Framelocks.  The pocket clips are secured to the frames via a pair of recessed 4-40 T8 screws which mount flush inside of the pocket clip, likewise the clip sits in a milled envelope on the frame which should help prevent any rotation on the frame.  The overtravel stop sits in a recessed pocket on the frame and prevents the lockbar from hyper extending and is secured via the shoulder-bolt pivot and an extended flange that sits on the inside of the pivot hole.  These parts are very strong, should go perfectly with the indestructability of the rest of the knife.

-Will

Emerson Three Layer Backspacers

Hey All,

  Recently I've been getting a lot of inquiries regarding my replacement backspacers on Emerson knives.  I've been making three layer spacers for Emersons for about a year and a half, and they usually come standard on my customized Emersons.  The three layer spacers are simply that- three layers of laminated G10, and they're a great way of adding some flair to your Emerson, even if you don't replace the scales.  If you're interested in having one made for your knife, they're pretty affordable at 35$ each (+10$ for Moonglow) and I can make them in a couple day's time in whatever color scheme you'd like.

-Will

C-Tek Emerson Persian

Hey All,

I mentioned a few days ago that I'd been working with the new C-Tek material, and I wanted to show off some of the fruits of a very long and arduous struggle to find out how to best finish the stuff.  I found that, like some others who are starting to work with C-Tek, the material deforms easily with heat, as such normal Alox belts simply won't be usable for working with the material.  My best results came from using 36 grit Blaze cermanic belts to profile and rough contour the material, then I finished contouring with a 120 grit Blaze ceramic belt and hand sanded to a matte finish up to 300 grit.  This produces a nice satin, non reflective finish that really shows off the depth of the resin and highlights the aluminum honeycomb.  I think the results speak for themselves:

-Will

Five Flute Gentleman Jim

Hey All,

I just wanted to show off a project I've been working on.  It's no secret I love orange knives, but the standard G10 I use, contoured and smooth, doesn't really offer too much grip.  I've been experimenting with ways of adding a bit of grip to my knives without sacraficing any of my pockets to the evil villian Peel Ply, and I think I may have come up with a workable solution to my dilemma.  Using my mill, I added a similar five flute pattern to what will be available on the tactical version of my custom framelock to the contoured orange scale of my Gentleman Jim.  This scale gives a lot of grip while maintaining the hull integrity of your pockets, very functional and cool looking.

-Will

A Word about C-Tek

Hey All,

Recently a new material has been introducted to the market that I'm really excited about.  In my work, one of the most interesting and exciting things that I do on a day to day basis is I get to work with and learn about new and innovative materials for my knives, and C-Tek may be one of the coolest materials I've seen to day.  For those of you who haven't seen C-Tek yet, it's a new material that was recently introduced to the market as a lightweight alternative to G10 and Micarta.  Unlike G10 and Micarta, resin filled C-Tek doesn't have a fiber weave to give it strength, instead it uses honey comb aluminum mesh, which is lighter and stronger than G10.  Likewise the resin used with this material is translucent, allowing for a very cool visual appearance when used on the handle of a knife.

I will be working with this material on my future projects, and plan on integrating it into a lot of my future work.  I see this as being one of the most revolutionary and interesting materials to hit the market in a very long time, it's expensive but you get what you pay for in cool factor.

-Will

Quick Note Regarding Service Changes

Hey all,

As of this past Thursday I am now back at school full time.  As such I will be ceasing custom orders until next summer.  Please be aware I may be somewhat pressed for time, so email response may be slow.  I will still be working on the integrals, but because of my personal time constraints they will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.  The first knives will be ready for market around September, as it takes roughly a week and a half to complete a single knife.  I'll post more information regarding pricing on the knives when I have a concrete number of how many hours it takes to mill the final version, needless to say they are milling and labor intensive, so they will be pretty pricey, but I'm trying to make them as inexpensive for the buyer, I will say this: the basic knives will be less expensive than a production XM-18.  I appreciate all the support, thanks for a great summer,

-Will

Non-knife Customization: Kassa Fabrication Mass Effect Rifle Case

Hey all,

I wanted to post a non-knife related project up and show off some work I did customizing something a little different.  Those of you who know me personally probably know I'm a huge Mass Effect fan, likewise I'm also really into guns.  Recently I bought a couple of Pelican 1700's and me being me, couldn't not customize the cases and make them my own.  I laid out some custom Kassa Fabrication stencils using some painters tape (fans of the Mass Effect series will recognize the weapons manufacturer) and went to town with the airbrush and some enamel paints.  I used Sunburst Orange and Dark Metal Grey from Boyd and Model Masters respectively, and cut them with a quarter by volume laquer thinner for a matte finish.  The results speak for themselves, now this Pelican 1700 is ready for action.

-Will

Moon Framelock Update: Working Prototype!

Hey All,

I just wanted to update my blog regarding the framelock.  Progress has been start and stop due to our heavy breakage of tooling, however my father and I managed to finish a working prototype of the knife last night.  The knife is still extremely rough, and we're doing some redesigns from this rendition of the knife to make the finished version of the knife that much better.  This is just an iPhone video of the knife working, bear in mind the knife in this video doesn't have the framelock stop that the pivot secures to or washers, likewise the aluminum test blade hasn't been precision surfaced to smooth up the action.

Some of the things that will be redesigned will include the framelock locking bar, which while still being angled for increased surface area, we've found is a little more solid and totally void of play.  The curved locking surface I had initially come up with just didn't work out the way I had hoped.  Likewise we've made some small changes to the internals of the knife, for example adding thumb relief for the lockbar, an increased finger choil for grip, slightly altered thumb serrations, ect.

Next step is to go ahead and make another frame with the new locking interface and mill some blades out of steel.  In the mean time I've gone ahead and started to lay out my different grind patterns to visualize what everything's going to look like.

Stay tuned for more vidoes and pictures as we move into the final stages of prototyping and the beginning of production.  

-Will

Orions almost sold out! A BIG thank you to my customers!

Hey All,

  I just wanted to post a huge thank you to my customers; after reviewing my current inventory I found that I only have a few Orions left.  With the model nearly sold out, I'll be moving intoproducing framelocks full time.  You may still custom order an Orion until the model is sold out and I also have a few complete knives in stock, however after the last Orion leaves the door I will not be making any more balisongs and discontinuing the Orion model forever.
  If you're interested in ordering an Orion, please contact me at willmooncustomknives@gmail.com.  Thank you again!

 -Will

Moon Framelock Build Day 6: Inlay Milling

Hey All,

We continue with the sixth day of the Moon Framelock build.  After angling the surface of the handle at 1.8 degrees, we used a roundover bit to round all the corners of the handle.  This leaves the surface perfectly smooth with an even roundover throughout, and mates up with the bolster roundover perfectly to leave a smooth hand feel.

Next we've started to mill out the inlay area.  Originally the idea was to mill a small and very intricate crop circle design, however it turns out to just not be feasible.  The tool for routing out the small inlay area, a .018 carbide end mill, was just too delicate to function sucessfully with titanium, so the inlay design has been redesigned for a larger insert.

The inlay on this first knife will be flush fitting orange G10.  By milling away the titanium in the handle and inlaying it with G10, not only is the knife a little more aesthetically appealing, but it also saves about a thrid of an ounce, not a lot, but enough to matter.

-Will

Moon Framelock Build Day 5: Flat Handle Milling

Hey All,

Today marks the fifth day of construction on the Moon framelock build.  With the gutting of the blade channel complete, the side profile of the knife could be milled along with the initial rough roundover of the handle, which is all done via CNC.  Here's some photographs of the handle starting to take on its final shape:

Notice the pivot hole and blade stop holes are already cut.  These are recesses for the heads of the screws.  Unlike most makers, I use a kind of shoulder bolt for both my pivots and stop pins.  Most knives on the market today use pins held in by pockets in the frame or held in place by small machine screws.  By using bolts that thread into the frame, I'm able to increase the strength of the pivot assembly by almost three fold over friction held and stop pins.

After profiling around the shape of the handle with a 1 inch carbide mill, you can now start to see the rough outline of the handle.  Note the blade/flipper channel towards the pivot side of the knife and the small, barely visible lanyard hole on the top of the knife near the butt.

With rough profiling done, it's time to start the edge roundover.  Using a 3/32nds roundover mill I can CNC round the bolster area.  This keeps the knife nice and comfortable in the pocket and in the hand, insuring there are no sharp edges where there shouldn't be. The rest of the handle will be rounded over once the handle side bevels are milled at their proper 1.8 degree angle to mate perfectly with the existing roundover on the bolster.  

More to come...

-Will

Moon Orion Standard SN19: Evolution of a Knife

Hey All,

I wanted to take a quick moment and show off my latest Orion, number 19, and also talk a little bit about some of the changes I've made to the model over the course of the run.  I've found over the course of this run of knives that there are some small changes that I could make to the knives that would make them perform better, look better, be more comfortable in hand and just be better knives in general.  These are things like a more radiused handle contour, long plunge lines, convexed tips, enlarged finger choils and (not shown) polished internals and washers.  Little things like these go a long way in turning a mediocore knife into something first rate, and they're things I've learned with this model, being my first higher quantity knife.

SN19 incorperates all of the latest changes down to the screw, and really is the most perfect Orion I've made to date.  I spent a little time learning how to do proper plunge lines with a certain NC native knife maker (wink) and the results really shine on this knife.  Likewise I'm really happy with the overall cleanliness of everything on this knife, the grinds, the satin flats, the polished handles, the gold spacers, everything works well together.  Likewise the action on this knife came out increadibly well.  I fit the knife four times until I was happy with it, time well spent.  The payoff is a knife with a glass-like action and absolutly no play in the handles without having to use bearings.

After sharpening, I murdered some old shop manuals and packaged it up, ready to ship out.  If you're interested in this Orion, feel free to send me an email to inquire, WillMoonCustomKnives@gmail.com.

-Will

July 28th Update

Hey All,

I wanted to follow up on my earlier Blog post with a little good news, as of today my girlfriend has been moved back home from the Neuro ICU and apart from some slight nausea and discomfort around the areas of the IV insertion has made a full recovery.  I wanted to thank everyone for their emails and concern, we appreciate it greatly.  In any event, this also means I'm back to work on knives for folks, I'll be finishing up three Orions by the end of the weekend, another Boker Epicenter rescale, some homemade mosaic pin inlays and continueing progress on the framelocks.  Thanks for the support everyone, have a great weekend!

-Will

July 24th Update

Hey All,

I wanted to post a late July progress update.  I've been waiting on tooling to properly proceed with the framelock build, but the first knife's handle is roughly half done.  Once the processes are all worked out, I should be able to mill the knives at a fairly good clip.

With regards to the Orions, I'm nearly done with the run of knives.  I have enough parts for five more knives and then the model will be sold out.  I can definitively say it's not a style of knife (that is to say, the balisong) I will be revisiting in the future.

Service-wise, I've made a point to start doing same-day shipping on all items.  I truly appreciate every person who does business with me, to that end I want to offer the fastest and most accurate service I possibly can.  To all my new, existing and returning customers, thank you so much for your business and for letting me earn your trust and support, it means the world to me.

Lastly I do have some bad news: last night my girlfriend suffered a brain aneurism and is currently being hospitalized.  There's bleeding on the surface of her brain, reason currently unknown.  While I've made a conscious commitment to speed up delivery of custom work, my first priority right now is my girlfriend's wellbeing.  I've already notified those customers who may be affected, it shouldn't add any more than a couple days to the timeframes I've given, but regardless I wanted to make it known.

-Will

Moon Framelock Build Day 4: Prelim Frame Milling

Hey All,

I wanted to post the first few photos of the milling of the first framelock.  I just drilled the lanyard hole for today, unfortunatly the frame pocket mill I have is too short and the spindle of the CNC mill is bottoming out on the framelock pocket so that's as far as I can go until I get new tooling for the job.  So far tho, I think the lanyard hole setup looks good.  Here's some misc. shop photos from the build, enjoy:

Above are all the steps for the milling of the handles.  There are seven setups, the first two are single tool processes but the rest of the setups have around 8 tool changes on average.  This doesn't count the setups for the pocket clips and blades, which are also milled.  On the table you can see some of the titanium billets laid out and ready to go.

Here's one of the billets bolted into a fixture and ready to go into the milling machine.  This particular fixture is a 1.5 inch piece of 6061Al that's meant to hold the titanium frame facing upward for the routing of the pocket for the blade.

Here's a handle billet being routed on the bottom for the blade pocket.  

-Will

New Knife Completion: Moonglow Spyderco Lum

Hey All,

Today I was able to finish up another custom job for a Spyderco Lum Tanto with full Moonglow scales.

For those who don't know or are unfamiliar with Moonglow, it's an awesome acrylic material that glows in the dark.  No, I didn't invent the stuff (although it's a question I get very frequently because of the name coincidence), and there's some confusion as to the difference between my glow in the dark inlay and Moonglow.  Moonglow is an acrylic that comes in sheets, it's sold commercially although its tough to get.  It contains a glow in the dark pigment which is evenly distributed throughout the material.  I also use a mixed glow in the dark epoxy for some of my inlay work, it's a very different beast from Moonglow tho.

In any event, I always wanted to try out Moonglow scales on a few Spyderco models including the Lum, so I carpe diem'ed that sucker and opportunity added some glow in the dark scales.  I also polished up the liners so the glowing scales would reflect and add a little extra brightness to the mix.  The results I couldn't be happier with.

-Will

Quick Mods: Pocket Clips

Hey All,

One quick mod that's requested suprisingly often is the addition or change of position of a pocket clip to a knife.  It's really an integral part of any modern pocket knife- if you intend the knife for EDC, you need a pocket clip.  I know there are guys who get by without, but in my personal opinion, it's mandatory hardware.  If you are looking to add a pocket clip or flip the clip to a different position, I now offer the service for 30$ plus return shipping.  The only requirement for the clip flip is your knife really needs to have steel liners or scales in order for the clip to anchor properly.  I can add a clip to an all G10 handle, but it requires the addition of a steel subscale for an additional cost.  The timeframe for these mods is quick, in most cases I have folk's knives back to them within the week.  If you have any questions about the clip addition or flipping service, feel free to email me.  Thanks!

-Will

Moon Framelock Build Day 3: Tooling

Hey All,

With tooling in for the new framelocks, this week I will be able to start on the milling of the first framelocks.  This design has been in the works for about seven months, so I'm happy to see it finally start to come into being.  I wanted to show off some of the more exotic tools that we'll be using for this job, some folks may find it interesting anyway, and it helps explain why these kinds of knives can be so pricey.

Among the many carbide drills and endmills, there are some micro milling heads in the mix.  The last photo above is one such endmill, which is a .018 milling bit for milling the framelock cutout.  I'm hoping the bit lasts, it's proportionatly taking off very little material from the titanium billet, but I will need to flood coolant and feed like a sloth-extreme.  These kind of bits are astronomically pricey, so I've got to make them last.  I've also got some really awesome twisting taps for the pocket clip mount that should allow me to use the CNC to tap the frames.  This will be a big help, it insures it's done perfectly each time and reduces the chances of breakage.  Now to start milling...

-Will