Balisong Kit Input Needed -- Give us your thoughts

What do you like better sandwich or solid handles? Why? My thoughts are the solid is more "solid" and more customizable but is the little extra weight a major issue?

Would depend on just how heavy it was.



Tracy It would be very kewl if you did a small bali along the lines of a BM31. Add a clip and you have an awesome little customizable EDC bali. I would pick one up for sure!
 
4 - 5" CPM154 or ATS-34 spearpoint blade, carbonfiber scales, Ti liners, clip, and latch.

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The problem with channel handles(solid) is they have a tendency to scrape against the blade when being flipped.Sandwich construction is easier to prevent the blade rubbing against the handles.
 
I tend to prefer smaller knives so 3 inches is good for me but if 4 inches is better for flipping then doesn't matter too much.
 
Keep it plain and simple. 4inch blade in a weehawk profile. Stainless or TI handles in sandwich construction. This allows the maker to drill holes or add overlays ect. Add a latch that the customer could add or not, just have the starter holes spotted. I think that simple barrel pivots with washers would be good for beginners and there could be upgrades available like bronze bushings.

One thing that would be great is to add a pocket clip to the package.

What about just having handles available for those that want to make their own blades?
 
this is really good feedback gentleman. we can't do it all in one kit, but we can do more than one kit.
 
As the the solid vs. the sanwich handle construction, what you run into is that the toll. required to make the solid work correctly would make a kit hard.

With Sandwich construction, you have a little give in the open lenght that alows much easier adjuctment to take up that half though here or there. With the short forks on the solid handle, it's a lot harder to adjust the tention without distorting the parts.

Once you add some home brew teaking here or there the assembly is going to start out mediocure and have few places to go but down....

Tracy, PM in bound ;)
 
Would be very cool to have a kit that offers more then one type of blade.
Such as:
Wee Hawk
High Hallow
Bowie
Tanto
The person could buy the initial kit and then purchase the blade type they like. Might be an option.
I think you could try and keep the price down as much as you can by making most of the modifications for the end user.
 
we are now looking at 2 kits. One solid, one sandwich. Each will have multiple, interchangeable blades.
 
... We also expect them to be heavily customized and sold by many makers. ...

I could get in on that, so long as the price is low enough to make it profitable. Been doing it with those other bali kits for a while now. It's cost me more than I've made, but just so long as I come close to breaking even, I'll keep doing it. I would love to try something different.

Overall length should be between 9 and 10 inches. For me, that is a must.

As for blade steel, I'd want something easy to work with, inexpensive, with decent edge retention. Do we really need stainless?

As for handles, I'm thinking stainless liners, and let the customer choose from a variety of scale materials (or supply their own). Doing so would allow for:
1 Lesser weight.
2 Immediate customization.
3 The ability for a newbie to put together a good flipper without an array of power tools.
4 A variable price point.

Plus, while I've gotten pretty good at building hole templates, and I can drill through thick stainless all day long... Some days I'd prefer not to.



What do you like better sandwich or solid handles? Why? My thoughts are the solid is more "solid" and more customizable but is the little extra weight a major issue?

Perhaps, but it depends what you're customizing. Modifying things such as the washers or spacer material (for flipping dynamics) is a lot easier to do in a sandwich than a channel.

I put ball bearings into the other kits I put together. I can't do that in a channel.
 
these are still going to happen. we just had a bunch of jobs in front of them. We are looking at 4 to 6 different kits.
 
These are getting closer in the job que ...all things in good time...
 
What about a set of Ti handles with a blade with the tang end ready to go, but the blade being a rectangle so the maker can shape it any way they wanted? So heres the thought: 1 set plain Ti handles, 1 "ready to shape" blade, 1 latch, 1 complete set of hardware including pivots, screws, washers, stop pins and so on. Just a thought. I have the CAD ready. Just tell me when to pull the trigger! 2guns
 
What about a set of Ti handles with a blade with the tang end ready to go, but the blade being a rectangle so the maker can shape it any way they wanted? So heres the thought: 1 set plain Ti handles, 1 "ready to shape" blade, 1 latch, 1 complete set of hardware including pivots, screws, washers, stop pins and so on. Just a thought. I have the CAD ready. Just tell me when to pull the trigger! 2guns

pull...2guns
 
What about a set of Ti handles with a blade with the tang end ready to go, but the blade being a rectangle so the maker can shape it any way they wanted? So heres the thought: 1 set plain Ti handles, 1 "ready to shape" blade, 1 latch, 1 complete set of hardware including pivots, screws, washers, stop pins and so on. Just a thought. I have the CAD ready. Just tell me when to pull the trigger! 2guns


great minds.......... 2thumbs
 
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