Machined knife scales

[Nathan the Machinist]

I'll update this old thread. We produce scales in production quantities for manufacturers and mid-tech makers. We specialize in high end full 3D contoured scales.

If your tangs are accurate the scales are bolt on ready to go. If your tangs are waterjet there is a little clean up grinding to get things flush and smooth.

We produce scales in mostly micarta and G10. We can provide material or you can provide your own. Typical minimum quantity is 200 pieces though we will do 100 in certain circumstances. There is a setup fee and unit price with price breaks starting at 1,000 sets. If you're going this route it is best if you let me create the data. Waterjet is a roughing process and it works with crude data. But our scales are fully 3D contoured and machined on high precision CNC machining centers and any flaw in the geometry is visible in the finished work. A tiny intangency can result in a wrinkle when extrapolated into 3D. I have a degree in product design and 15,000 hours experience in 3D CAD doing high end 3D surfacing for plastic industrial design. Use this as a resource to make your finished work its best. A typical project starts with you giving me a handmade 3D prototype of your knife and you let me create both the 3D geometry of the scales that I'm going to make and the 2D DXF file the blades are cut from. This way everything fits.

 

[That0neGuy124]

I'm interested in getting some micarta scales made for my Schrade SCHF9. I would like them to be as close to the same dimensions as the factory ones. Let me know what you need in order to make them and how much they would cost. I'd love to see what you can do

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

I'm interested in getting some micarta scales made for my Schrade SCHF9. I would like them to be as close to the same dimensions as the factory ones. Let me know what you need in order to make them and how much they would cost. I'd love to see what you can do

I appreciate your interest, but this machining service is really more directed towards makers needing several dozen or hundreds of scales. The setup cost to make just one set of scales would be cost prohibitive.

 

[chainring]

Now THAT is cool.

 

[Leading Edge Fab]

Hey Nathan

Nice work, looks even cleaner in person.
Good to see you at Blade, hope you enjoyed the weekend!

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Hey Nathan

Nice work, looks even cleaner in person.
Good to see you at Blade, hope you enjoyed the weekend!

Hey Mark, it was great to finally meet you in person. I've very impressed with the capabilities of you and your shop.

I love going to the Blade show, and this year was especially memorable.

 

[SKYDOG308]

botched first post, please excuse.

 

[Brian.Evans]

Nathan, where can I send you a knife for you to give me a quote on 200+ sets of scales?

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Nathan, where can I send you a knife for you to give me a quote on 200+ sets of scales?

I had about forgotten this old thread. I posted this when I was first starting to offer scales production.

We're a larger operation now. The mill in that picture was replaced with a faster graphite mill and we've added a couple VMCs since then as too.

I still encourage folks to contact me for scales production if their quantities justify it. :thumbup:

Brian, I'll send you a PM

 

[Brian.Evans]

I had about forgotten this old thread. I posted this when I was first starting to offer scales production.

We're a larger operation now. The mill in that picture was replaced with a faster graphite mill and we've added a couple VMCs since then as too.

I still encourage folks to contact me for scales production if their quantities justify it.[emoji106]
Brian, I'll send you a PM

Nathan, I felt like an idiot when I noticed the original thread date. Regardless, I still would like to work with you. I am ready to move to production soon.

 

[Brian77]

Nathan, I also would love to talk to you about this... If not before, maybe at Blade? or email is fine... Thanks.. Brian

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Emails from this site are hit and miss as far as getting stuck in different spam filters. One good email I can be reached at is carothersknives at gmail dought com.

A good way to start any project is to contact me with details of what you're looking for. A picture, a few dimensions, the material and the quantities needed, and I can usually give a quote based off that. That is usually followed up with a phone call to discuss particulars and provide a little input on the best way to get started. There can be some hang-ups, so it's helpful to talk to me before getting started to shorten the learning curve and save you some grief.

Please be aware that typical minimum is 200 sets. Price breaks start at runs of 1,000 sets. Lead times can be as little as two weeks and as much as two months. We have 3 VMCs with different jobs on them at different times so lead times vary. If you have particular schedule needs it is good to communicate in advance so we can schedule.

Typical setup is $750 which covers 3D CAD, a drawing, DXF for the water jet, programming and a production fixture. Scales typically range from $15 to $30 per set. Very simple scales would save a few bucks and complex scales in fancy materials could be $50 or more.

We also do hidden pin, liners, inlay and wood, but the best value (and most common) is micarta and G10. G10 is about 50% more than micarta due to material cost and tool wear.