Militarizing the ENDURA… Profile MOD

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
1,048
Much like was recently done to the Delica where the profile was modified to closely resemble the Paramilitary 2… I have began to develop the Endura into a Military looking lock back.

It was a rather easy matter to overlay the Military profile atop the Endura framework. The fact that the curvature of both knive's spines being so similar simplified things greatly. In the CAD drawing below you can see the Endura stainless liner profile represented by the orange line. As with the Delica/Lil'Para profile modification this Endura/Military project will also require a small amount of the liner nose to be removed. That is represented by the dotted red line in the upper image.

w6ITgKw.jpg


I did reduce or shrink the Military profile slightly to closely accommodate the Endura's stainless liners. That will potentially impact the ergonomics and grip comfort… to what degree IF any will only be proven out by getting a prototype set in hand.

I'm presently working at machining a large backlog of requests… so this project is stalled in the design stage for the time being.

I have been digitally 'doodling' a couple of texture and color ideas though…


yfwv4DK.jpg


60DSopQ.jpg


LMYCA09.jpg


1w8GB6B.jpg


FWzUnlU.jpg


gYNvMnl.jpg
 
Just make a lockback Millie...






Sorry, thinking out loud.

Really like this scale btw,
AAB0B4F3-70BD-4F06-B8DA-520E5BCA7AFB.jpg
 
Last edited:
I don't want to encourage possible legal issues or put any knife users in danger of cutting themselves, but...

... since the PM2 has a finger choil and the Endura does not, I might suggest trying to enlarge the front part of the scale to actually allow a decent hold. This might possibly move the regular grip further back.

... or, maybe moving the grips forward and taking away the faux finger choil area of the modified scale all together.

Just some ideas. Personally, I like to have the blade closer to my hand when possible.
 
Here's a size relationship comparison of the Military and the Endura/Military profile mod… I did slightly pull the choil nose out to bury the Endura blade's lock notch corner within the scale profile with the blade in the closed position. Other than that a faithful profile mapping of the Military...

KFIjI2m.jpg
 
I agree that if one has the ability to straighten the spine for this mod… it enhances the resemblance…
GUSTUrs.jpg
 
It looks good. The only issue I can see is that the rear guard/pommel might cause a bit of crowding for those of us with large hands. One of the wonderful things about the Endura is that the handle allows room to move one's grip around, where the Military does not. So, from my point of view, the rear guard needs flattening out or something, or perhaps not so large. After all, it does not have to be exactly like the Military. However, once in hand, there may be a different opinion.

Edit: I just want to give this some perspective. On the Military, my hand is snugly against both the front and back guards with no room to spare. It is far more comfortable than the Endura, but there is less room.
 
I agree that if one has the ability to straighten the spine for this mod… it enhances the resemblance…
GUSTUrs.jpg

I see no need to mod the spine. You basically are taking the excellent edc thin blade of an endura and giving it one of the most comfortable handle shapes on a folding knife there is. I think that thos has potential to be the best EDC yet
 
I EDC'd Enduras Gens. 1-3 for years but switched to the PM2 when they changed the handle design of Gen. 4. I would definitely go back to the Endura with a Military style handle. Man, that would be a nice knife!
 
OK… here's the latest…

I machined a set of Endura/Military scales… but the ONLY frame I have on hand has a saber blade. Right off the bat I noticed the heavier blade had less spring closure tension. I'm using only two D-bolts to attach the scales and retain the back spacer… so possibly I'll need to pin the lower tang of the back spacer as they do on stock knives to get a crisper snappish closure. Minor issue that… but I would really like to test with a FFG blade.

As far as grip ergos and comfort... I find my medium size hand (I'm 6'2" but have average hand size. Never could palm a basketball.) fits the grip profile exceptionally well. That largish heel poses no crowding issues… nor does the heel of my hand fall off the butt. It feels terrific in a three finger or four finger grip.

I really like it already but I will be fondling it a great deal over this weekend to see if my initial impression changes with time.

This will most definitely be entering the lineup. I took a couple of photos with the GrindMod Delica/Lil'Para for comparison...

SOPn7sEh.jpg

j11EgcNh.jpg

0yDoWErh.jpg

qQBaeSlh.jpg

lsbzCRfh.jpg
 
Back
Top