Titanium Lego and Knives

TiVault™ Available (24 Hours Only)

Making Knives With CNC

​Over the last few weeks I've been focusing on knives.

The key word here is I (as in me). The reason I say this is because we have a couple of products on pre-order ...and a couple of products that are late in shipping.

​The rest of the cnc team (well, okay, ​​there are only two of them - Yngvar and Quentin) continue to catch-up with this other work.

​I use the machines in the evening and weekends to develop the knives (yes, plural, more than one) ...and actually start the production of them.

Actaully, on that note, I managed to run this knife scale overnight ...which was kind of exciting to be honest. I hit "cycle start" at around 10pm ...switched off the lights ...and left the workshop.

Came in to a nicely machined scale:​

​The next stage for the scale above is to snap the tags of that are holding it into the frame.

I'll then sand the tags down on the knife grinding machine ...and then sand both sides of the scales.

What I've been experimenting with is making a different left-side scale every time. Here are some of what I've done (some are screw-ups that I have to throw out ...and some are good and will be offered for sale soon):

Here's both the left and right scale:

​And here's what the knife is currently looking like (the blade is a work-in-progress obviously :-D)...

The "Floating Detent" Mechanism

​Knife Availability

​Fr​amelock Knife and Updates

First a couple of updates (and then I'll get onto the recent developments on the Magnatron™ flipper knife).

Pocket-Tweezers Update:

​The Pocket-Tweezers (if you're waiting on them) are almost finished. Yes, they are late as you are aware, but we're getting around 15 of them made every day right now and they are going very well. Around this time next week they should all be finished and shipped (or at east be ready to shipped).

The Writing Set Update:

​This project is almost there. The cases will be finished in the next couple of days. The buttons for the pens are finished. The springs are finished. The clips are finished. We are just waiting for bodies and tips only from my machinist. Once we receive them it is a fairly fast process to take them from raw to tumbled and then assembled. I don't have a timeframe yet as I'm waiting to hear back from my machinist.

​Onto the knife...

​The Magnatron™ Knife

​You​'ve probably seen this knife already (I believe I sent out an email about it over the holiday season).

​It was around 95% finished - but now it's at least 99% percent finished (just a small tweak or two on the CAD model before I make the first few ...which are already sold).

​Here's a NEW video showing the Floating Detent™ mechanism in action:

​"Behind The Scenes" Making This NEW High-End Titanium Flipper Knife (PLUS Your Chance To Own One Of The First Second 10 Builds)

Here's the thing:

​The original friction folder knife I showed you was going to be around 300USD.

​This NEW framelock is literally 10-times the knife ...and it's going to be offered for less than twice the price of the friction folder (may as well get the subject of price out the way now).

​I will confess to you:

​ALL the machining of this knife was done by me. Yes, we have a couple of genuine machinists in the workshop - but that is my "baby". 😀

​Don't get me wrong though...

​What you're about to see is really not that pretty - certainly compared to the final, finished result. Hell, it can even get a little "ugly" ​at times - but I'm pretty sure you'll find it interesting (or, at the very least, appreciate the work that goes into making a knife like this).

​I started with a water-jet cut blank for the right-side scale:

Next it was time to machine the first part of the fixture for cnc machining (the fixture is what allows me to hold the blanks so I can machine the parts):

​The titanium blank is then screwed into the fixture for Op1 (this is machinist-speak for "operation #1" ...which means all the machining of the part in that particular position before it is moved to another position for the next operation):

​The first thing I do in Op1 is to face the top of the blank (this is because pretty much any metal you buy will have fairly large tolerances - i.e. if I order 6mm, then I can get anywhere from 6.1mm up to 6.3mm):

​Next I machine the small counter-bores at the rear of the scale. There are four counter-bores below - two for the pocket-clip and two for the back-spacer:

​The next stage is to machine the counter-bore for the pivot/bearing as well as the main pockets (to reduce weight).

You'll also notice I've machined in the pocket to accept the lock-bar insert:

​And that's the first operation done on the right-side scale.

Making The ​Right-Side Scale (Operations #2 and #3)

​With Op1 done it's time to move the part to the second position for Op2.

​Out of interest - this is what I'm looking at on the screen in terms of the 3D model:

​We move the part from the Op1 position into the Op2 position:

​The first thing I do is contour the various angled faces:

​I don't seem to have a photo of the rest of this part of the operation unfortunately. So we kind of have to skip to what is essentially Op3 (although the part has not moved ...I'm calling it Op3 because I had to clamp in the center and also remove the two end screws):

​Here's what it looks like just after Op3 is finished (and before I blasted all the coolant off):

​And here's what it looks like off the mill:

​And here's the final part after a bunch of hand-sanding (I was doing the sanding as I went along so I could see how the machining process was working and what tweaks needed to be made):

The process I'm showing you is fairly typical of the development of a product - although, with this knife, there are a number of parts that all have to fit and work together.

Now it's time ​for...

Making The Left-Side Scale

​This scale is quite a bit easier to make than the right-side scale because there is no lockbar or lock-bar insert pocket. Also, there is no pocket-clip to be attached on this side either.

​I cut another titanium blank and I also machine another area in the fixture for the various operations.

Next, I ​screw the blank onto the Op1 position:

​We then face it off and machine out the pocket (at the same time I also machine the main pivot, stop-pin and backspacer counter-bores):

​Here's what it looks like after Op1:

​The remaining operations are almost identical to the right-side scale (except they are the mirror image of them) - so I'll skip over them:

​Here's a comparison of the first scale we did (which is now sanded and tumbled) compared to the scale we've just machined:

​Now, before I continue...

​What you've seen so far is the first machining of the scales - so there are a load of tweaks to be made (dozens in fact!).

​For example:

You see the image above ...and you see the hole on the very bottom of the scale on the left? Well, that wasn't actually meant to be a hole. I screwed something up ...but, along with all the other tweaks to be made, it will be corrected in the next version.

A couple of other tweaks will be:

​-- The overall size (I'm going to make the knife 9% larger than it currently is)

-- Make the 'flaps' that hide the flipper tab (when the blade is open) a little larger

-- Experiment a little with leaving some machining lines in (for aesthetics)

The Blade

Here's something weird...

You'd think the blade would be the most "challenging" part of this whole knife - but it's not.

The reason for this is that I had done a LOT of prototyping of blades on one or two different knives I'm working on in the background. That process of getting the blades right has been challenging for sure ...but I'm now very confident in making blades.

So, because this is the prototype Magnatron™ knife, I just want to make a blade to make sure the aesthetics and flipping function are working. The technical side of the blade (cnc machining, hand-finishing, heat treating, etc.) is a process I know works with other blades.

Out of interest the steel I'm using on the Magnatron™ is Nitro-V.

Here's the machining of the blade (not going into too much detail here):

Pocket-Clip

​I was fairly sure the pocket-clip was going to be a little tricky - so I wanted to attack it before some of the other parts.

As with the scales - water-jet cutting is where it starts:

​I then machine the fixture ​for the milling operations (you can see it is the same piece of metal as the scales ...but just to the top-right):

​The pocket-clip blank is then screwed into position for Op1:

​This first operation was not too bad to do - here's what it looks like after Op1:

​Unfortunately, because I was concentrating so much on machining the rest of the pocket-clip ...I don't have any photos of the rest of the making of it (well, that's my flimsy excuse and I'm sticking with it!).

So we kind of have to just jump straight to the finished thing:

​You can see the machining lines in the above image are a little odd on the left-side. That's one of the the things I'll modify going forward (the design itself won't change ...but just the way in which the metal is cut away).

​I hand-sanded the pocket-clip and tumbled it - and here's what it looks like now:

​As you can see, the pocket-clip alone has a load of work that goes into it ...add to that the left scale, right scale, blade, back-spacer, lock-bar insert ...the cost to produce such a knife really skyrockets.

​Although I own a few nice knives - I'm only now really starting to appreciate why they cost what they cost. Making a full high-end titanium flipper knife takes hours of time on the CNC machine ...and then there is the hand-sanding, finishing, and on and on.

It's easy to see how a knife is in the $500 to $1500 range. It's really not fair to say, "it's just a knife" ...because it's really not. It's so much more!

​The Magnatron™

Let's take a look at where the Magnatron™ knife is currently at:

Firstly, the knife is around 95% finished. The most difficult parts are done (which mainly is figuring out how to machine everything and making sure all the parts play nicely together).

​Everything is Grade 5 Titanium ...all the hardware, etc.

The back-spacer is still to be machined and have not shown that here (the stand-off I use in the photos below is just a placeholder which I get the rest of the knife right).

Here's how it currently looks:

NEW TiVault (Just 36 Hours LEFT!)

​CNC Knifemaking

We've got some pretty cool knife stuff coming up over the next few weeks.

​Kicking it off is some CNC hard-milling of blades (I'll warn you now... it's not pretty to look at right now - but we're figuring the process out :-D).

First we start off with water-jet cut blanks:

​Next we heat-treated it (I never took the time to seal the foil bags properly ...so that's why they look so heat-affected):

​Here's some of the milling progress on the Horizontal CNC Machine:

​Here's an example of the finish (purposely leaving lines in there to then take them out later):

So, yeah, this is the "ugly work" behind making a high-end flipper knife. 🙂

...and I think that's all I have for you today.

​I've been carrying this wallet for a couple of weeks now ...and it's been working damn well.

Althought, to be honest, I've not used the front pocket for paper-money because here in New Zealand not many people carry cash (it's pretty much all cards here). I've only used it for cards.

​Titanium Spinner (Last Few Left!)

The 'TiVault™'

​Okay, so finally we can talk about the TiVault™!

The TiVault™ is 100% happening. The final prototype should be finished this coming Thursday/Friday.

​We've almost finished the final "key" for the TiVault™. Just have the tumbling process to go and it's done (but I wanted to update you right now ...so I never waited until the tumbling was done :-D).

Here's some of the process of the making of the key...

​​The water-jet cut blank:

​CNC milling of the water-jet blank into the part:

​Before and after of the milling of the key.

​The underside of the key (that triangle at the front "slots" into the the cap of the TiVault™).

​The topside of the key:

​So a couple of things about the "key:

#1 - I've designed it so it will fit onto your keychain along with your regular keys - it's 53mm (around 2") long.

#2 - I've given it a little bit more of a design "flair" than I typically do on products​. Usually I keep things super-simple ...but, in this case, it's just come together really well.

Like I said, the final prototype of the main TiVault™ body + cap is being done right now ...and should be finished at the end of the week.

​Now, the tricky bit...

I'm going to have to do a self-hosted crowdfund (or at least a pre-order) for the TiVault™ ...because, honestly, the material to make these is a tough one to carry in stock.

​Not only is it fairly costly for the material ...but I don't make any other products with 2" diameter titanium bar - so I need to know exactly how much material to order to make these.

Luckily I have a couple of fairly fast and reliable suppliers for titanium round bar ...so, once the pre-order ​is done, then it only takes two to three weeks to get the bar (although, I think Christmas might extend this a bit).

One last (important) thing...

​The window to order your TiVault™ will only be open for something like 48 or 72 hours - and then I will close it (probably until next year ...but, hey, maybe never again ...because that has happened with some products in the past).

​The reason for limiting it is because I'm going to buy exactly the amount of 2" that is required - don't want to hold any extra in stock.

So, yeah, keep an eye out for an email in the next few days for the TiVault™. 🙂

​I have THREE things for you today...

Heads-Up For BLACK FRIDAY

​We've put together a bunch of special deals for BLACK FRIDAY for you.

Some of them will be pre-order ...but quite a lot of them are IN STOCK and will ship immediately.

​I will warn you now that we have a whole page of discounted products (many of which we've not had in stock for a while) ...but there are only one or two of each of them on average.

Some people will be disappointed - and I am sorry in advance if you miss it. There is always next year (but I doubt that's much consolation to you :-/).

Titanium Dominoes

​Man, this is something I've wanted to do for a long time!

In fact, I had a go at making ​some around 2.5 years ago (which I had just bought the CNC machine and was trying to get the hang of it).

​I made a video of me trying (and FAILING!) to make them and put it on my YouTube channel. And, amazingly, if you Google "titanium dominoes", then my video is the first result to pop up ...and it's called "Domino DISASTER!" 🙂

Long story short...

The business has evolved since then. We've grown. We now have two CNC machines and two machinists.

And so ​I've finally been able to have another go at the dominoes - and they've turned out pretty cool.

Here's some photos of the making of them:

​I'm going to offer these during the BLACK FRIDAY sale. While they will technically be a pre-order ...it's only because we're going to make them to order (so that will take a couple of days to do before shipping)​.

The plan is to offer them individually and you can choose the numbers (or "dots" more accurately) on each end. We will then machine your domino once the order is placed.

I might offer a whole set (undecided at this point) ...but, honestly, there is a lot of work in these (believe it or not there are two separate machining and tumbling sessions for each piece ...which results in something like 5 x CNC operations ...and 3 x tumbling cycles).

The reason I mention the work involved in them is because if a whole 28-piece set is offered, then it could very well be over a thousand dollars.

​The INFAMOUS TiVault

​If you've been following me for a while (and I'm talking about 4 or 5 years here)...

...then you'll be familiar with the "TiVault".

The TiVault was a concept I initially talked about many years ago. It's essentially a titanium cylinder with an end-cap ...but the ​main feature is that the end-cap can only be opened with a special "key".

​The reason I say it is "infamous" is because I've talked about a few times (and I get asked for it a lot) ...but I've never really taken the time to launch it.

The last iteration of the TiVault looked like this:

​The reason this time is different...

I've actually made the final design and prototyping should (hopefully) start next week.

There is some "bad news":

I'm planning to keep it really simple and only offer one standard-sized TiVault. I'm not sure if I'll make other sizes in the future.

Here's what the current design looks like (just in terms of proportions):

​We've not finalized the key design so that's missing in the above drawing.

The dimensions will be 45mm (1.8") external diameter and 74mm (2.9") external length.

And that's all I have for you today. 🙂

​Let's get the shameless self-promotion out the way first...

We're going to be offering some Black Friday deals for sure (because, let's face it, everyone loves a bargain ...especially if it's titanium! :-P).

​One quick thing...

​You're probably already aware that we do a lot of pre-order type stuff when we offer products for sale.

​We still have some of those going - but, for Black Friday, we've made a special point of having a range of products IN STOCK and that will ship right away. We don't have a lot of them... but they are in stock and they will have a ROCK SOLID discount.

Long story short:

​Keep an eye out for a Black Friday email from me (which, because I'm in New Zealand, you may receive on a Thursday evening ...because that's our Friday morning!).

NEW Titanium Bolt-Action Pen

​And with a MokutTi/Timascus pocket-clip option:

​I won't go into the details here because you can find everything you need to know about this new bolt-action pen by clicking here.

​A couple of things you may want to know though:

-- 100% Grade 5 Titanium (including the spring)

-- Machined entirely in-house

-- Super-smooth action (actually, make that ultra-smooth)

-- Slim and minimalist design (not 'chunky' like most other bolt-action pens)

​​Minimalist "Neck Knife"

We've been experimenting with making a pocket-size fixed-blade knife.

​The idea (hopefully) is that it's both a 'neck knife' as well as a knife you can clip on the edge of your pocket ...or possibly even your belt. But, mostly, the plan is for it to be a Neck Knife.

​Before I continue...

If you're not familiar with what a Neck Knife is ...it's a fairly small knife that you carry around your neck. Typically it has some sort of holder that it clips in and out of.

We're hoping to make the holder out of titanium (yeah, I know, just can't let it go!).

Here's some of the prototype blanks we started with:

​We've still got a bit of work to do on both the holder for the knife ...as well as the main bevel.

​We started out going the route of a typical knife (i.e. hand-grinding the main bevel) ...but decided we wanted to cnc-machine the bevel and (ideally) leave machining lines in there.

​Here's a look at where we're at with it (ignore the bevel ...that's very much a work-in-progress):

​My hands are not that big (but the small knife makes it look like they are).

The dimensions of the knife are...

Blade Length: 47mm (1.85")

Overall Length: 118mm (4.65")

...and I think that's it for today.

​A bunch of stuff for you today...

First up, found some titanium prybars! So let's talk about those.

Titanium Prybars

​These pry-bars were made a long time ago and I thought I had sold them all. Turns out there were some in a drawer in the store-room.

The "bad" about these is that they have the old business name on them (i.e. "Cogent") ...and not the new business name (i.e. "Magnus"). But not a big deal ...especially if you like bargains. 😀

Titanium Bolt-Action Pen?

​Here's what it will look like with the 2-56 titanium machine screw in it (this is what will hold it onto the bolt inside the pen body):

​Oh, one more thing...

​Unlike a lot of other designs/prototypes where I ask for feedback - this bolt-action pen is getting made (regardless of feedback). Yeah, I know, this sounds arrogant.

​But hear me out:

I own titanium bolt-action pens. I don't own every one on the market - but I'm familiar with them all. ​Most of these pens are pretty damn chunky ...some are so chunky that it's actually like trying to write with a bolt-action rifle!

​As you can probably tell ...I am not a fan of chunky. Slim and minimalist is what I like. But I do like bolt-action pens.

​I like bolt-action pens for ​three reasons...

#1 - Very simple and almost nothing to "go wrong" with the mechanism

#2 - The industrial look of the pen

#3 - Damn fun to fidget with (helps the brain when thinking about stuff)

​So I decided I finally want my own one ...exactly how I want it. 🙂

​I'm hoping to be able to use essentially the same body as the other pens I've made in the past - and so this is basically the bolt-action version of these.

​That Knife (...from the last blog post)

​In the last blog post I showed you a Friction Folder knife prototype we were working on.

​I asked for feedback and, oh boy, did I get feedback. It was tremendous to receive so many comments.

There was, however, a very strong theme across the comments (almost every comment in fact) - see if you can spot it:

​So yeah, YOU told me what you want ...and I have to listen to you. 🙂

​We've stopped development of that friction folder knife based purely on your comments. I really appreciate the feedback - thank you!

Truthfully, I'm not sure if we're going to continue with that knife (and make it a full-on frame-lock) ...or re-design a NEW framelock knife.

​We've definitely not "wasted" the development of this knife. We learned a lot with the cnc machining of the blade - we will use what we learned there for the next knife.

A framelock knife is not a quick-and-easy product. We can do it - but it's going to take a little time to develop it.

And I think that's about it for today.

​I'll confess now...

This is a long-ish post. Not only that, but it's 100% about a new friction folder knife we're working on.

I'm going to take you from the initial concept ...all the way through to the first crude (and admittedly barely functional) prototype.

The Concept

​First, a challenge for you:

​Go and search google and see what you can find in the way of modern-looking friction folder knives.

You may be lucky and find something. Or, quite possibly, you'll find exactly what I found ...which is to say ...NOTHING.

I looked on Instagram, YouTube, Google, ...everything. I found plenty of friction folder knives but they all seemed to be either a "classic" look or an "​traditional" look. ​That kind of look just isn't my thing.

Time to roll up my sleeves (or, more accurately, power-up the milling machine!)

So, as with almost everything I make, I'm doing it because I can't find the thing I want. No big deal - it's what I do.

The concept for this knife, if you've not picked up on it already, is a:

-- Friction folder
-- Modern/non-traditional looking
-- Fully cnc-machined

It's a fairly simple criteria. So let's get started...

The Design

​We actually started with the blade first.

We did this because we initially were designing a different knife ...but the scales (that's the handle part of the knife if you're unfamiliar with the terminology) ​were something we were having a problem with. it was a combination of a design problem as well as how it looked. We decided to give up on that particular knife.

But here's the thing...

The blade was really a ​great ​design (practical and a nice shape to look at as well) - it had a fairly aggressive look to it ...which is was we were after for this friction folder.

​Here's the blade blank (Nitro-V steel) fresh off the water-jet cutter:

​And, after a bunch of machining - it's looking something like this:

​The blades you see above were us proving-out the concept of the machined bevels to see how they would look and function.

​Next we tackled the scales:

​Blade Re-design

Before the blade and scales were put together it was obvious the bladed needed a slight tweak.

​This was because the plunge-line was a little too vertical (and didn't look nice with the rest of the knife). We re-designed the plunge-line and it really transformed the look.

Here's the before:

​...and here is the after:

(note: ignore the pivot hole and stop-pin slider differences ...they are not finalized. And also ignore the quality of the finish on the blade - it was an experiment)

​The (​early) Prototype

​We still have a bunch of tweaks to go - but, overall, the knife is done.

It feels excellent in the hand and is a fairly compact size (which was one criteria I wanted to hit). I think we've managed to make a fairly non-traditional looking friction folder knife.

Here are a few shots:

​I posted a few of these photos on Instagram a few hours ago ...and some of the responses were that it would be better if it was a locking knife (as opposed to it being a friction folder).

​So either a liner-lock or a frame-lock knife. Do you share this view?

If there is not much interest in the knife as a friction folder, then perhaps there is more interest if it was a frame-lock.

Would appreciate any feedback or such you might have...

​Right, let's get the bargains out of the way first (and then we'll get into the prototype stuff)...

​A quick "explanation" of the products I'm about to show you:

​I'm a bit of an all-or-nothing kinda guy. If I get interested in something ...then it typically becomes an obsession. No middle ground in pretty much everything. I know, totally flawed character traits - but it is what it is.

​Now, because of this all-or-nothing tendency...

I really don't like to have a little of something in stock. Having titanium products fully in stock is good ...and having no stock is good too (although I'd rather have stock).

But having just a little stock of something ...no. Don't like it.

​Long story short:

​The products below are almost out of stock - and so I kind of want them fully gone right now (some of these we won't make again ...some we will).

So, onto the sell-off bargains...

PillPots (22m and 28mm)

​Short Loop (both 22mm and 28mm available ...around 5x of each)

​Long Flat (just 22mm available ...6x available)

​Titanium Letter Opener (50% OFF!)

​​It's unlikely we make these again ...because they are VERY difficult to make.

​Also, let's address the discount on these. 50% off is huge. There is a reason for this. These letter openers have a small "machining issue". It's minor ...and it seems such a waste to have these sitting on the shelf.

​Here's the issue (see arrow):

​​Titanium Writing Set

​As I write this there are around two or three of these left (of the 50 Limited Edition that are available).

​These are not being "sold off" like the two products above - but ​there is still a MASSIVE DISCOUNT on them:

​Okay, that's the hot deals out the way - let's talk up-coming products...

​Friction Folder Knife

We're still at the blade stage of this knife.

The concept is a modern-looking friction folder. I'm hoping to have these available in the next few weeks ...but maybe that's a bit optimistic.

​Here how the blade is looking this afternoon (just took this photo 10 minutes ago):

We're experimenting with the main bevels of the the blade having the machining lines.

The above looks fairly "aggressive" I will admit. The line-spacing here is 0.75mm (0.03"). Right now, as I type this, the mill is running again on the blade ...but with a 0.5mm spacing (0.02").

​In the next blog post I hope to have more on this blade for you ...and well as something to show you on the scales.

​The 'Magnus Newsletter'

So this is exciting!

In case you've missed it ...I started the 'Magnus Newsletter' (a PDF you can download) ...and it already had 349 people sign-up to receive the first issue:

​This is the first issue (and so there is a whole load more room for improvement) - but here's the kind of stuff you'll find in it...

• ​"Behind The Scenes" on current projects(I reveal things here that no one else will see ...EXCLUSIVELY in this newsletter!)
• ​"How It Works" guides to different machines used in product production(it's not as geeky as you might think ...and gives you enough info to sound like an expert at the next party!)
  
• ​"Pocket Dumps" from real people out in the real world(and, a break down of what they carry every day and why they carry it!)
​...And a whole load more stuff! Not only that but it's emailed direct to you in an easy-to-read PDF format (you can even print it out if you want)

To receive the 'Magnus Newsletter' just enter your name and email below:

Current Production

​If you've ordered these folding tweezers already and are still waiting ...then they are not far away and will be with you soon!

​They are going well and coming off the CNC machine nicely (just a little later than I'd hoped ...so my apologies for that).

And I think that's about it for now. 🙂