All About Pocket Knives

I took on an interesting project this past weekend. Surfing through online knife stores, I spied this new Microtech release of a Mandalorian (Boba Fett of Star Wars fame) fantasy Out The Front switchblade, for the unbelievably humble low price of only $727! Thinking to myself I thought, this looks a lot like a dressed up version of a Titan OTF switch, one of which has been sitting in my shelf for the past several years and cost a whopping $30. Then my mind went into action.

First stop was a trip to Hobby Lobby with a picture of the concept knife on my cellphone. I couldn't find the exact paint match I was looking for but figured these would work. Also picked up some Frog masking tape and various paint brushes, Hobby Lobby has it all pretty much. Arriving back at home, I realized my "Tahiti Blue" needed to be more green. Luckily I had some yellow car touch-up paint and kept adding a little yellow several times until I got to my desired color. I thought the accents in the picture looked orange, but now I'm thinking they're more red and might redo those parts.

Next I disassembled the knife but not completely. I left 2 of the 6 handle screws in to keep the action intact, not brave enough to actually go with a complete disassembly . . . yet. Taped up some parts holders and got to painting. First I put down a base of Platinum to cover the black thinking it would work better with my blueish frame paint. I also painted the screws Platinum and let everything dry overnight before adding the orange.

Over Saturday and Sunday, I put down at least 3 thin coats of paint, making sure there was ample drying time between coats. I also swapped out the 2 unpainted handle screws with painted ones late Sunday evening. Monday morning before heading to work I put everything back together, having let everything dry overnight. And here's the finished project, a good $660 cheaper than the concept, including original knife and supplies costs. I'm pleased with it and happy to have the savings set aside for other knives.

Comparison picture.

Great creative work redrider. Congratulations!

Maybe sell it for $500 ad save someone $227! Probably ought to throw in free shipping, for that.

Thanks guys, and good idea, Doc.

Trying to upload a video to YouTube, it's not cooperating at the moment.

Modified Titan OTF vid-

Working now.

samb1955 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:24 pm Working now.

I think I was using a Disney copyrighted word that was preventing my first upload.

Great work John! Looks just like you wanted it to! Congrats Buddy!

TPK wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:37 pm Great work John! Looks just like you wanted it to! Congrats Buddy!

Thanks, Tom! That's what we hill people call a West Virginia overhaul, no disrespect to West Virginians of course. #LetsGoMountaineers!

1967redrider wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:40 pm

TPK wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:37 pm Great work John! Looks just like you wanted it to! Congrats Buddy!

Thanks, Tom! That's what we hill people call a West Virginia overhaul, no disrespect to West Virginians of course. #LetsGoMountaineers!

LOL! I have heard that from my dad before!

Nice work John! Maybe we could go into business. I have one of those in red and black that needs to be converted!

herbva wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:35 pm Nice work John! Maybe we could go into business. I have one of those in red and black that needs to be converted!

Sounds good, Herb!

From past uses, I can say that Delta Ceramcoat craft paint is not very durable and scratches easily. However, it is real easy to touch up.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Nov 04, 2020 2:49 am From past uses, I can say that Delta Ceramcoat craft paint is not very durable and scratches easily. However, it is real easy to touch up.

Thank you, Sir! What paint would you recommend for durability? This is my concept knife, might make another using a tanto bladed Taiwan Lightning, which is shaped more like the Microtech, but also priced around $30 like the Titan.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 12:04 am

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Nov 04, 2020 2:49 am From past uses, I can say that Delta Ceramcoat craft paint is not very durable and scratches easily. However, it is real easy to touch up.

Thank you, Sir! What paint would you recommend for durability? This is my concept knife, might make another using a tanto bladed Taiwan Lightning, which is shaped more like the Microtech, but also priced around $30 like the Titan.

I noticed the picture above that shows the paints you mixed together. One is acrylic craft paint and the Toyota paint must be some kind of enamel with a solvent as it says it is flammable. Did these mix together OK? Maybe you have hit on a hybrid that will stick to what must be metal handles? The problem I had was the acrylic could be scraped off with the fingernail on the metal piece that I tried it on. Normally enamel would be better I think for metal. I use the same Delta Ceramcoat you show to paint my wooden mini decoys, and some of them have scrapes and scratches from handling. Make sure everything is degreased thoroughly to remove fingerprints. Also there are some very good spray paints for metal, like Krylon Fusion, which I used this past summer to repaint the outer face of the metal front door to the house.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:09 am

1967redrider wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 12:04 am

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Nov 04, 2020 2:49 am From past uses, I can say that Delta Ceramcoat craft paint is not very durable and scratches easily. However, it is real easy to touch up.

Thank you, Sir! What paint would you recommend for durability? This is my concept knife, might make another using a tanto bladed Taiwan Lightning, which is shaped more like the Microtech, but also priced around $30 like the Titan.

I noticed the picture above that shows the paints you mixed together. One is acrylic craft paint and the Toyota paint must be some kind of enamel with a solvent as it says it is flammable. Did these mix together OK? Maybe you have hit on a hybrid that will stick to what must be metal handles? The problem I had was the acrylic could be scraped off with the fingernail on the metal piece that I tried it on. Normally enamel would be better I think for metal. I use the same Delta Ceramcoat you show to paint my wooden mini decoys, and some of them have scrapes and scratches from handling. Make sure everything is degreased thoroughly to remove fingerprints. Also there are some very good spray paints for metal, like Krylon Fusion, which I used this past summer to repaint the outer face of the metal front door to the house.

Thanks for the info!

I picked up another Titan for around $30 with a black tanto blade just to experiment with. I got up the . . . courage . . . to take it apart. First I made sure the spring tension was released by firing it into the side of a wooden box from about 2" away. Removed the clip screw, then the 6 handle screws and, surprisingly enough, nothing came shooting out at me. (internal pictures attached)

Simple internal design and the blade just rides in a track. It would be interesting to attach a piece of Plexiglas for the handle to see the internal workings of the parts in motion. Looks like blades could be easily swapped out too. Put it all back together, reloaded the blade (just give it a good shake forward), it fires perfectly. Not bad for $30!

I changed the screw and trigger color to red, I think it looks better and closer to the Microtech colors.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:12 pm I picked up another Titan for around $30 with a black tanto blade just to experiment with. I got up the . . . courage . . . to take it apart. First I made sure the spring tension was released by firing it into the side of a wooden box from about 2" away. Removed the clip screw, then the 6 handle screws and, surprisingly enough, nothing came shooting out at me. (internal pictures attached)

Simple internal design and the blade just rides in a track. It would be interesting to attach a piece of Plexiglas for the handle to see the internal workings of the parts in motion. Looks like blades could be easily swapped out too. Put it all back together, reloaded the blade (just give it a good shake forward), it fires perfectly. Not bad for $30!

Beautiful conversion John! I prefer your build by a mile over the M/T, specially the dagger blade. I had to assemble a "Tomb
-Raider" OTF I received from China, and I was quite surprised how really simple the internals are, not much more than a track and a couple springs, SIMPLE! Congrats, yours looks great!

Madmarco wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 9:28 pm

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:12 pm I picked up another Titan for around $30 with a black tanto blade just to experiment with. I got up the . . . courage . . . to take it apart. First I made sure the spring tension was released by firing it into the side of a wooden box from about 2" away. Removed the clip screw, then the 6 handle screws and, surprisingly enough, nothing came shooting out at me. (internal pictures attached)

Simple internal design and the blade just rides in a track. It would be interesting to attach a piece of Plexiglas for the handle to see the internal workings of the parts in motion. Looks like blades could be easily swapped out too. Put it all back together, reloaded the blade (just give it a good shake forward), it fires perfectly. Not bad for $30!

Beautiful conversion John! I prefer your build by a mile over the M/T, specially the dagger blade. I had to assemble a "Tomb
-Raider" OTF I received from China, and I was quite surprised how really simple the internals are, not much more than a track and a couple springs, SIMPLE! Congrats, yours looks great!

Thanks, Marco. I recently picked up a Lightning with a stainless Tanto blade and another Titan with a black Tanto blade, along with the spray paint Olde Cutler suggested. Going to play around with their color schemes. Picked up some clear coat too, might try doing the "distressed" look on one of them. Supposedly a bag of gravel works perfectly. I forget who makes the silver knife.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 11:49 pm

Madmarco wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 9:28 pm

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:12 pm I picked up another Titan for around $30 with a black tanto blade just to experiment with. I got up the . . . courage . . . to take it apart. First I made sure the spring tension was released by firing it into the side of a wooden box from about 2" away. Removed the clip screw, then the 6 handle screws and, surprisingly enough, nothing came shooting out at me. (internal pictures attached)

Simple internal design and the blade just rides in a track. It would be interesting to attach a piece of Plexiglas for the handle to see the internal workings of the parts in motion. Looks like blades could be easily swapped out too. Put it all back together, reloaded the blade (just give it a good shake forward), it fires perfectly. Not bad for $30!

Beautiful conversion John! I prefer your build by a mile over the M/T, specially the dagger blade. I had to assemble a "Tomb
-Raider" OTF I received from China, and I was quite surprised how really simple the internals are, not much more than a track and a couple springs, SIMPLE! Congrats, yours looks great!

Thanks, Marco. I recently picked up a Lightning with a stainless Tanto blade and another Titan with a black Tanto blade, along with the spray paint Olde Cutler suggested. Going to play around with their color schemes. Picked up some clear coat too, might try doing the "distressed" look on one of them. Supposedly a bag of gravel works perfectly. I forget who makes the silver knife.

All really nice OTF's John, can't wait to see how you mod them! Can't help you with the silver knife, don't know who makes them either, but it sure has a sleek profile!

Painted up another OTF knife this weekend. This one is a Lightning (on the right) as opposed to a Titan (on the left). On comparison, I like the shape of the Lightning better, but it misfires occasionally. Could be because it's fresh out of the box and hasn't worked itself in yet. The Titan never misfires. Going to change the orange screws and thumb trigger to red also, I like the red better. Couldn't find red spray paint for some reason?

1967redrider wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:13 pm Painted up another OTF knife this weekend. This one is a Lightning (on the right) as opposed to a Titan (on the left). On comparison, I like the shape of the Lightning better, but it misfires occasionally. Could be because it's fresh out of the box and hasn't worked itself in yet. The Titan never misfires. Going to change the orange screws and thumb trigger to red also, I like the red better. Couldn't find red spray paint for some reason?

Very good look'in John!

Thanks, Mark.