There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Please let us know if we are going to see a similar pattern of knife after knife excellence with the Gavko colabs as well...I need to take out a home loan for my growing knife collection.
Also asking because I'm probably in for this, but want to take my time deciding which to get if there are no limits to individual styles
I happen to be carrying my Falcon today, and the smaller size is what I like about this one anyway :)
I was going to use that credit to help convince myself to join in for the Orca.....but last night I had to order new rotors, pads, and tires for all four corners. I have to decide in the next couple of days if I'm doing shocks and springs at the same time, while it's all apart anyway..... So... Yeah... I guess I'm passing on the moku ti Orca 😞
I was hard on the fence about hitting the $300 mark on a pocket knife already though
With over 350 sold already, would really love to get an answer on this sooner rather than later?
It's between the plain and the circuit board in grey for me. Not really interested in the tech sabre.
And I finally picked up a 120vdc power supply so I can do my own anodizing 😁 Still experimenting with it, but i think I'm getting some pretty cool results so far. Solid colors are easy and consistant. Playing around with sponges and stuff for patterns and have a few ideas to send to the vinyl cutter for a couple of my current knives. I like the idea of the circuit board on this one, but I think the pattern is a bit bold, and not sure I'll like the feel of the grooves, if I go plain I might try a similar theme on the flat surface with finer lines
Next up, i need a tumbler, so I can do these 2 tone weathered finishes as well
Eek. I'm up to 32 knives bought here in the past 8 months lol (plus 4 or 5 I've bought elsewhere since getting back into this hobby as a result of finding MD)
32?....I’m having a tough time keeping up with the Kaviks!
I’ve been looking at OTF (Out the Front) knives lately, but I’m afraid if I bought one it might just end up being a cool, expensive letter opener. Benchmade OTF are over $300. They seem way overpriced for what you get....just like Integral knives seem way overpriced to me.
Lol don't try keeping up, it's a sickness, not something to aspire to 😜 That said, it has been tapering off lately, and I do have a few i should try unloading instead of hoarding ones I didn't love
Integral has some interest for me, but I'm not sold yet at the prices. OTF just doesn't pique my interest at all for some reason
Personally, I'm just making myself a color chart with bits of titanium wire I strung up. Tedious and time consuming, but better for me as a visual reference than just keeping notes of what voltages for what colors
I saw a guy clip the negative side of the power supply to a spoon, and place the spoon into the solution, and someone commented that a steel spoon is a bad choice because it will affect the anodization process, and that the guy in the video should have used aluminum as the conductor. Have you found a difference in what type of conductor to use, whether it’s steel, aluminum, copper, etc?
I have a solid titanium golf club head I was going to try, but I'm just using the method of a stainless steel bowl with the negative clipped to it, a strainer inside to avoid contact with the piece, and the whole thing set in a larger plastic bowl to keep me from touching the outsides (in addition to big rubber gloves, i have no desire to feel 120v running across my chest if I touch both somehow)
Larger surface area is good too, so I roughed up the inside of the bowl with sandpaper to increase surface area
I do use titanium wire for connecting the positive to the piece though, never letting the positive clip touch the water, so it doesn't corrode
Of course I'm kidding you twit. On the other hand, when one references a video, common to the interests of the audience at large, particularly when attempting to make or prove a point, it is both customary and polite to leave a damn link to the video you are referring to!!!
So while I can't prove that you are lying, YOU have proved that you are incapable of providing that link, and therefor you have also proved that you are unhandy when it comes to computers--and that's nearly as bad!
Here you go. Literally the first thing that came up when I typed "anodizing titanium" into YouTube
;- )
PS: don't lie about cats.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ggqb5B3i0
We look forward to hearing you acceptance speech at the Oscar presentations this coming March!
This is the one I got: TekPower TP12001X 120V DC Variable Switching Power Supply Output 0-120V @1A, Digital Display With Back Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PX90PIU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_43SIBbFNSSCDK
Not cheap at $140, but far from the high end of the spectrum. Hoping it holds up as long as the higher end ones
It's the same brand as my buddy has in a 30v unit, he's been using it hard for close to a year for etching steel, and it's still running strong
Oh, and for the love of god, will you please use your cool guy connections and finally get me a BBM?!
Lol i get your point though
Cliffnotes for that one: I don't love the overall design myself, but the manufacturing was spot on for that one
@DougFLA123 not yet, still taking my time trying to decide between the two milling styles. The Buc is my favorite so far and I'm definitely getting one of the two in green and gold.
It looks like maybe the Tech Saber is blasted like the blue Buc and gray Crux, while the Circuit Board looks to be smooth like the bronze Buc and blue/bronze Crux.
Also the Grampus looks like a variation of the Lion, which is an awesome beater knife and I bet the Grampus is just as good.
I'm actually a real big fan of the green with bronze undertones (as seen in pic #9)...but I didn't love the boldness of the circuit board pattern in the end. I think they should've offered that as a color choice on the plain. I think that will end up being the base colors for mine, with some main design piece worked into it on the flat
Now I just need to buy a vibratory tumbler too, to create that same aged/weathered look LOL
@Gunnersmate2Have fun man, and share pics. But above all, BE SAFE! These things get into lethal levels of electricity. Be sure to understand and follow reasonable safety measures 👍
When you made the anodized strips of titanium “necklace”, did you buy the titanium in strips or did you buy a piece of titanium and cut it into strips?
18ga 25ft for about $11 It's annealed grade 1, so soft enough to just cut and shape with pliers. It's the same wire I'm using to make hooks to lower the piece into the water
But yes, I have used the Whink rust remover to prep surfaces, and to strip previous anodization attempts, if going for a matte finish. You can also do things like scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad for a more satin/brushed finish. You can wet sand and buff for polished finishes. Sand blasting, paint stripping disks, wire wheels, rock tumblers.... All these things can be used for different effects, I've barely scratched the surface on the different methods I want to try
I'll be investing in a cheap tumbler and a dedicated buffer soon myself
I might try a larger diameter wire wheel, or using the lathe instead of the press for a lower speed and more control. And might also be easier to control the amount of scratches if I plucked the wheel a bit so there are way fewer wires hitting with each rotation. But, again, just as a proof of concept, it has potential for a different effect then the usual tumbled look I think.
I think it'll be worth starting with a new wheel and "destroying" it by cutting out about 3/4 of the wires, but keeping the rest straight. One of my biggest issues was the wires that were splayed out around the edge of the brush would hit and grab at the edges, or leave unpredictable, curved scratches instead of nice, controlled, parallel lines
Then again......maybe just a hand held wire brush would be easier to control than a wire wheel
My sister has a Cri-Cut machine. I had her make me a vinyl cutout of the Kizer logo to try something on the Alter Ego, but I haven't settled on colors yet, so I haven't tried
You have to think a little differently though. Higher voltage will color over lower voltage, but lower won't color over higher. So, say you want a purple (65v) handle with a gold (11v) smiley face in the middle of it (don't quote me on those voltages, I'm not home where my anodizing stuff is)
You would do the whole handle on the lower voltage first, 11v Gold. Then you would mask off (cover) the area you want to KEEP gold, then do the whole thing again at the higher voltage, 65v Purple and it will color everything that isn't masked
If you wanted the opposite, 11v Gold handle and 65v purple smiley face, you would still do the lower voltage first on the whole handle, then mask off everything BUT the smiley face, and dip it again at 65v
Of course, this is where it starts getting to be problematic, masking a whole handle with curves and edges and getting ZERO gaps
So, you could use a vinyl/electrical tape mask you make to cover just around the area to get a clean pattern, then use something like nail polish to paint the rest of the handle
OR....... You could switch things up completely. Use the bath method to do the whole handle for the base, then change over to....I don't know what to call it, so I'll just use the term "painting method"
With a bath the water is negative and your piece is connected to the positive. To "paint" directly onto a piece you connect the positive directly to the handle, then connect the negative to a wet sponge, or qtip or whatever, and you can control where it touches, vs dipping the whole thing
Here's a screen shot to better explain. This guy is etching a maker's mark in steel, with a template cut out from tape, but it's the same concept:
Still a multi step process, which explains the additional cost of those models... But yeah, no masking required
I'll try to find some time to do that in the next few days