Personlizing My Mule Head

[kenster]

Before I even bought my Mule, I had plans for placing a Derlin disk in the head to customize it a little. Cmacclel had the idea of using Carbon Fiber and I decided to give that a try. Disk was cut in a hurry since I was anxious to see what it looked like.I will make a new one that fits better with cleaner cuts as soon as I figure out how this can be done. Never worked with Carbon fiber and it is wierd stuff.

Now, for your veiwing discomfort, here are some poor quality photos of the Carbon Fiber used and the lousy job I did.

Ken:wave:


Changes its look at different angles

 

[TxTroubleMaker]

That looks pretty damn awesome, Kenster!:thumbsup:

 

[McGizmo]

That's cool Ken! It looks like you have a hybrid weave there. Carbon and glass?

 

[Groundhog66]

I like it, I have a feeling we will be seeing more materials being used in the future. :twothumbs

 

[kiely23+]

looks great...:twothumbs

 

[Norm]

I like it, I have a feeling we will be seeing more materials being used in the future. :twothumbs

A nice floral print would be just dandy
Norm

 

[kenster]

Thanks guys! My Mule is getting Kensterized! I have some other ideas to personalize my light, as well.

The lens O Ring was a breeze with the extra slots in the head. :twothumbs I tried a Glo O Ring on the outside of the lens but it didn`t want to stay. Didn`t have one the right size to replace the inside O ring but I have some in the mail.

Don, here is a link to the Carbon Fiber sheet I bought on Ebay. There are other options & colors from the same seller. I only used a tiny dot from the corner of the 12" x 12" sheet so if you would like a piece to play with for fun just let me know.

http://cgi.ebay.com/yellow-CARBON-F...5230648QQihZ008QQcategoryZ47127QQcmdZViewItem

If anyone knows the way to cut this stuff clean & neat, can you... PLEASE TELL ME HOW?

Thanks :wave:
Ken

 

[Codeman]

Ken, You could hop over to either BladeForums or Spyderco's forum and ask Sal Glesser. They had a heck of a time with some CF-handled Delicas a few years ago with some of the polished CF, but they probably know some don'ts. The raw stuff seems less prone to chipping, but doesn't look nearly as refined since the patterns aren't as visible. The only chip-free polished CF that I've seen was on a Spyderco LCF Ladybug. All 3 of my C11LCF's have tiny chips around the holes. Apparently drill bits and polished CF don't like each other too well.

Good luck!

 

[kenster]

Codey, thank you for the helpful info and I may be able to do a search at those forums for Sal Glesser`s posts or threads for some tips. :thumbsup: But first, I have a couple ideas that popped into my head after waking up from a much needed nap. And no, I couldn`t see a regular old drill bit doing anything but making a mess of this stuff. The hole for the LED in this disk was trimmed out with a new sharp Exacto blade. That didn`t work too bad but it would have been easier and turned out better if I had cut the hole before I cut the disk itself to its small diameter. :green: Very difficult to hold that little sucker without slipping but I only cut off about half of one finger doing it. That finger always seemed too long to me anyway! :shrug: Now, it is easier to do this... :rock: But flipping that around is off. :sigh:

Ken :laughing:

 

[Norm]

Kenster a wad punch of the right size would make a quick and easy job of the LED hole.
Norm

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Very nice Kenster. Looks really "Bond" like with the CF. I like the raw look with the "guts" showing, but youre on to something with the CF. :twothumbs

 

[TranquillityBase]

Very cool Mr. double E...

 

[Rudi]

If anyone knows the way to cut this stuff clean & neat, can you... PLEASE TELL ME HOW?

Thanks :wave:
Ken

I'd try a diamond-faced core drill. Maybe with water to avoid the dust

 

[EricMack]

Really turned out nice, Ken! :thumbsup:

I'm still looking for the CF with the "Carnivorous Centipede" weave... :nana::devil:

EM

 

[Dutch]

Oooooo!! That's great! Verrry cool!

 

[McGizmo]

Ken,
If the fiber is yellow I would bet a box a donuts that the fabric is a carbon/ kevlar hybrid. Thanks for the offer but I have a bunch of fabric and epoxy and theoretically can make my own. I have yet to master a good high gloss finish though. Kevlar is a ***** to cut and it likes to fuzz at the edges. If you are working with an all carbon laminate, I found the secret is to keep the piece cold when you are working it and diamond grit does work well but other abrasives will do the job too.

Heat is the problem. The resin has a HDT (heat deformation temperature) that can be met rather quickly when you are drilling or grinding the material. Once the resin goes soft, you are trying to cut a very brittle material suspended in a soft gummy material.

WATER

I found with a good flow of water running over the material I could saw, file, grind and sand it very quickly and effectively. The cold resin also allows for a better shot at the kevlar but the edge and fiber fuzz is still a problem. The other nice thing about water flowing is no dang dust to get every where including your lungs!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I too have had an idea of a cosmetic type mask in a Mule. I want to do one for my wife but I lack the material. I think the best material for my idea would be some abalone shell which I don't have over here. I would like to do a mother of pearl disk. I have a diamond core drill for making the hole and then I think I can chuck the material up in the lathe and with good water flow grind, file or cut the disk down to diameter. I think the mother of pearl would look kind of nice and even provide some photon bounce. If I ever get around to it, I will post the results. Another thought I have but again don't have a good piece to work with is that of some type of stone or crystal. Ganderman suggested to me a couple years ago that a piece of meteor would be cool on a flashlight. I bought a few pieces off the internet but none are large enough and I think they may be electrically conductive so that would ned to be addressed. A nice disk of some hardwood like walnut burl would also be striking in there. As is, the Mule kind of reminds me of the original Boliva Acutron (sp) watch that had no face; you looked into the workings of the watch.

It will be interesting to see what faces some of these mules get!

 

[Kiessling]

I am with Norm here.

If you ever make something floral, soft and maybe even in rosé ... I'd take on in a heartbeat

bernie


P.S.: cool idea there !!!

 

[Dutch]

I use a continuous filament Kevlar filament thread for some of my sewing projects, and I use shears specifically designed to cut Aramids.

Even Kevlar thread will make short work of standard shears. Forget about using them on Kevlar fabric. They will dull quickly and this will make for a shoddy cut.

Dutch

 

[McGizmo]

Dutch,
I use spectra thread in one of my machines and I have used arimid on occasion. I mess with these materials in woven cloth as well. Scissors do get a workout!!! :green:

I recently purchased a pair of "kevlar scissors" and only time will tell but the guy I spoke with on the phone raved about these and so far, I am impressed!!

 

[Dutch]

Dutch,
I use spectra thread in one of my machines and I have used arimid on occasion. I mess with these materials in woven cloth as well. Scissors do get a workout!!! :green:

I recently purchased a pair of "kevlar scissors" and only time will tell but the guy I spoke with on the phone raved about these and so far, I am impressed!!

Robuso makes a great shear.

Spectra thread!! OOooooo! What diameter?oo:

BTW, I do have some stuff in the works for you, maybe I'll just have to use kevlar thread to bump up the cool factor a little!:naughty:

I didn't forget, just busy. I'm sure you're familiar!

Dutch