ТехноБамбук [Technobamboo]

Coming across it for the first time in 2014...my first thought was "What a weird name!"  As usual, I was struggling with the translation of things read, piecing them slowly together. Months passed and this model really piqued my interest... It moved to the no.2 spot on my grail list. My list is short. No more than 5-6 items for the really "want" vs "I would like to have". Mindful this was at a time when even a production Shirgorov in the secondary market seldom pop up, Custom Divisions were hardly even heard of then, let alone seen.

One of the most talked about attribute is of course the changeable positions on the integral back half of the handle. It's subjective as I have seen comments on both sides. Frivolous? Gimmicky?

I'll leave that to individual opinion but my take is this... the designer, Dimitry Sinkevich has probably thought some individuals might want an overall straighter knife while some would prefer the ergonomics on a humpback handle. The latter preference no doubt has also been a signature of sort, going back to his other designs like Dark, Tetra and later the Cannabis and more recently the Poluchetkiy and Jeans etc.. Other knives that bear these traits would be the Mangalore II and what I perceived as an angular descendant to that, the DO flipper.. there's more but guess that's enough to bring home the point.

Having an adjustable handle certainly satisfies more people. Only problem, there's a grand total of 10 pieces ever made and two prototypes. From what I read.. the amount of time to produce one is the equivalent of 15 production knives at the factory. Guess that explains in part the limited numbers made.

More about ergo and adjustment of the handle later.

"Blade length 90 mm at a thickness of 4mm in the butt, Vanax 35 blade material (59 HRc). Execution of the axle assembly - double row bearings"

The above was taken straight off a translation of an official announcement of the specification.

Measurement of blade length is all the way from tip to the edge of the handle (aligned) to the centre-line of the pivot to get that 90 mm. Actual edge itself with the slight "curve" came up to 92 mm from my measurement.

Massive oversized pivots definitely adds to the visual but no doubt has a functionality for a certain stiffness needed in the overall construction.

Where is the Bear?

Almost seems trivial but maker's mark and other info engraved on the inside has also been my thing and that is one reason why I probably am more enthusiastic about the collaboration pieces. This one is no different, both sides facing each other like most of the others... (the recent Dr Death/ Mayo collab was a departure though with those on the outside). Here too it is a little different but a casual look at the usual lower inner side says there wouldn't be enough space at least for the designer's name and logo.. So at the top it is..








Each of these parts are custom milled and each knife comes with it's own brass key/ bit which only makes perfect sense as otherwise I would think those having it will be hesitant to ever tinker with the 3 position adjustment.

The positional changes are quite minimal both in picture and looking at the actual thing

Precision

When the knife first came, I was wondering about the groove on the insides of the handle. It became obvious as the positions were adjusted.  Looks simple enough but factoring in all the moving pieces.. the slightest bit of being off would be glaring and not to mention, the potential blade rub. To imagine the amount of time to get each one of these all perfectly aligned...

Not all Shiros I have come razor sharp especially the older ones. However the Vanax 35 here and my other recent arrival the Jeans collab, Vanax 37, are both pretty much up there in terms of sharpness straight out of the factory. I have never really used this steel and could not comment much. But from the initial observation and letting the edge of both knives ride across the thumb, I certainly would not want to apply too much pressure to test their cutting ability.

It's interesting that the steel type is not marked anywhere on the knife. For collaborations, again this is usually found on the insides of the handle. Yet on both of these Vanax blades.. Zilch, nada..  Hidden somehow behind those pivot plates here? Maybe..

My personal preference? Keeping it in the drop down position which gives the best ergonomics when opening the knife... It does make the handle a little shorter. Noticeable but not detrimental when holding the knife.

I'll let the pictures do the talking here...

Symmetry. Almost identical on both sides, saved for the lines milled onto the handle and of course the frame lock. Numbering is external and on the lock side of the knife. No clip, no lanyard hole either. Zen minimalism yet with an exotic techno air surrounding it.

Lock side is flat with rest of the handle when closed. I don't see this in too many knives and here is is perfectly reasonable to be so because if it weren't, the blade around the middle would be rather close, if not rubbing.

Bold and very pronounced jimping.. and lots of it, top and bottom of the tang area. Absolutely essential... apparent once it comes to opening the knife. Index front flip, bottom side thumb flip and 2-step thumb opening

The amazing thing lies in the action of this knife. Smooth actions, slick bearings, deliberate swiveling during open and close.. I have pretty much seen it all from the Shirogorov that been through my hands. Yet not one quite like the Technobambuk. Owing to the way it is deployed, no matter how you look at it, the leverage of such designs are not optimal. With a hard detent, it would be pretty much impossible to open smoothly. Too light a detent, as we all know the tendency of a blade to half flop and not get a full lock on is common. Or simply a blade can be shake loosed from the closed position.

Yet on the Technobambuk.. there is none of these negative attributes. Balanced. The MRBS in here certainly has a part to play, yet I would not overly factor the whole slickness of deployment to that alone. The accelerating momentum once it pass approximately a third from close pretty much ensures a very assuring lockout as long as the thumb and index finger is not in the way. I pinned it down to the pivot size for one and the relatively heavy blade .. or from what can be seen the weight distribution of blade weight that seems a little center to front bias.

In concluding, because of its rarity and possibly one the best knife I have at the moment, it would not likely be carried as often. yet the practical blade shape and the seemingly tough looking satin finish begs to be used without much potential to scar it up too badly. Well it remains to be seen what will be the outcome but whatever the case this would be one knife to be enjoyed for a long time to come.

And Dragons Gather... Introducing the IFS-20

Like the Poluchetkiy was the one knife that started my collecting journey.. this one CAD drawing on a screen was what started me onto the IFS-20 development as it unfolds..... staring at it for 45 mins to try and decipher what in the world was I actually looking at that time. Seems like any other knife design with a lot of words but I thought I saw something really unique and things never attempted before.  foto@snecx

Still in the midst of writing up my latest grail acquisition, another mega excitement surrounding edged things in recent months culminated in  awesome gatanhering with Snecx and his brother from Malaysia. Of course my resident knife guru friend, Koji-san would have to be present as well on this occasion.

Yes, for some who follow on Instagram... its the IFS-20.

Excitement doesn't even begin to describe it... We had been chatting for months and Snecx had shown me a number of things well before putting it out publicly. Being privy to all the development, the only thing remaining of course is seeing the real thing itself.

As luck would have it.. earlier in the week I was fortunate to receive an all time grail.. after a 20 month search.. something I never thought I would be able to get near, let alone own. The Shirogorov Sinkevich collaboration, Technobambuk.

Separated by time and conceived under very different circumstances, mindset and background, yet each hold certain elements in their lines and construction that I somewhat find an association. Shape wise and overall construction, up to now there hasn't been anything quite like the Technobambuk... An iconic knife which will definitely remain so, formed by the hands of arguably some of the best in the knife industry. The IFS on the other hand, I equate with the unveiling of a top notch supercar equivalent in the world of knives today. First time maker, unheard of, no prior background.. never mind, just let the knife speak for itself as more is unfolded...

Yet between these 2, I think the common thread is the kind of artistic thought process/ talent articulated into a piece of final functional art in the truest sense. Design and concepts that are refreshing. Not just another knife roving and striving to position itself among numerous ones already out there.  Even in the minutest feature, inexorable amount of time is spent to perfectly machine and fine tune during the final assembly. Many things seem impossible but yet they had been achieved respectively in both.

a sizing comparison in the hands

It would be difficult to explain merely by looking at pictures. Snecx has written quite a bit of info of each WIP posts on Instagram,  giving a certain amount of insight into those that have followed closely. Many are wondering why only 5 knives and pushing so hard on every pin and every bevel... There is no comparison out there as this is a one man show getting the parts made externally but stringent self QC to ensure measurements of everything he wants, down to no more than 5-10 micron tolerance in most nook and cranny of the parts. The time, effort and cost are prohibitive factors to churn this into a "production" knife with the full complement of all the bells and whistles.

This is as much as I can shortly summarize -- there are a ton of other technicalities he has mentioned which now escapes my memory on this "impossible" knife.

For my own experience on things CNC machined and having to fix up, precision was a lot more obtuse and forgiving. Only that having gone through tuning, dialing in setups and settings of various mechanical things, I was able to understand, extrapolating maybe by a hundred fold to appreciate the difficulty of this endeavor to create one's own "perfect" grail knife that doesn't have all the usual trappings found in various folders.

Curious as to why the Technobambuk, one of only two collabs that has 10 pieces made were produced in such limited quantity,  I searched out some past info/ comments on it. After reading, that is where I see the similarity. No, not within the knives themselves. Somewhere out there, there is a mention equating how the time spent for making each one is the equivalent of 15 production knives. And Shirogorov production knives are not the usual get off the CNC machine, quick touch up, into a box it goes to be shipped off kind of knives. There are several hours more put into it before each knife is considered finished and given the approving nod. Again I would leave more on the Technobambuk in my next article to espouse on some of the things I have observed to make it such a unique piece.

Back to the IFS-20. No screw, no tool. Designed and engineered such that taking apart and putting back requires no more than what we are born and evolved with.. 2 hands with opposing thumbs.  It sounds strange to mention it this way but that really is what it takes and a lot of those finger dexterity to get it right.

Disassembled with a sub-chassis, that holds some of the most intricate parts in it's fold. From a casual glance, it is much like a firearm would look like when taken apart. Precision machined parts are truly --- precise. Not merely some claimed tacticool blade vying for recognition as "I'm the next coolest kid on the block" kind of knife. To prove the point, everything is laid out bare in the video... right down to sharpness and a "field" disassembly demonstration.

It looks easy enough for the creator of the knife showing it here. Given a hands on step by step live tutorial, I still fumble over 50% in pulling it apart and cobbling back up. It is nothing like any knife I've opened up so far... and if I do make a claim of any sort, it would be opening up many knives in the past 2 years... many that most people would be too scared to pull apart.

 Specs?
Ok most time I leave these out as the information for most knives are out there somewhere. In this case it is a little obscure.. if it is not easy to judge, the IFS-20 really is almost the same size as a large Sebbie, in both open and closed form. Hence a blade length of 3.625" and OAL should be almost the same if not same. A tad slimmer in hand feel due to a straighter butt of the handle.

The name...IFS-20?  
It stands for Interlocking Frame System 20 where the number comes from the 20th prototyping giving rise to this final form.

Features
I am merely skimming on the surface for now as this probably won't be the only write-up. A more in depth and technical piece later on is needed to give a better understanding into the mechanism of this knife.

If the video was a little too fast or small.. here is an "exploded view" of all 18 components...

photo@snecx

The "keys" or pins are well.. key to holding up the knife together. Again to stress, it's precision, precision and more precision on each of these parts to get things right. They are also the parts where everything is pivoted or locked against etc without a thread to provide any kind of possible adjustment. Yet upon assembly, everything is centered up and would need to stand the test of time and usage.

photo@snecx

Each cutout and shape has a specific purpose.

A fully detachable and hence replaceable lock bar insert and shaped detent. While I don't think this is the first ever attempted.. at least on a shaped metal detent but it serves dual function as an anti rock lock mechanism...a two point blade engagement in a perpendicular fashion, keeping things snug. Clean and functional but quite a challenge to final-fit it right...

photo@snecx

Next comes the convoluted part that I was obsessed  to find out every detail- which was only revealed late in the progress. The spring tail latch locking backspacer keeping the integrity of the knife in one piece when assembled. Each section of the convoluted look is not for aesthetics as once in place, almost nothing can be seen. Again it's form following function, each in itself a functioning section for something within the knife, holding it together.

photo@snecx

Having avoided mentioning the pivot, I will admit that is because for weeks, it got me stumped on how it actually worked until a few key pieces were in place and I saw how thy fit together on the knife... There really is a fair amount of interlocking not only on the handle and sub-chassis main pieces but in these smaller parts as well. Since there are no screws, the fit and alignment has to be spot on.  The clip is another dual functioning part. As a clip and the final piece in the assembly to latch the rear up.

photo@snecx

Just to complete and show the other side of the earlier full open pairing...

There are a ton of things to question apart from it's seeming complexity like why asymetric sized washers instead of bearings. Why the need for a different detent etc.

After a long winding post, I'm not sure if how these 2 are viewed by now has changed for some. It is not easy with just titanium sandwiching a piece of steel and make it attractive and classy.  What I see really is how design elements and concepts have materialized into a final functional form without the need for extraneous embellishments. In fact simplicity of material reduces the clutter letting many of the ideas and design show itself which are composed very much of clean lines in both. There is nothing wrong with adding other materials like Damascus or Timascus etc but rather than add, in these instances it would detract from the intended visuals and masculinity of such designs. To end it... I'll leave an inverted pic over here.. further simplified to see the actual lines by removing the colors.

Flip your pivot

Since comparing the older round tang F95 with the newer angular one from awhile back, I realized that the round tang ones doesn't seem to be as stiff. This was maybe why it's shape was later changed as the F95 evolved?

Here is a pic from my earlier comparison...

Older F95 on the right.

The older knife has since been my edc. One problem was always it's centering. Seems that with less material to hold the pivot sandwich area and the lock pushing in from one side, the blade seem to get pushed slightly to the non lock side.

Torque on the screw can only have so much adjustment as it is pushing down when tightening and is on the lock side. The "pull" on the screw threads against the female portion of the pivot seems insufficient to me. A very common issue seen in various screw application. Size of screw head, contacting surfaces, thread pitch and screw size can all play a part in these matters.

Any over tightening results in a very noticeable binding... translated as a blunt draggy serrated feel when opening/closing. The other thing was it kept loosening up with every 30-50 or so flips. Tuning it the best I can and properly tightened down... the blade can be pushed with noticeable movement to one side when fully closed.

The standard method would be to apply loctite-- a thing I always try to avoid in my knives and it still certainly wouldn't solve that blade moving when pushed. There is a very fine line between no play and centering. With the pivot screw coming loose, it meant constant adjustment especially with the frequency I carry and use this knife. No big deal, most time it's just tightened back with a coin.

Pivot flipped

I accidentally flip the pivot on my Cannabis Real awhile back, only to realize that pivot adjustment was a lot easier and it help to smooth out the already slick action of that knife even more. The push-pull action on the screw thread of the pivot dawned on me while recalling to things I fixed on my bikes. Finally putting 3 and 3 together tonight.. I flip the pivot on the F95 tonite.



Bingo.. First, centering was a breeze just like the Cannabis Real. The tension adjustment just about "automatically"  fall in line as well. Gave it 50 flips.. Still dead centered. 70 flips.. slight twitch towards the presentation side now but slight turn brings it back to center. 3 sec adjustment and pushing against it when close.. no discernible noodly movement like before flipping the pivot.

Ok now maybe I am ready to stick a bit of loctite -- or  alternatively use the teflon tape trick.

About the "new" F95.. its actually an even older one that runs on the smaller pivot that has a set screw. I did figure out how to tune it. It's a little different from these newer (bigger) pivot Shiro uses now but will get to the tuning of that knife another time...


Update: 31 May 2016

Wind 1 -1.5 rounds , rub down a little with the finger and tighten the screw back on.

My preference of  Teflon tape commonly used in plumbing over Loctite for knives is simple. Both function to keep screw threads from unraveling. But the latter is a lot quicker to work with.. no need to wait till dry (you can don't wait for Loctite to dry too but taking it apart later is gonna be a PITA, especially with pivots where one side has nothing to grab onto and there comes all the heat gun and hair dryer to loosen things up)




Gave the knife a 100 or so hard flip. Nothing moves out of place nor did screw loosen this time. At this point I could probably flip the pivot back to its original orientation but then with the ease of centering now, I'm just gonna leave things as it is... Let's see another 2-3 months from now how things have held up before the next maintenance session.

TLC Time

And today....

Always suspected its an internal stop pin for the lack of an external visible one on this knife, the 100 piece collaboration, Tetra. But a pivot bushing! Wow! I certainly didn't expect that.. For all the Shirogorov I had.. this would be a first with such an assembly.. I was aware some of their knives were with bushing but never knew all the specific ones.

Next came the washer.. hmmm funny shape with a cutout.



 Simple enough to put it back eh... or so I thought... and good thing I have not 1 but 2 of those club shaped bits... to help counter torque as things start to tighten...

Some knives behave nice and will simply
center upon pivot and back screws being assembled back without much fuss. afterwhich it is just a matter of fine tuning  the pivot tension right. Anymore desired will most likely need a tweak to lock bar tension or mucking with detent ball and tracks etc.

Some knives are more finicky and centers well only when assembled in an open position

Only problem was  no matter which way I try, there is a horrible amount of play of the blade between the handles when screw was already tight and there is no way to over tighten with a bushing assembly.

Tried doing it with blade close, open in locked up position and open with lock pushed aside like in pic.. in a bid to keep blade centered before screwing in to tighten

Zilch -- and the blade will stay rubbed on non lock side as the lock pushes against it when closed.

Troubleshooting:

(a) washer is worn too thin and bushing is extended now as a result?

(b) over clamped when in the vice?

(c) washer somehow was dropped away from pivot hole when assembling?

Nope.. all was good and only lightly slotted the backend on the vice., hardly any pressure at all?

The play...

about to give up... thinking of the worse scenario is finding a way to send it back to factory... Something that I really dread.

Break!

Came home and took it apart again.. then I started to think if the cutout bit on the washer means it has to be fitted in a specific position.

Place them on and turn. Bingo! the Cut out fits nicely to the stop pin. As I slowly move the blade.. the entire washer is now rotating. Something that just doesn't happen with most washer knives!

Proceeded to put everything back together with the washer cut out positioned against the stop pin and tighten.

Bingo! Knife was back in order. Almost perfect and "self centering" as pivot tension kicks in.
As what was mentioned somewhere, bushing system can't be overtightened. The adjustable range of the pivot tension is really narrow after  the full assembly but yup, everything is back in order now.

Pairings

Knives are starting to flow in again after a couple months hiatus from hectic traveling and stemming from a little waning of one too many in the past year....

In fact was asking myself what exactly am I looking for anymore. Certainly most of the heavily ornamented knives, nice as they are just doesn't exactly appeal to my senses in a deeper way. Right up to this point.. I have remained timascus-less, no super conductor bits or most of the fancy colorful materials in general. Don't get me wrong, some can be really nice if done right. Like this piece from Michael or the Sevastapol from Sergey. 

Oh wait.. just a tiny piece of zircuti thumb stud on my GTC Plasma... yea.. that's about it I guess

Meantime while it may not be the usual "knife collecting mania.. I have to say there is something really exciting I stumbled upon... some Grail of Grail in the works and if the stars in heaven align.. I might just be the fortunate recipient of one.. Disassemble tool-less under 30 sec like a handgun, each and every part match with tolerances so precise, rooms for errors if there is are calculated to 0.00000000.... decimal places. I am quite certain it will be a knife the world has not seen.  but I must keep this confidential for now with all due respect to the person behind it..

Stiletto shaped... Collabs and collabs.. Unlikely twins
AE L40 and Russian Dr Death

Still staring at the world from my largely monochromatic lens... Simplicity and a combo that never grow old in my opinion. Or am I just color blind without even realizing my entire life :)

I have slowly introduce more Damascus steel into my collection.. the addition are subtle.  A piece here and months later another make it's way..  But it is just more than these steel alone. The makes, the design of the pieces themselves and how it can all fit within my collection...

A delight came with today's acquisition.. another splendid top notch work from AE Thorburn, a previously full custom L28 made available to me by another young friend. These two below are now in a genre that without n  intent  during the collection has crept up on me... gentleman folders or what can be considered to be. A very simply classy slipjoint is on the way now to join this pairing, all three will be matched up in sizing and colors. Unidentical Triplets ;)

sub 3.5" folders... not many in my collection till date. And these 2 are keepers for sure.

Knife Bag (Nasgul)

"Watcha looking at mate"

There comes a time when one can "justify" a little more indulgence with knives related things. This one took a while... about 3 months. No stranger to the work of this fine leather and accessories craft master as I already have the commemorative Banner F95 and another pouch from him.

Right after I saw Vadim's prototype. There were some adjustments on the dimensions to be made and I requested mine to have the Shirogorov logo on it. All is legitimate and of course it warrants a little more but is well worth in my opinion.

A "Shiro" knife bag for 6  to tote around to blade gatherings :)   Showoff!

Individual pouch and closures. Self explanatory, nothing really to add that isn't already shown in the picture.. The pouches are tight but that would also be due to the new leather hasn't gotten stretched in. Hence the bigger and thicker ones needs a little more effort to push in. Still, it's a one direction, butt-in first kind of slotting which means those with a lanyard won't fit. I don't see that as a flaw. Even if the pouches are bigger, I'll  be wary about the beads scratching up the knives. But to make the pouches really big and loose-- then the whole bag would have lose it's aesthetics...

The covers are nice... ensures none of the knives will be banging into each other when everything is closed up.

A little full-on view to give a good gauge of the size.. Buttoned up-- you can just walk on the street and for non knives people... none will be the wiser what it holds within. But I reckon most time it just stays in my messenger bag with the labtop or knapsack rather than walking around holding it. Nope, no straps or handle.. to keep the look clean and simple.

And it all started with that single knife sheath that is now permanently paired with my 95 Banner. Everything.. by my good friend Vadim, Nasgul.

Russian Dr Death

It's been up on the last couple of posts but guess it's time to pay a little more attention to details on this one...

Russian Dr Death. A Shirogorov collaboration with Tom Mayo this time. A first.
Any knifenut worth their salt wouldn't need any introduction to these 2 names and I'll try not to repeat information already readily available online on this. As usual, it's about what I see and in comparison with close knives (or as closely related).

My experience with Mayo knives again has been through the courtesy of my good friend Koji-san who has quite a few (and nice pieces) representing the maker's early work and of course there has to be a Dr Death or two in there.

The "new Shiros" with their slimline profile, characteristics which this collab has taken on makes for a familiar size feel to the ~"3.5" Mayos I fondled. Then of course there are those familiar "Mayo holes". However in many other aspects, it's also unmistakably loaded with lots of Shiro-ness, yet it's just not quite the same.

Milling skill challenge? A very fine line between make or break in matching up 3 of the holes on the lock side that is aligned to the ones on the presentation side.

The play on symmetry is very much evident on this knife. Moving from those aligned holes on both sides, the distal end of the lock bar matches the curved out ends on the handle

Over at the flipper tab, looking at actual Mayo knives, the tab is generally larger and forms a flowing line with the end of the handle when opened, which gives it an imagery of a guard as found in many fixed blade.  Here on the collab, that is given the Shirogorov take, distinct with their flippers - flushed and in line with the handle for a good fraction of the tab before the rest are exposed. You get only half a tab or less sticking out, like the NeOn.

To achieve that, the forward jimping section has also been shaped differently with a pronounced concave. Aesthetically it is pleasing.

Detent tracks are things easily bypassed and seldom given much of a look, yet it's one of the most important aspect in how smooth a knife's action will turn out.

However, the resulting action due to the ergonomics is quite different from the usual Shiros in my possession.  For now comments on the actions are reserved as the knife will need some more breaking in.

Lock up and centering is really great on this knife as far as these two aspects goes. The lock inserts are almost invincible, well hidden away at a casual glance.

Centering

A unique backspacer/ lanyard hole

This is really another one of those things that can be rather testing of tolerances ... any slight off in machining whether it's the backspacer, the handle width or tension at pivot end etc.. off centering of the tip will be rather glaring. Glad that this one here passed the test.

The angular rear have been stepped up  a little with the extended backspacer that doubles up to form the lanyard hole. It is not the first time something like this has appeared on a Shiro, offhand I can recall the 111 has something similar but half hidden unlike here.

The RDD also sees a full max out skeletonizing of the inners. This one seems a little more complicated than most of the inner millings seen so far on Custom Divisions. Owing to those signature Mayo holes and the need to accommodate around them. I am dying as usual to fully see the insides instead of just peering now with a flashlight :)

Another view

Looks like a cool template for some plastic injection molding to produce car remote controls? :)

As with all Shirogorov collabs so far, indication of steel type is always engraved on the inner side of the handle near the front  to keep a clean look on the blade.

I read that it runs on roller bearing and just assumed it would be SRRBS as DRRBS is only found on full custom work except for a batch of CD Hatis so far.

Here comes the mystery... the symbol is unlike anything encountered before and I have pretty much seen them all. As of this writing, I'm trying to find out what it is, definitely indicating some kind of  rod/ roller bearings but it's neither the usual SRRBS nor DRRBS...
(UPDATE 16 Feb 2016 -- the official answer from Shirogorov is roller bearing with steel washer plates)

Clockwise from top left: SRBS, SRRBS, DRRBS and MRBS.. so what's in the middle??

Comparison Trivia

Left to right: NeOn limited edition, Russian Dr Death, "Banner F95". Weight in grams 

Sized up with a F95

In the hand...

A little action