Home / Design Minds / We Knife Co. Streamlines the Flipper

We Knife Co. Streamlines the Flipper

November 17, 2017

We Knife Co. is tapping NS Edgeworks’ Simon Crafts for another unique design, the Slipstream. The mid-sized knife brings several new elements to the We Knife Co. lineup.

The Slipstream’s narrow profile conceals a sizable 3.5-inch cutting edge made from S35VN. The compound-ground drop point buries itself almost entirely into the sculpted and milled titanium handle. We Knife Co. assembled the blade with standard Torx hardware, a practice they first instituted on the Balaenoptera. An inline flipper and sculpted titanium clip round out the list of features on the Slipstream.

On top of visual appeal, the Slipsteam’s inline flipper brings two tangible benefits to the table. The tab doesn’t poke out perpendicular to the knife when closed, and it vanishes into the handle when open. This puts the 3.5-inch cutting edge in line with the base of the handle. Crafts, an engineer first and foremost, leveraged with the compound grind to make it happen. “I thought a hollow grind at the back would make push slicing easier, and a transition to the shorter flat grind at the tip would add strength and piercing ability to that tapered drop point.”

Crafts tells us he got the idea for the Slipstream from another We Knife collaborator, Elijah Isham. “[He] was talking about the benefits and drawbacks of designing a flipper with the [inline] tab, and he remarked that I should try it.” With that challenge in mind, Crafts set to work while also adhering to his own principles of design. “I want the lines and shape of the knife to be sleek, flowing, and have a visual and geometric approach,” he says. “The knife looks equally cohesive in both the open and closed positions, while also being able to be opened in multiple ways and with ergonomics in mind.”

> > Keep your folders awesome. Grab a Pack of 5 Microfiber Blade Sleeves for $8.99 < <

NS Edgeworks started in 2013 when Crafts got the itch to draw up some blades. “I started designing knives in CAD a few years ago because I was getting in to collecting and thought, “Hey, I think I can figure this out,” he tells us. This is his third design for We Knife Co., after the Cirrus and the Resonate and hopes to produce more. None of Crafts’ designs have custom origins. “I do not have a shop, and frankly, I’m not a knife maker,” he explains. “I’m an engineer with a strong background in AutoCAD and designing other things in an artistic way.”

Knife featured in image: We Knife Co. Slipstream

Related Items