Manufacturer:- www.shingcrafts.co.uk
Dealer:- www.shingcrafts.co.uk
Purchase Price :- Varies on spec. Knife shown £190 Full Ti handle version also available
Blade Length:- 100mm
Blade Thickness :- 4mm
Blade Material:- D2 Tool Steel
Blade Hardness:- 60 HRC
Handle Thickness:- 13mm
Handle Width Open:- 30.15mm
Handle Width Closed:- 35.6mm
Overall Open Length:- 240mm
Closed Length:- 136.8mm
Blade Finish :- Brushed
Edge :- Plain Edge
Handle:- Carbon Fibre / Titanium
Handle Finish :- Hand Rubbed matt finish Ti Side / Carbon Fibre Finish
Weight :- 176gm
Lock:- Titanium Frame Lock

Thanks to Shing for another great design. Also for the chance to buy one of the very first of his new Big Tough Heavy Folder designs.

I saw the very rudimentary prototype at one of the EMCCU meetings at Coventry. The difference between that and what we now have here is quite astonishing.

This is now the largest folding knife that I own. It really is like having a good fixed blade knife that folds up for safe and more compact carry.

Let make a start of what you get and what it is all made from.

The knife blade is made from D2 steel hardened to Rc 60 in Shing's own workshop. The handle is made from two different materials. The frame lock side is made from 4mm thick titanium and the other handle side is 4mm thick carbon fibre. This makes for a very stiff a rigid frame and also reduces the total weight of the knife by a large degree compared with more conventional materials.

After handing it round a few members at my local airgun club the first comment was how light everyone thought the knife was.

To quote Shing on the construction of the knife:-

'The standoffs are titanium with 4mm diameter T20 torx machine screws. The pocket clip is titanium.

The thumb disc is heat anodised titanium. The pivot is 6mm diameter stainless steel with T25 Torx head, the bushing is 9mm diameter phosphor bronze with phosphor bonze washers. The stop pin is 6mm diameter stainless steel with T25 Torx head, the sleeve is harden steel.'

The Torx screws on the pivot and the stop pin are hand made in Shing's workshop. He heated them up and pressed a torx bit into them whilst holding them in the lathe.

This is not really a pretty knife. But it a very functional one. The opening of the blade is so smooth I was amazed. I have some other well known makes that are not as good as this and this one is brand new. The ball bearing of the lock bar engages with a hole in the blade pivot to keep the blade from falling open from the closed position. It carries in the tip up position, although it is a large knife it is pretty comfy clipped to the pocket of my jeans. Just make sure you don't leave it there if you go shopping. It is easy to withdraw and open with one hand. Handy if you are working or holding something with your other hand.

The opening is performed by pushing on the titanium disc. I thought that this could possibly be improved by making it slightly thicker and knurling the edges to give a little more purchase for the end of my thumb. But it does work well and the colour gives the knife a little bit of bling.

The smooth opening is followed by an ultra solid lockup. There is Zero movement in any direction once opened. It really does start to become a fixed blade. The handle is large and although quite flat and plain is nice to hold. The balance point is on the stop pin, so your hand is normally well behind the cutting edge. But you can safely creep up the handle due to the small downward curve at the front.

The opening disc also doubles as a handy thumb rest when using the knife I again think a little more could be done with this idea. How about a flush Torx head screw on a thicker disc and some milled grooves for my thumb?

Lets get to the main point of the knife, the blade. What a blade this is is looks like Shing has nicked it from one of his bush craft fixed blades. I thought a 4mm thick blade would have no finesse and struggle to have a fine edge. How wrong could I be? The blade is ground to a fantastic profile and is very true and even. The secondary bevel is belt ground to a working edge. I as usual thought I would just touch it up on the sharpmaker to see how easy it would be to sharpen the D2 steel. Very easy as it happens. The edge is now so sharp that just one very careful pass over my calf removes all of the hairs.

With the amount of steel in the blade it should easily outlast most users lifetime needs.

The blade shape is a spear point and should be good for many tasks. It is probably good for heavy cutting tasks but I don't think that I would want to batten any folding knife, no matter how good the lock is.

To close the blade the lock bar must be moved across. This is nicely notched to give a good grip. The 4mm thick titanium has also been milled out to allow the lock to operate properly and not require a super human strength to open it.

I was not sure I liked the shiny finish of the carbon handle slab. The knife is shown as it came from Shing in the photographs. But since taking them I have had the knife to bits and used some 1200 grit wet and dry used wet to flat off the finish on the handle. It is now not as shiny but still looks good. I think some of the more wild carbon weave designs would have a lot of potential on this knife. I am interested in seeing the full titanium version as well.

When I had the knife in bits I did notice a large No.1 written on the inside of the carbon slab. I wonder if this is the first of these that Shing had made? If so I'll count myself as very lucky indeed.

I have recently had the chance to look at a second BTHF on a BB passround.

See below for the pics.

After my first Shing knife I made a suggestion about a locking version. This really has exceeded all my expectations. I did not think I would like such a large knife. But it really is superb and one of my favourite blades. I think a slightly smaller one will be in the work soon. I cannot wait.

Manufacturer:- www.shingcrafts.co.uk

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