Skinny Sunday - Crucarta Paramilitary 2 Skinny Mod by Yours Truly

[traumkommode]

I used to have a girlfriend who thought my prioritization of comfort was a folly. "used to" is the operative word in that statement.

I don't really like palm swells, and although I've always considered the PM2 to be a comfy knife, I have been fantasizing about a skinny PM2 handle since I saw the skinny mod Para 3 train blow by. I waited a long time for this variation of the knife to drop, selected a specimen that had perfect centering and free-swingin', and then realized it had full liners and that the skeletonization would allow for grinding down of that palm swell.

So, I did it. And oh boy I'm glad I did:

Thanks for looking.

 

[DA170]

I've never understood the "skinny" mod for the Para 3! I have XL-XXL hands and the modification was uncomfortable in use! That being said nice work ...looks clean!

 

[stephenthesuave]

I bought my full liner crucarta for nearly this exact mod. Haven’t gotten around to it- and my plans are a little different (I’d like to shave the butt down a little bit if I can figure out what to do with the lanyard tube.) But thanks a bunch for the pictures. Looks awesome.

What grit did you take the liners to to make it look finished?

 

[traumkommode]

There's a guy on YouTube who did this mod too, I think he's also done the skinny mod to a regular frame PM2. He did a little to trim down the butt area on the inside of the handle:

I always wondered about that butt area too, even before this Crucarta release was conceived. There's 1/4-1/3 of an inch of handle that I don't think there's much that can be done with the lanyard tube, though, as it's the structural piece back there in lieu of a screw.

Finishing wise - I cut the handle hump down on a 60 grit belt, did a few passes on a fresh 80 grit, then 120 grit, then 220. 120 blends into the factory finish just fine, but it looks better so I just went all the way around to get rid of some of the waterjet cut lines and make everything uniform. 220 on the scale fronts, too. 220 has enough bite to round the edges, too, but 120 made faster work of that. I wanted to do a more radius-ed round on the edges like I see on some of the aftermarket micarta scales, but these factory scales seem a little too thin to do that. Now I'm thinking about putting black hardware on the handle... Oi!

 

[traumkommode]

What grit did you take the liners to to make it look finished?

See above... I wanted to add a couple things:

I leave the factory spoon clip in the factory position (right hand tip down) in general, but after doing the mod, the clip's curve now adds to the ergonomics of the knife. So to anyone wanting to try this, I would recommend doing so. My middle finger lands right in the valley of the clip when I grip it applicably. I've never preferred the deep carry style clips on this knife model but YMMV.

If I had this to do over again, I would disassemble the knife completely and grind the liners first, and then do the micarta scales most of the way and take them all the way by hand with sand paper once reinstalled... for several reasons.

 

[traumkommode]

Update - swapped the hardware for black, flame colored the clip and lanyard tube. Lovin' it even more now

 

[Orange 81]

I used to have a girlfriend who thought my prioritization of comfort was a folly. "used to" is the operative word in that statement.

I don't really like palm swells, and although I've always considered the PM2 to be a comfy knife, I have been fantasizing about a skinny PM2 handle since I saw the skinny mod Para 3 train blow by. I waited a long time for this variation of the knife to drop, selected a specimen that had perfect centering and free-swingin', and then realized it had full liners and that the skeletonization would allow for grinding down of that palm swell.

So, I did it. And oh boy I'm glad I did:

Thanks for looking.

 

[Orange 81]

I loved how yours looked and so I did mine as well and not only does it look better it made the pm2 my favorite again. I didn’t have the balls to grind a choil like you did on your blade without knowing how and what to use but that looks so much easier to sharpen. Love it!

 

[traumkommode]

I loved how yours looked and so I did mine as well and not only does it look better it made the pm2 my favorite again. I didn’t have the balls to grind a choil like you did on your blade without knowing how and what to use but that looks so much easier to sharpen. Love it!

Heck yeah! Glad it was inspirational. I ended up not being happy with the surface finish so I ordered some burlaps from RC Bladeworks and made a new set. It was fun (pictures for ogling below). Show yours off too if you feel up to it!

As for the choil, I just cut those on the edge of the belt on my 1x30" grinder. It can be a little hairy to try, especially to cut it that generously, but I'd say just go slowly and if you need to clean it up on the back side (ricasso side of the blade) that can be helpful for a "polished" look. I think most dealers who offer mods just use a round file and do it by hand, and it's a much smaller sharpening notch, rather than a full-blown sharpening choil like this (kinda like the geometry on a Sebenza blade).

 

[Ikhnaton]

Heck yeah! Glad it was inspirational. I ended up not being happy with the surface finish so I ordered some burlaps from RC Bladeworks and made a new set. It was fun (pictures for ogling below). Show yours off too if you feel up to it!

As for the choil, I just cut those on the edge of the belt on my 1x30" grinder. It can be a little hairy to try, especially to cut it that generously, but I'd say just go slowly and if you need to clean it up on the back side (ricasso side of the blade) that can be helpful for a "polished" look. I think most dealers who offer mods just use a round file and do it by hand, and it's a much smaller sharpening notch, rather than a full-blown sharpening choil like this (kinda like the geometry on a Sebenza blade).

Makes em look like happy little sharks

Sweet Sage 5!

 

[el gigantor]

Fantastic work OP! I have huge hands and although I can (barely) make a PM2 work, the palm swell is super uncomfortable. I dig what you've done here!

 

[traumkommode]

Makes em look like happy little sharks

Sweet Sage 5!

Thanks! That one was one of the most comfortable, smooth operating folding knives I've ever encountered. Those contoured scales (I'll have to go back and look up the maker, he's, like, one of only two people I've ever seen make scales for the Sage 5 LW yet - he dialed in a perfect profile and truly exceptional product. I ended up gifting that knife to a friend, and I miss it but I still see it every once in a while and I smile thinking it's still "in the family."

Fantastic work OP! I have huge hands and although I can (barely) make a PM2 work, the palm swell is super uncomfortable. I dig what you've done here!

Thank you as well! It was a fun challenge to take on... I had reshaped and rehafted the handle of a fixed blade where the scale slabs weren't removable, and that was a big challenge, so I had a little precedent when I set out to do this. I was pleased with it, felt like a big improvement. I've seen others do it with the normal PM 2 as well (I think all the models that aren't crucarta, the liners are slightly nested so when you grind it you're just grinding the scale and not liner.) Anyway, the in-hand feel was vastly improved in all grips with that slight tweak. Made me wonder why so many knives feature this for "ergonomics," but maybe that just means it's time for me to make a knife or else I'm just putting my foot in my mouth.

 

[Ikhnaton]

Thanks! That one was one of the most comfortable, smooth operating folding knives I've ever encountered. Those contoured scales (I'll have to go back and look up the maker, he's, like, one of only two people I've ever seen make scales for the Sage 5 LW yet - he dialed in a perfect profile and truly exceptional product. I ended up gifting that knife to a friend, and I miss it but I still see it every once in a while and I smile thinking it's still "in the family."

I don't have a ton of experience with folders, but the Sage 5 really is something to behold, Sal did an excellent job with this knife, I carry it everyday and have for over 15 months and am still amazed with how smooth and flawless it operates - if you get how to use the lock, it took a bit of practice for me to get a perfect open (when you can just "chuck" it open, with a small delay in sound between the knife clearing the detent and locking up completely) and a perfect close