Tanto Knife Prop/Trainer

thingiverse

Note: You will need two "pin1.stl" files because the knife requires two pins to hold the grips securely in place on the tang. The grips are exact mirrors of each other. Note: STL files have been updated for correct alignment on a bed. Although you may still need to rotate bladewithtang.stl to fit within your print area, printing it edge-up makes cleanup significantly easier. I designed this project to create a realistic tanto point-style knife and test the feasibility of printing in PLA, followed by softening the blade with acetone to make it safe for use as a trainer or prop for costumes. Currently, I am printing the model and will provide an update once I have tried soaking the blade in acetone. Update 2/27/18: After placing the blade part in an acetone vapor bath at room temperature for five hours, the PLA temporarily softened to about a hard rubber consistency, similar to that of an eraser. However, by the next day, most of the softness had dissipated. Notably, the acetone did not melt the PLA like it would with ABS, which is beneficial. Although the blade still feels hard, it does not exhibit brittleness. I am using Hatchbox PLA and speculate that this effect may be due to impurities in the filament itself. *I designed this model in the style of the ACB-90 knife from BF3 and BF4's boxcutter (aka), featuring cutting edges reminiscent of a backwards tanto.