Pimped User FPR BK-16 Tweener

[tjswarbrick]

Beckerheads,
I drew on the talents of a lot of people on this forum, and think I finally completed my BK16. At least until the "Beckerhead" micarta scales become a reality.

I bought the knife used - it had been stripped, convexed, etched, and blued. Had a workable chopper edge - useful, but not terribly sharp.
I thought I might use it occasionally on food, so I belt-sanded down the blade, scrubbed with scotchbrite and soap, cut a bunch of citrus, scrubbed some more, and forced a "new" patina with high-temp vinegar and lemon juice.
At that point, the blade was sharp as a bowling ball so I reprofiled the edge to 20 deg per side on the worksharp, and got the 1095 hair-popping.

I made some liners and stippled the PB grivory scales. That's in another thread.

I then set to work on the sheath. I read a couple threads on mods, and tried a few myself. Trimmed the liner, cut off some extraneous parts, stretched the strap, and voila!

That done, I thought I would make my own "mycrta" from brown and oyster burlap. I used the Bondo epoxy resin. I tried both waxed paper and saran wrap to separate the material from the press. Both adhered much worse than I expected, but I managed to peel, tear, cut and grind it off eventually.

I originally attached the handles with stainless screws, but what I really wanted was matching "aged" carbon steel.
I read of several ways to remove black oxide coating. CLR did nothing for me. Drano gel took overnight. Then I still needed to wire-brush them off. In the end, I'm happy with the outcome.

Finally, I tied my own brown and tan square-knot paracord lanyard.

Everything that could conceivably be cut with a knife in this project - sandpaper, burlap, kydex, plastic liner, sheath, paracord - was all cut with the 16.
Most of the grinding and shaping was done with a dremel, and finished with the worksharp.

After a bit of use, and a week lying in the garage - Here are the photos:

[daizee]

Cool!
I like the thematic colors.
Nice work on the lanyard.

-Daizee

[Jonny1280]

That's a good looking knife!
Looks like it's born to work.
I like the colors you used for the micarta.
Nice work!

[tjswarbrick]

Thanks guys.
This is how it looked with stippled PB scales and chocolate-brown liners.




I thought I was going to use the liners, but the mycarta turned out a little thicker without than the grivory was with, so they are in storage awaiting potential redeployment.
Peanut butter and chocolate was the inspiration for the theme, but mostly I don't care much for "tactical" black - and I wanted it to look okay with the stock sheath.

I really like the hand feel with the mycarta, and it seems to make the knife a little more lively in the hand than the zytel.

[wasatchdan]

Great job, Warbrick. The mycarta scales are pretty cool. That thing is now a serious user.

[CamH_16]

I swear I've seen this before, although last time that knife didnt have a lanyard...

[tjswarbrick]

I swear I've seen this before, although last time that knife didnt have a lanyard...

True, Cam, true.
Last time the sheath still had the outer pocket, too, and the screws were still stainless. I think I'm done with this one now. Maybe.

[tew3006]

That's a great looking knife! Nice job.

[Eero]

How did you make the hex bolt holes? Im working on some wood scales right now and my shop skills/tools are limited so any tips or advice would be helpful. Thanks.

[Critikill]

Looks great! I don't know if you where specifically going for a rattlesnake look, but to me it's a great theme between the scales and lanyard. Good job on that knife. Only suggestion I would make is put some kind of patch where the sheath pocket was to hide the cut canvas.

[TwinStick]

Great looking setup there.

[tjswarbrick]

Thanks guys.
I wasn't going for the "rattlesnake" look - I guess it just sort of came out that way. Glad you like it.

Eero, for the hex-holes, I drilled 'em kinda small, and finished them up with a Dremel straight-tip cutter (I don't recall which one - if you must know, PM me and I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.). I have the Workstation, so I locked in the depth, and worked the scale in a hex pattern, a little bit at a time, following the factory scale as a guide.
I only messed up one or two corners, and they came out better than I expected.
If you want perfect, I suggest spending some time practicing to get a feel for how quickly and how far to move the workpiece for a successful cut.

[ml100]

These are some of nicest looking micarta handles. Well done.