My first 'project' Becker....Input is welcomed

T

TheKnifeWhisperer

Joined
Aug 3, 2012
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I've got a few Beckers now, but as soon as I got this 9, I knew what I wanted for it. It was used, and there were a lot of scratches in the coating. So... after a little research, and a LOT of elbow grease...BAM:

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Now, while I'm happy with it so far, I don't consider it done (are 'projects' ever done???) The biggest thing is the imperfections in the polish. Lots of swirls, still some deeper scratches from previous owner...etc. Basically, this is the best I could do by hand. And when I say by hand, I mean completely by hand. Started with 200 grit, and just went finer and finer, stopping at 2000 (wet). From what I can see, the next step is to find someone with a power buffing wheel and use that to get to mirror. Here's a decent close-up:

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Also, handles are an obvious choice in the future. I'd like to make those also, so my plan was to carve a scale in balsa to the shape I want, and then spend a silly amount of money on some exotic wood that I can't even pronounce. OR make some micarta, if I can come up with something that suits my tastes. After that I'll probably buy one of the horse hide sheaths I see around, because there is no way in heck I could come close to the quality I see out there.

That's it for now. Comments and suggestions are always welcome, go easy though, it's my first one!
 
Looks good man.
SS hardware is a must.
Are you going to keep the thumb ramp or grind it off?
 
I like the thumb ramp. If I get a dremel, I may make the indents crisper. But to me, and for how I use a large knife, I need the ramp.

Oh, and definite yes on the SS. That will come after the scales are sorted out.
 
Looks nice. I've tried to shine up a few knives with sandpaper too. I wish I could find something above 2000 grit.
 
Looks great I think that is the first BK9 I have seen polished. Took me forever to do my 11 I can imagine your cramped hand lol.
 
Great work, that looks awesome.

If those scratches really bother you, the best way to get rid of them is to start over, with a lower grit and not move up to the next grit until all of the scratches are gone.
Also, 3M makes polishing papers, that work very well, if that is something you may be interested in.
 
That looks awesome man, I can just imagine how good it will look with some new scales mmmmmm. Love me some 9.
 
cbwoods67 said:
Great work, that looks awesome.

If those scratches really bother you, the best way to get rid of them is to start over, with a lower grit and not move up to the next grit until all of the scratches are gone.
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Yes. I sand in one direction until the only scratches left are from the sandpaper. When I start on the next grit I try to move in a different direction so that I can see which scratches are which.
 
bigghoss said:
Looks nice. I've tried to shine up a few knives with sandpaper too. I wish I could find something above 2000 grit.
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Toothpaste. Not a joke. I know of a guy who polished the paint on his tiny show airplane using a case of toothpaste and a car power buffer. It's about the mildest abrasive you can find.
 
cbwoods67 said:
If those scratches really bother you, the best way to get rid of them is to start over, with a lower grit and not move up to the next grit until all of the scratches are gone.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The ones shown came from the early stages of coarse abrasive. Think: valleys in the metal. Using a fine grit or buffing compound would only serve to make the tops of the mountains smooth and do nothing to eliminate the valleys. You'd have to take the metal (mountains) down to the lowest level of the valley to make it smooth. As bigghoss said, change directions when you change grits so you can tell when the previous grit's scratches are eliminated.
 
That's just pain beautiful! Polished blades look best with nice woods, or a good micarta. Can't wait to see the next step. Thanks for sharing!
 
Appreciate the advice. I didn't see those deep scratches until I took the picture. Already gone back to 400 once and stepped my way back up. I think that this particular blade is done with polishing, and needs to move on to the next stage. It may sound crazy... well... actually it won't to beckerheads! But, I'd like to have a set of polished knives. Like an 11, a 2, a 9, and a Machax. So I'll move on to another blade using different techniques, and if the next one is that much better than the 9, I'll either re-do it, or sell it, and start from scratch (pun intended..)

Thanks guys. I like the idea of varying the directions. I was sure that each grit needed to be circular, but I guess not.... Found a video of a gent wrapping his sand papers around wood and doing all grits the same way. He used water the whole time too. BUT... in the end, there was a huge buffing wheel. It seems there's no way around it. If you want mirror, you need the wheel.
 
Seeing it up against that old leather.... I wonder if it's possible to make a leather scale set? hmmmmm sure would look good. With bronzed hardware. I'm liking that.
 
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