After-market Modifications

B

Brian C

Joined
Jan 22, 1999
Messages
2,414
Did you ever get a special knife that you've been longing after, only to discover that it doesn't quite meet your needs? That's what happened to me recently with the purchase of a cocobolo handled Blackjack Archangel.

I like the look of chute knives & this one was a beauty. The knife was mint but there were, however, two problems that would have kept me from making it a user. First, the original sheath is a standard leather belt sheath -- not very secure & not suitable for discreet carry. Second, although the handle was real pretty, it was also very smooth & didn't instill a sense of confidence either on the draw or in handling.

Thankfully, both problems were easily resolved with a bit of work from two of my favorite artisans.
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Eric of On/Scene Tactical came through with one of his fine MCS sheath systems & Julie of CheckerMarx ( checkermarx@earthlink.net) worked her magic with an 18 lpi slightly flat top diamond pattern. Here are the results:

<a href="http://home.nyc.rr.com/bcknives/images/BJ%20Archangel-a.jpg"><img src="http://home.nyc.rr.com/bcknives/images/BJ%20Archangel-a.jpg" alt="BJ Cocobolo Archangel" border="0" width="111" height="77"></a> <a href="http://home.nyc.rr.com/bcknives/images/BJ%20Archangel-b.jpg"><img src="http://home.nyc.rr.com/bcknives/images/BJ%20Archangel-b.jpg" alt="BJ Cocobolo Archangel" border="0" width="111" height="61"></a>

Thanks again, Julie & Eric, for your typical great jobs.

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.

NOTE: My old PhotoPoint site is no more. Follow the "toys" link to my new site.

[This message has been edited by bcaffrey (edited 06-11-2001).]
 
Howdy Brian- Nice Knife- Where'd you find it & what's the blade length?
Bringing it to the NYC show in Nov?
Cheers-
Mike

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"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance" (Celtic Proverb)
AKTI# A000107
 
Hiya Mike,
I found it right here in the FS forum a month or so back. It's got a 5" blade &, sure, I'll bring it along for show & tell.
wink.gif



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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.

NOTE: My old PhotoPoint site is no more. Follow the "toys" link to my new site.
 
Axel, I've had several other pieces checkered by Julie in the past & I've always been satisfied with the results. I just tried editing an earlier post of mine on this subject to fix the picture links; however, since it is now an archive, the system wouldn't allow the edits. So, here it is again:
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The topic of checkering handles to improve grip has come up several times in the past. Since not everyone visits all of the individual forums, I thought this would be a good central place to share some info.

I first became interested in the idea when I came across the topic on the Spyderco forum. Sal had indicated that any of the stainless models should be able to handle checkering up to l mm deep if you avoid the pins and lanyard holes. Since I occasionally carry my Native II w/o clip & found that the slim metal handle made secure opening very difficult, I decided to give checkering a try. (The "Spydie drop" opening is not appropriate for all settings.
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) Here's the result with a 16 lines per inch (lpi) flat topped diamond pattern:

Checkered%20SS%20Native-small.jpg


While the shallow 16 lpi flat topped diamond pattern provides good protection against perpendicular slippage (i.e., across the handle) and did the job that I wanted it to on the Native, I found that it doesn't prevent back-to-front movement along the handle as much. Because of the Native's handle design, this is not a problem. However, anyone thinking about checkering to aid in stopping hand slippage toward the blade might be better off considering a more aggressive pattern. Your choices of pattern include how many lines per inch as well as how pointy or flat you want the pattern to be. It doesn't have to be entirely one way or the other. IMO, you want to strike a balance between retention characteristics and comfort in the hand -- i.e., fewer lines-per-inch and a flat top pattern will be more comfortable but offer somewhat less of a grip.

Here are a couple of others that I just had done recently. The one on the left is 16 lpi semi-flat top diamond checkering on the G10 handle of my RJ Martin Handiman. On the right is a 18 lpi slightly more pointy pattern on the black ivory (wood) scales of an Arno Bernard.

RJM%20Handiman%20handle%20checkering.jpg
Bernard%20handle%20checkering.jpg


I wanted to improve the grip on my Dozier Arkansas Toothpick but I wasn't sure if full checkering was what I wanted. Since a couple of my Nealys have had perpendicular grooves and one of my Bauchops has diagonal ones, I decided to try them on the Dozier. Here's how a 20 lpi semi-flat top pattern came out:

Dozier%20AR%20Toothpick-%20handle%20grooves.jpg


While I wouldn't want checkering, at least not a very aggressive pattern, on a heavy chopper like a khukuri, IMO it can improve both the appearance and functionality of smaller blades. Anyone interested in having similar work done can contact Julie at CheckerMarx (360-380-1903 or checkermarx@earthlink.net), tell her you heard about her here, and ask her to send you a sample with different patterns. Thanks again, Nakano, for getting me started and thank you, Julie, for some excellent work.
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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.

NOTE: My old PhotoPoint site is no more. Follow the "toys" link to my new site.
 
I got a REKAT Pikuni a little while ago with that new enhanced D2 blade steel, but did not like the thick edge. I sent it off to a good friend of mine, who flat ground it for me. Now, the blade is ground all the way up to the spine and even has a swedge that goes about half the way back the spine. Blade looks like a San Francisco spearpoint type of knife now. I am also considering grinding some of the pinky hook off, since it is now slightly handle heavy and considering that I will probably not use the lanyard hole anyway.

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
Danbo, your Pikuni mods seem interesting - any pix? Does your friend do these type of mods commercially? I have a piece that I've started to bring to a zero degree bevel by hand but it is extremely slow work. I have also considered sharpening the swedge on another piece or two but have been put off by the amount of manual work that would be required. TIA.

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.

NOTE: My old PhotoPoint site is no more. Follow the "toys" link to my new site.
 
I will scan it tonight and send you a pic. My friend has been making knives for about 30 years, but only part time. I had to talk him into doing this for me. He only ground the blade to 120 grit, but that finish seems finer than what originally came with the knife. I am not going to do any handrubbing on the blade. It is fine just the way he sent it.

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
When i got my Sifu the thumb-stud was so thin it really hurt doing some exercises.
I replaced it with one from Böker, the same that came at the Böker-Brend.
Also replaced the whole grip of my KaBar precision hunter, but only because i wanted it to hang from my neck. The grip was more useful before, just to thick for neck carry.
Pics are at the link in my signature.

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*so is life : hard but unfair*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~bigbore`s knives~
 
I like the look of the wrap you did on your KaBar precision hunter. Good job, Bigbore!

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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.

NOTE: My old PhotoPoint site is no more. Follow the "toys" link to my new site.
 
Hey Brian....

First off,, Thanks for the kind words...

That BJ is a really nice little blade..
I very much enjoyed working with it...

I do see your point on why you had it checkered...

The person doinging your checkering did a Wicked job...
I really like the look of the knife with it...

Anyhoo,, Thanks again and I'm Very Pleased that you are enjoying the sheath.
Wear it in good health my freind..
smile.gif


ttyle

Eric...

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On/Scene Tactical
Leading The Way In Quality Synthetic Sheathing
 
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