Another Convexed BK-2

M

mac_heath

Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Messages
178
Eero's post on the drunk grinding accident inspired me to try convexing my BK2.

Adult beverages were imbibed, but not to excess. I'm not going for the high polish Eero's has. It's beautiful, but I just don't have the tools nor the skill.

Before:


I spent a bunch of time smoothing out the transition with a worn 80-grit belt. I dunked it in water every few passes, whenever my fingers noticed the heat. Afterwards, I ran it on a fresh 220-grit belt, and then some worn 220-grit sandpaper. Finally, I polished the grinds with a white ceramic stone and stropped them. I didn't touch the edge with the grinder, but I did pull back the secondary grind a bit with diamond stones, the ceramic stone, and the strop. Here's the end result.


Closeup, one side.


And the other.


How does it cut? It was great before, but I like it even better. I was able to process all the wood sizes for a fire lay. This is out of one log. When I batonned the first split, it exploded into two parts. I was able to get finger, pencil, and even shavings out of the log, with just the 2. It didn't shave as nicely as my 16, but those are still pretty fine slices. It really can do all.
 
I convexed my 2 awhile back as well but at least you managed to keep the logos on yours, mine got mostly ground off.
 
Came out great! I've wanted to do this to several knives but don't trust myself even after a few adult beverages to do it.
 
FalconerPhoto said:
Came out great! I've wanted to do this to several knives but don't trust myself even after a few adult beverages to do it.
Click to expand...

The beverages were consumed during my, "That's a great idea!" stage of the process. By the time I started grinding, they were mostly out of my system. If you want to do this, my advice is to go slowly and start from the spine side of the grind.

I tried to pull back the secondary grind on a 14 a few years ago, and started from the edge side, the blade is now noticeably smaller.
 
Charlie_K said:
Those chopping/cutting results can be had with the blade in factory specs right?
Click to expand...

From the factory, it batons really well. It's been a long time since my BK2 has been factory spec, so I can't really evaluate the difference in batonning. Two of the first things I did when I got it were to strip the coating and pull the primary grind back a little. It created better shavings after that. I also felt that the coating caused the blade to stick in the wood more, when I was batonning. In its current state, I think it shaves extremely well. Not as good as my 9 or 12, but still excellent.

About the only wood processing that I find less than optimal with the BK2 in general is creating pencil to toothpick sized fuel. The thickness of the blade causes the wood to split into irregular sizes. This isn't a problem for actual fire-making, but it irritates my OCD.
 
Nice job! I really like the convex blade on my 2. Better angles for shaving sice it's so thick kinda like you mentioned. Only drawback I agree is the logos disappeard a little.

Glad you did it slightly sober ;)
 
I'm getting a mighty strong urge to follow you guys and do this to my BK2. Mighty strong.
 
^I'm with you DerekH. These threads always make me want to follow suit. I'm going to try my best to resist the urge but this forum may see another convexed thread very soon!
 
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