- Joined
- Sep 4, 2010
- Messages
- 2,899
Hey guys,
Just wanted to share the Becker that I finally got, a Christmas gift from my wife even. I felt like the 15 had "it," for what I was looking for, so on the list it went :thumbup:
Haven't used it much yet, but look forward to it as a utility, camp, & food prep tool.
I really like the size and weight of the knife, nice balance. I also like the handles more than I expected, the contours make it very comfortable, very secure in hand. Well, in my hands anyway.
Stripping it was easy, I needed:
Nail polish remover (acetone)
A fresh razor blade
Shallow, number "5" plastic bin
I had all of this on hand, so total cost: $0.00. I also had an exhaust fan & gloves, ensure you have proper ventilation & think about safety folks!
To start, I put the blade in the bin and poured in just enough acetone to cover the blade. The bin was propped at an angle to minimize the amount of liquid needed. Then I popped on the lid and let it sit for 45 min to an hour.
When I first pulled the blade out, I tried to scrape it with my Countycomm universal cleaning stick. Bad idea, it immediately started cracking apart wherever it touched the acetone. Wrong grade of plastic. Moving on to the fresh razor blade, I found that once I cut through to the metal, the coating peeled off easily. Obviously, using a sharp razor blade to scrape the coating off a sharp knife is a dicey proposition
, but I was careful and didn't have any problems.
It took some time to get all the nooks and crannies, but after about 15-20 minutes I had it looking pretty good. I figured that I would also be spending a fair amount of time with various grits of sandpaper to make it look pristine, but that can wait. For now, the rough look and grind lines don't bother me. I plan on letting it develop a natural patina anyway.
Next item on the agenda is some custom scales. Like I said above, the comfort of the stock handles surpassed my expectations, but I've never made any scales before and the 15 seems like the perfect platform to practice on. Probably will go with some micarta.
Obligatory pics:
Thanks for reading!
Nate
Just wanted to share the Becker that I finally got, a Christmas gift from my wife even. I felt like the 15 had "it," for what I was looking for, so on the list it went :thumbup:
Haven't used it much yet, but look forward to it as a utility, camp, & food prep tool.
I really like the size and weight of the knife, nice balance. I also like the handles more than I expected, the contours make it very comfortable, very secure in hand. Well, in my hands anyway.
Stripping it was easy, I needed:
Nail polish remover (acetone)
A fresh razor blade
Shallow, number "5" plastic bin
I had all of this on hand, so total cost: $0.00. I also had an exhaust fan & gloves, ensure you have proper ventilation & think about safety folks!
To start, I put the blade in the bin and poured in just enough acetone to cover the blade. The bin was propped at an angle to minimize the amount of liquid needed. Then I popped on the lid and let it sit for 45 min to an hour.
When I first pulled the blade out, I tried to scrape it with my Countycomm universal cleaning stick. Bad idea, it immediately started cracking apart wherever it touched the acetone. Wrong grade of plastic. Moving on to the fresh razor blade, I found that once I cut through to the metal, the coating peeled off easily. Obviously, using a sharp razor blade to scrape the coating off a sharp knife is a dicey proposition
, but I was careful and didn't have any problems.It took some time to get all the nooks and crannies, but after about 15-20 minutes I had it looking pretty good. I figured that I would also be spending a fair amount of time with various grits of sandpaper to make it look pristine, but that can wait. For now, the rough look and grind lines don't bother me. I plan on letting it develop a natural patina anyway.
Next item on the agenda is some custom scales. Like I said above, the comfort of the stock handles surpassed my expectations, but I've never made any scales before and the 15 seems like the perfect platform to practice on. Probably will go with some micarta.
Obligatory pics:
Thanks for reading!
Nate
