- Joined
- Jan 25, 2000
- Messages
- 4,492
Well, as some of you know, I just received my BA3 on Wednesday. Mildly disappointed I was too. Almost sent it back to see what I could upgrade to. While I respect the purpose for what Busse products are made, I was really hoping for something a little more to my utilitarian likings. But, there was enough to like about this knife that I decided I had better see what could be done to make it better suited to my needs.
The first thing that had to go was the coating. I am just not a big fan of the stuff. Next, out came the grinder and a bucket of water. The blade received a full convex grind that substantially thinned out the edge, my primary concern with this knife as received. My goal was to get the grind down to where it was just slightly heavier than a Marble's. The assymetrical grind from the factory pushes the edge off to one side. In order to correct this would require removing about 1/8" from the edge, which I wasn't prepared to do. So while now the blade is ground convex on both sides, the edge is still off a little to the one side. You can see this in the picture of the choil area. Actually it looks pretty good like this and will in no way affect performance.
And what a boost in performance was to be had. I only used the knife briefly after receiving it and it was far from being an efficient cutter. My goal was to make this knife an absolute terror on the things I cut, rope, wood, cardboard and meat from an unlucky Whitetail. The thing is a freakin' laser now and runs neck and neck in cutting with my Marble's, which as everyone knows cut very well indeed. This is my first experience with INFI and all I can say right now about it is that it takes a super edge very easily.
The knife is presentable as is and actually looks much better to my eye than stock. Blade finish is only at 120 grit now. I will most likely take it in the neighborhood of 320-400 as this is the typical grit I use when sharpening convex edges. The bright line you see along the edge is where the burr had been removed using the fine rods on my Sharpmaker and then stropped on leather/green rouge. I am still undecided on whether or not to keep the tang extension and thong hole. I have strongly considered removing it as I don't use it, but it still looks cool. What to do? If I keep it it will need a little more work and cleanup in this area.
Just goes to show you that you need not be satisfied with your stock knife. Modify it to suit your needs and you might find you like it even better. I know I do. This knife has now grown on me unbelievably. It is a very good do everything small fixed blade and will be a constant companion on all my hiking and camping trips from now on. I really, really love this knife. I would actually like to perform the same mods on a Groove Master as all of the various grips afforded by this knife would be valuable on game.
So, here it is in the following attachements. What do you all think?
First one is a shot of the front side of the knife;
The first thing that had to go was the coating. I am just not a big fan of the stuff. Next, out came the grinder and a bucket of water. The blade received a full convex grind that substantially thinned out the edge, my primary concern with this knife as received. My goal was to get the grind down to where it was just slightly heavier than a Marble's. The assymetrical grind from the factory pushes the edge off to one side. In order to correct this would require removing about 1/8" from the edge, which I wasn't prepared to do. So while now the blade is ground convex on both sides, the edge is still off a little to the one side. You can see this in the picture of the choil area. Actually it looks pretty good like this and will in no way affect performance.
And what a boost in performance was to be had. I only used the knife briefly after receiving it and it was far from being an efficient cutter. My goal was to make this knife an absolute terror on the things I cut, rope, wood, cardboard and meat from an unlucky Whitetail. The thing is a freakin' laser now and runs neck and neck in cutting with my Marble's, which as everyone knows cut very well indeed. This is my first experience with INFI and all I can say right now about it is that it takes a super edge very easily.
The knife is presentable as is and actually looks much better to my eye than stock. Blade finish is only at 120 grit now. I will most likely take it in the neighborhood of 320-400 as this is the typical grit I use when sharpening convex edges. The bright line you see along the edge is where the burr had been removed using the fine rods on my Sharpmaker and then stropped on leather/green rouge. I am still undecided on whether or not to keep the tang extension and thong hole. I have strongly considered removing it as I don't use it, but it still looks cool. What to do? If I keep it it will need a little more work and cleanup in this area.
Just goes to show you that you need not be satisfied with your stock knife. Modify it to suit your needs and you might find you like it even better. I know I do. This knife has now grown on me unbelievably. It is a very good do everything small fixed blade and will be a constant companion on all my hiking and camping trips from now on. I really, really love this knife. I would actually like to perform the same mods on a Groove Master as all of the various grips afforded by this knife would be valuable on game.
So, here it is in the following attachements. What do you all think?
First one is a shot of the front side of the knife;
), and just went over it with 800. Didn't take out the scratches, but there has been no sign of corrosion since.