Becker Newb, and Customizing my BK10

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Fiddleback

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Well, Bladite, snagged me into Beckers with his recent thread, so I ordered a couple. I got a BK7, and a BK10. I've never been much into tactical knives, and the plastic handle and epoxied blade had turned me off to Beckers. But that thread got me going, and when the knives arrived I was VERY happy with their heft, and feel in the hand. A lot more useful than I had expected. Still, the style isn't up my alley, and the sheath is a nightmare, so I decided to do a bit of a customizing job. (This is pretty common for me to do to knives.) I ordered the micarta scales from Camillus. They should arrive today. Made myself a new sheath, shown below. And plan to remove the epoxy when I remove the old scales. This should give me a much less tactical looking Becker that matches the sheath I made a LOT better. Anyway here is the new sheath. What do you think?

More pics to follow as the project progresses. One question. When using paint stripper on the epoxy coating, does that cause any damage to the blade?
 
Paint stripper won't harm the blade one bit. When you remove the black coating, be prepared for a very rough finish. Nothing that can't be fixed with a series of sandpaper grits, elbow grease and time, but it will surprise you just what a little paint can cover. It becomes clear why manufacturers love the black tactical look, it saves them tons of finishing time. The upside is that when you're done it will look so much better it will all be worth it.

Excellent sheath by the way.:thumbup: I think a wood handle would be a better choice for it. Looking forward to seeing it as you go along.
 
Gracias for the advice bro. I got the scales in this afternoon. It looks real sweet.
 
That is a good looking sheath! Perhaps i will have to make me a leather copy of it for my bk10 and one for my campanion and maybe even one for my bk7. Looks like it may make it easier to carry without notice.
 
outstanding, really changes the whole character of the knife. by the time you change the scales and strip the finish it'll be a whole new knife. by the way look at the post from, i think soupmonger at his becker. you can really do neat stuff to these knives. later,ahgar

of course you know if camillus folds your knife would have been worth, like, $100 on fleabay in a couple of months as a "collectible" but now it is no longer nib.
 
That's a very nice looking sheath. Please post pics when your project is finished.:thumbup:
 
The next phase of the project is complete. Striping the blade and putting on the mikarta slabs. The knife feels absolutely awesome with the mikarta scales. If you don't have them, get you some.:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
And finally this is after a quick sanding with some scotchbrite pads. This project was EASY and fun. There was NO pitting under the epoxy coating. I am sold on Becker's. Doh~!
 
Nice job. Doings mods like that is a lot of fun, isn't it? Sounds like you got a better one than I did though. Here's what I found under the paint:

Top edge of handle (same as bottom edge, was like this all along the spine as well but that has since been filed smooth).


Pits along sides, after a fair amount of sanding. Under the handle so no problem, but others were present along blade before I sanded them off.


Some marks near the tip I didn't bother going after, since this is to be a user anyway.
 
Yea, the spine still looks like that. Its a 40 dollar knife. I just allowed that. I don't want to try to turn it into a showpiece. Its still gotta be the knife I use to pry with cuz I don't care if it breaks. Thats just its role.
 
Just had to add to this thread. :)

Here is my modified BK10 with an African Leadwood handle and the thumb ramp removed.

IMG_1064.jpg


IMG_1065.jpg


Hope you like it.

Cheers. :)
 
Good Lord man, don't be coy, thats awesome. Whats not to like? SWEET WORK.

Need a sheath for it?
 
Nice work Aproy1101! And a very sweet job done by Soup Monger. I only did some small modifications to the handle of my BK7. But seeing those knife makes me wane buy a BK10 and make some kind of hardcore field knife of it!
 
Nice work on your knives guys. But should you have to have something done to them what about the warranty?? I always thought that it had to be the way it was (gotten) and not altered to have warranty work done on it. But to each is own i guess. Anyway, they look nice.
By the way, has anyone heard any more on Camillus?
 
I can't imagine ever using the warranty on a 40 dollar knife. I'd just grind out whatever issues and go on. But then, I'm crafty that way.
 
Modifying knives (and cars/trucks) has been an artform for many years. Yeah, dead mint stock items have higher resale value, but making a ho-hum stock item into your ideal knife is great. I've been buying a few blades that were unfinished from the Schrade 2004 WIP auction. A couple of X-Timer XT1B Camp Knives are the latest. Fugly. Real fugly. I have a couple of NIB mint ones, so these are projects. The first I just used spray stripper to clean off the black epoxy paint, then added a stock Thermoplastic handle from a broken knife (also from the factory). The stock ballistic nylon sheath will work for this one. The second will get that and a few blade mods, then a stabilized exotic wood handle using mosaic pins. It will get a slick custom sheath from P. F. Long in Texas, whatever matches the wood well. Last MSRP on these knives in 2004 was $75.95, but I have less than $15 in the first modified one, and it never would have become a collector item since it was just a piece of unfinished steel from the junk left over. I'll have quite a bit more in the second one, but I'm not doing the project to sell it, so whatever it's final "value" as a marketable item, I'm going to be satisfied with my "Codger-Timer" Camp Knife!


Codger
 
After reading more about what you are all talking about, I can understand all your reasoning on your custom work. Sometimes it just takes one or two other peoples talk to make an otherwise green newbie to the site to see what customizing is all about.

I would like to thank all of you out there for your different views in order for someone like me to understand the scope of the knife world better.
 
Good post yourself, Observerq! I have a lot of mint knives, almost all are Schrades, Camillus, Imperial, Ulster since that is where my particular interest lies. And I've been tempted to use some of them. When that happens, I just nab a good user of whatever pattern I like. Some of them are in "quite rugged" condition, and I've modified a few in the past couple of years. They won't take any prizes, and I'll never be mistaken for a cutler by anyone, but the can give an old beater a new lease on life. Sure, using a beater as a base for a custom is a step down from using a new, mint knife, but the results can be as satisfying to the owner.

Here is a pre-'73 Schrade Walden that I had. Someone used the Delrin handle for a hammer. I am rescaling it in birdseye burl maple. Haven't added the brass compression rivets yet as you can see, and the original patina is still on the 1095HC carbon steel blade. Still, it makes for a nice home-made custom I won't be afraid to carry and use.



Codger
 
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