Becker Strippers

NCSlice said:
Hahah! You sure that's where you posted it? I'm with ya tho man lol.

!
Click to expand...

Heh...well I thought so. I thought I posted it there, copied it and posted it back here. I don't see it over there. With my internet skills, I truly never know. :p
 
Yeah, I think its here in that other thread, but its all good lol.

Now I'm curious as to the difference in a stripped KaBar Becker vs Camillus. Pics....pics....anyone....anyone...
 
OK, digging up a pic of my Camillus 2.....Sherman! Set the Wayback Machine!

.....got it!

Smooth, but with some pockmarks and different sorts of imperfections:

9617254485_b6801cb24d_b.jpg


Doesn't seem to rust as easily as my KB Beckers....but also the steel could be a little different....I have no idea what I'm talking about. More important to me about the Cam 2 is it comes with a solid tang - a feature which I think, of all the BK&T line, the 2 deserves.
 
You're quick, thanks! Interesting...I still prefer the grind lines. Still looks great, if it were mine you wouldnt notice the marks through the patina. I'm just a forced patina kinda guy. Or natural, I'm not picky, just impatient.

ETA can't agree more about the tang, esp on the 2...
 
NCSlice said:
<snip>
Hope to pick up a 17 at Blade. If all works out, it WILL see a stripping and an attempt at a polish. A bit of hump removal, smooth down the saber grind edge then a patina. It'll be paired with a hawk with a similar finish.
Click to expand...

if you can't find a 17 at blade, but can find a 16 - I'd be willing to put a clip point on it with or without the swedge. (straight or concave, although straight is easier nd looks better to me)
 
granitestateofmind said:
Takes more than a little elbow grease. More like a bucketful. Sometimes it's worth it....sometimes not. On the BK2, I'd say use it like it owes you money. I tend to strip most of my knives, as I feel like the coating sticks to wood and I find my stripped blades are easier to use. And for food prep, IMO it's a must....but that's me. I do NOT polish my knives after stripping....though they don't tend to rust as quickly or easily if you do sand them, even if you can get the grind lines out at about a 600 grit. But it's VERY time consuming, and what you'll likely notice is there are plenty of other imperfections in the blade and it's damned difficult to get everything flat and looking good. I did this once to my BK7 that I modded....and that was a journey, lemme tell ya.

Started like this (after I ground out a complete re-profile):
PIC
......and ended like this after many hours of sanding with an aluminum block and a couple dozen sheets of wet/dry. Too many hours to count, so I didn't. This is up to 2000 grit then Flitzed.....and you can still see scratches! :

PIC

I'm NOT ready to do it again....yet....
Click to expand...

I hear you and I agree. I own a 14 and now a 15. It took me days to polish up the 14 to what I thought was a mirror finish after stripping. I ended up forcing a patina anyway, but it did look good with the dull shine visible under the patina. My recently acquired 15 is still new and I am considering simply sanding the flat of the blade or "primary grind" to about 600. I am encouraged by the fact that the tweeners don't appear to have the grind grooves in any pics I have seen here. Any guidance or opinion would be appreciated.
 
The paint Becker puts on is tough, probably one of the toughest I've seen on a budget-minded knife (it seemed similar or better than the stuff TOPS uses, and even better than that thin powder paint Chris Reeves used on the one-piece range, which left soothy black marks when you wiped a dry white cloth on them...), and very well thought out in its surface texture: To prevent ugly "shiny spots" to appear quickly in the paint, which most paints do very quickly after a few in-outs from the sheath, the paint is deliberately sprayed rough, creating a stipling finish that "rides" on the rough "tips", thus prevents large shiny spots from mere light wear: This keeps the blade a nice even dull...

I did notice the paint roughness made the blade pick up dirt, and even wood pulp, in a way that was very hard to clean in the field... I'd rather have this inconvenience and then later, when at home, have a chance that the finish will clean up to a even sheen when done... The roughness is what preserves the paint from direct friction... Since I have Cerakoated a Randall 18, I have to say Cerakoating is a far better and thinner finish than Becker paint, and it will conceal some surface flaws while remaining smooth: I would strongly recomment getting Beckers Cerakoated if you don't like the original rough paint...

Other than that, I don't really see the point of stripping, as you can "polish" the paint smoother anyway, which is a hell of a lot less work than polishing rough metal...

One thing that turned me off Becker is the slightly sideway curved blade I got: That won't buff out... I have the feeling that this flaw, when it shows up, is probably quite common, since it is a deep QC issue in the manufacturing process. The even cheaper Mtech 151 Trailmaster clones apparently had this, and it was for a while universal to all those blades (and maybe still is)... I would be surprised if I was the only one who got a curved BK-9...

Gaston
 
granitestateofmind said:
Tim, that stripper....WTF? How did it do that?

I've never had that sort of ease of stripping....however I do always use the environmentally citrus stripper, which is bound to be less effective that the real toxic stuff, I guess.

I also like that you couldn't be bothered to clean the last crumbs of that Sara Lee Butter Cake outta the container for your vinegar patina....nice!
Click to expand...

The stripper I used is environmentally friendly / non toxic stuff. I left it over night with the stripper on it because I tested it on a paint sample first, and it took 4-6 hours to remove a light coat of paint. Figured it would need a little longer on the coating. Then I just peeled back from the edge of the blade :D

Yeah, call me lazy but I didn't feel like scrubbing the pan. I just put it under some hot water first :D After taking that photo I put a layer of paper towel between the bottom of the pan and the knife. I also set it up top of my home made tea light garage heater to warm the vinegar (like a mini camp stove but fueled with tea lights). Worked pretty good, got it nice and warm. Almost to the point where I couldn't grab it with my fingers :D
 
1066vik said:
if you can't find a 17 at blade, but can find a 16 - I'd be willing to put a clip point on it with or without the swedge. (straight or concave, although straight is easier nd looks better to me)
Click to expand...

Uh oh...got my wheels turning now lol! Thanks man, I'll def let you know what I end up with!
 
Ah, the coating thing...... I have talked about this before but, it has been a while...... In early medieval times when i first started, all the fashionable blades were high polish 440C or 420 or 154CM(verrry exotique at the time, btw)....... The first couple of hundred Machaxes were bare..... I worried about rust and the whole not stainless thing and figured I had to"do something" ...... Always loved Parkerising and found someday local....... Loved the look..... During the blackjack period mikey put that crummy gray shit on the blades to save a penny...... Cammillus saw a return to black with a better powder coat....... The folks at KA-Bar went to a tougher coating...... Aesthetically I like the new clearcoat as I personally like the contrast of the grind against the"as is" look of the raw steel.... Just a little history to inform the discussion....... For what it is worth there are continuing discussions on coatings....... Those are discussions, mind, NOT plans.......

E
 
NCSlice said:
I like the grind marks. I'm not one for flashy or shiney. Not that I can't appreciate it, its just not for me. I'm like Oscar the Grouch lol. I like stuff old and grungy looking.... The grind marks give a tooled look that makes it look like it wants to be used.
Click to expand...

Ethan Becker said:
I personally like the contrast of the grind against the"as is" look of the raw steel....

E
Click to expand...

You put it much better E, this is what I tried to convey but my brain couldn't get the right words together and overly explained it....as usual...like now....
 
So just how much more prone to rust and corrosion is a stripped blade (I know very little about carbon steel, but I have a feeling I will learn about the corrosion issue soon enough in humid Texas)? Does the patina add any protection or is that just cosmetic?
 
I have a 9 that I stripped back in March 2014. Didn't force a patina. Just let it occur naturally. Some patina was initiated by the paint stripper I used. The rest has just "happened" with use. The only time any rust has formed was when I was tired and didn't clean it, just stuck it in the sheath and left it for a couple of days. A very minute amount of rust developed on the edge, no where else. A swipe with some fine grit sand paper and it was gone. If you wipe the crud off of it and spread a very thin coating of oil with a cotton ball, potential rust is a non-problem.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
I have a 9 that I stripped back in March 2014. Didn't force a patina. Just let it occur naturally. Some patina was initiated by the paint stripper I used. The rest has just "happened" with use. The only time any rust has formed was when I was tired and didn't clean it, just stuck it in the sheath and left it for a couple of days. A very minute amount of rust developed on the edge, no where else. A swipe with some fine grit sand paper and it was gone. If you wipe the crud off of it and spread a very thin coating of oil with a cotton ball, potential rust is a non-problem.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks!
 
I tried using a Stripper to remove the coating on one of my Beckers,


But she kept whining about getting tired, and that I wasn't paying her enough...


Who's stupid idea was it too use strippers?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top