Beckerhead Knife Making and Modification Thread

I love it when these 'As seen on TV' knives state "never needs sharpening", normally means it will fall to bits before the edge dulls and if you don't have the full box and full certificate inside, they don't honour any guarantee...well that is the case of the " Forever Sharp Knives" company here in the UK (misleadingly named, but a clever way to avoid a 'coldsteel vs crkt scenario). As the company name is Forever Sharp™ so I guess there is 'nothing implied' as their trained demonstrators follow strict wording to entrap their unknowingly victims - sad and I hate companies like these, but quite clever to appreciate wrongness of capitalism!!! I actually had a small non-serrated knife (gifted to me from them) and steel is so nasty I still didnt get a decent edge of it even after 20mins, another one broke as tang is about 3mm after edge, or so it seems. Never, ever ever buy these from [insert store] and give them as a gift!!!

Edit: seems they are in US too and owned by Twin Towers Trading - name says it all I guess - a disaster!
 
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Got to lay hands on this set today - carefully! - and I will say they are most impressive in person. Extremely drool inducing.

IMG_20150810_183136-small-small.jpg
 
Thanks, Guys.
I have to send them off before I can't bear to see them go. Or I drop one on my foot.
 
Not much of a Mod,

But OK for me! More than likely will be parkerized in Short order...


 

stopped here to see if I like this better than a straight clipped bk4.

Input?
 
I'm trying to figure out what's different about TinyDog's 9 than the BK39 (http://www.kabar.com/knives/detail/214). What mod is that, exactly? And why bother parkerizing something that's already got a clear coat. Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of buying the BK39?

Bill, that does look pretty nice. How's it treating you?
 
It isn't as rough on a baton, and the weight loss was negligible. A net gain in my book.
The only down side is that there could be the potential for wiggle and rattle in aftermarket sheaths.

I am still not sure if I want to go to a straight clip (GSoMs for example) vs the drop point I have now...

Either way, I am going to massage the corners down from 90° only due to them being too sharp and still chewing up a baton a little. Though I prefer not to do so at all, I want to make it the Least traumatic as possible.

Thanks folks
 
The 93 has green handles and looks to be stonewashed/patinaed under the clear coat. Looks stock to me, although it's a mod on the original 9, I suppose, just done by Kabar.
 
Well not a huge "mod" and a quick one, but oh what a difference. I am slowly building out my BK2 to use as a "woods kit" type blade. Need to add a pouch to the front of it for firemaking/first aid, but I also wanted to mod the knife to make it work better. At least better for me ;)

Reground it a bit, brought the stock grind up a little ways, then thinned the grind out to where the edge was at 0 degrees leaving a bit more meat at the tip of the knife, then took it to a slack belt to convex the whole mess from the shoulders down while still keeping some spine definition. The edge is considerably thinner... A LOT thinner... Also beforehand I added a fire steel notch, sharpened the spine in front of the notch towards the tip for scraping, then broke the edges behind the notch towards the handle for comfort. This is a spine mod I have been trying out on some knives to give you the benefit of a sharpened spine when you need it, and the comfort of a unsharpened one. Will probably round it some more in the future. Then I gave the sob several baths in citric acid, buffed it up, then convexed the edge to sharpen at around 20 degrees. The knife was pretty beat up and nasty beforehand, beautiful in other words, but I thought it could do with an upgrade. No before picture but I think we know what a well loved BK2 looks like.

ITS ALIVE!!!!


Better view of the spine situation....


Also started work on the sheath, using the stock nylon I made a belt loop thats tied back with waxed cord, and held in place. You might also notice I have an allen wrench tied to the sheath via stoppers made of that wonderful, wonderful gorilla tape. I have all my large BKs set up with an allen key with a wad of gorilla tape. Stuff is awesome. I am also working on a secondary retention method using a leather snap and bungee, plus I am on the lookout for the perfect pouch to tie to this guy.


FYI mounting the plate like I have makes the retention of the sheath extremely stiff so I had to heat and adjust the sheath to give no rattle, but good pull. I also fixed up a "snagless lanyard" for this guy using a wooden bead and brass rings. I have been cutting with it all day and the edge still shaves but we will see how this thin grind backed up by thick spine works out.
 
NJBillK said:
Fly: Check this thread out that I created awhile back:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...t-as-a-knife-mounted-EDC?highlight=rat+wallet
Click to expand...

Thanks! That looks like a viable option. There is a thread in the KA-BAR subforum about putting one together too. I built out a tin kit just the other day for another pack I put together which is kinda the direction I am heading with this one. Just simple stuff, fire starting and first aid. Kinda like self contained woods bumming kit to throw on the belt. I think the BK2 would be a good platform for that. Even more so now with a thinner grind.
 
Tying belt loop and fastening to sheath works good for me too. No flapping around and I can pop knife in and out all day. Kind of like a poor man's teklok. I fastened with wire for nice secure fit. Pop fastener can be closed on itself to close the loop a little smaller - just right for space of my 2" or so belt.

 
Nice looking piece jius. I have always liked functional mods!
 
As promised, a Becker Friction Folder! It took some thinking and I had to canibalize an 11 to make it but I am thinking that I have a new Favorite.

The wood I chose was Amboyna Burl and the liners are 410 stainless. The pins are solid and measure 3/16" and the pivot is a 1/4". The spine was massaged down and rounded and a swedge was added. I also pulled the heel of the blade up a touch to clear the stop pin and reduce the likelihood of knicks since it doesn't hang below the scales now.
The stock 24 is for blade shape comparison.

The 11 was always nice in hand, but I wanted a longer handle while keeping the functionality of the bottle opener. The opener was made utilizing the upper rear must hole on the handle. All I had to do was break into that premade hole by grinding out the material in front of it and then massaging it open a bit to fit a cap.

The one part that caused me some consternation was the lining up and spacing the holes for the pivot and stop pin(s). What I ended up doing was using the stop pin near the pivot as a closed position stop pin and the rear most pin as a rest for the tang to be pressed against while open. To do this, I took advantage of the spine since it has a slight downward curve to it. By shaping the back of the scales down so the tang is a little proud, there is always pressure holding the tang onto the rear most stop pin when in the opened position.

The are some small things that I will be adding; a lanyard hole in the stock location, piece of wood between the scales at lanyard spot to add some support for the lanyard (plus I think it will look pretty nice too, lol). There is some final sanding to be done, but aside from that it is pretty much finished up.

Now on to the Photos!





I will get some better photos tomorrow during the daylight hours.
 
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I decided, why not mod my BK4! haha I saw an ancient hunting/battle knife in an old thread and museum archive that inspired me. My mod doesn't mirror it, but at least it draws inspiration.

Anyway, here's some high octane (if you know what I mean) Becker modification:

First, rounding the spine:

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All the way to a straight (ish) clip:

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Still not enough... Awww, yiss. Gettin that mean clip point:

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Also, I sanded the handle a bit. The goal was for a more perfect fit, but it might help with a little more traction.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it. I dipped it in a bucket of water pretty often after the first couple grinds. I don't really think I could have jeopardized the heat treat, but I guess we'll see once I use it more. So far I've been extremely impressed with the edge holding.

Also, I'm watching LotR Return of the King extended edition. I suggest it, strongly, to everyone.
 
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I like it a lot, ALLHSS!

RotK Extended was always the one with scenes I was surprised they cut from the theatrical. Still haven't watched any of the Hobbit movies though.
 
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