BenchMade "Bone Collector" Removing writing from blade

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miraclemax

Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
5
Hi all!

I just picked up a BenchMade "Bone collector" Axis. I must say i love the knife. But what i dont love is all the writing down the blade. The "bone collector" lettering and stag "Symbol" Are to much for me.

I would like to remove them if possible. i ran my finger over them and they dont seem to be "etched" in. Im hoping they are just on the surface with a kind of paint or burnt in process.

Anyone have experience with taking these markings off? Any ideas? I dont want to hurt the steel.
 
miraclemax said:
Hi all!

I just picked up a BenchMade "Bone collector" Axis. I must say i love the knife. But what i dont love is all the writing down the blade. The "bone collector" lettering and stag "Symbol" Are to much for me.

I would like to remove them if possible. i ran my finger over them and they dont seem to be "etched" in. Im hoping they are just on the surface with a kind of paint or burnt in process.

Anyone have experience with taking these markings off? Any ideas? I dont want to hurt the steel.
Click to expand...

They're laser marked, so essentially burned slightly into the surface.

Your best bet if you want the knife to still look stock, is to sand them out with 600 grit, then polish out to high grit such as 1500, followed by a stonewashing (rock tumbler, vib finisher, etc.)

That would need to be followed by lightly re-beveling the edge and re-sharpening.
 
the 1000 grit was probably fine enough to put a decent polish on the blade without buffing unless you want to take it to a mirror finish.
 
Didnt think of that. Agreed.

Do you think steel wool will work to? Like 000 or 0000? Any type of polish needed? like flitz? I do have some 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper as well.

I thought it might come off easy, because it looks to lay on the metal and not be etched in. I know they are laser marked. But thats not "etching" Its more like a burn thats in the shape of whatever design/text.

theres no "finish" on these blades is there?
 
steel wool will not do much to hardened steel except remove rust or stains to a degree. i would stick with the sandpaper. the laser etch is down in the metal and will take a little effort to get rid of. i have removed laser etching on a few knives with a belt sander and it took me a while.
 
If you look at laser etches in steel under magnification, you'll see very neatly and closely arrayed 'dots' burnt into the steel, with some depth to them, like pits. Reminds me of the spots on wood seen when 'burned in' with a magnifier in bright sunlight. When viewed this way, it's easy to see it'll take some sanding/grinding to remove them.
 
Mmmmmm.....

Maybe im doing sumpin wronge here. Got some 1000 wet/dry sand paper dampened it and started going to town. While it did look like it was taking off the text, it also was making the steel "shine" in that area. So now it looks different from the rest of the steel. So i stopped.

Any way to do this and have it match? I dont want to take off the text and logo but be reminded of what was there with a discolored spot.
 
Assuming your blade's original finish was somewhat 'satin', I'd go a bit lower in grit than 1000. Somewhere between 400 - 800 ought to get it closer. Start with 800, then drop back a grit if it's still a little too shiny for your taste. The 400 grit should remove the logo fairly quickly, but if it's coarser than the blade's existing finish, you'll be left with removing the heavy 400-grit scratches.

Another possibility, use a 3M Scotch-Brite pad (green), AFTER you get the logo sanded off. The Scotch-Brite pad usually leaves a somewhat 'satin-y' finish, but won't likely be aggressive enough to get the logo off by itself, by hand (assuming it's lasered on).
 
miraclemax said:
Mmmmmm.....

Maybe im doing sumpin wronge here. Got some 1000 wet/dry sand paper dampened it and started going to town. While it did look like it was taking off the text, it also was making the steel "shine" in that area. So now it looks different from the rest of the steel. So i stopped.

Any way to do this and have it match? I dont want to take off the text and logo but be reminded of what was there with a discolored spot.
Click to expand...

If you read my post #2, I mentioned the steps you'd need to take to match the original finish.

In place of actual stonewashing/vibratory finishing, your best bet is to use the high grit paper to completely remove the marking, then finish with random circular motions (much like a random orbital sander) until you have a uniform finish. Then use a medium or coarse Scotch-brite pad as advised above, in a circular motion, to approximate the factory vibratory finishing. That's the closest you will get without using the actual finish process that was used at the factory.
 
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