BK-11 help

K

Km190

Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
97
Yesterday while I was just getting into work my uncle was driving by in is 52 Packard sedan when it stalled in front of my work. He was out there messing with the solenoid using his car key, so I went up and said "hey use my knife instead" and he did. After some fierce sparking the car started right up. But look what happened to my knife! Is there anything I can do to fix this? I was so pumped I just got this knife Friday and now I am bumming, Anyone have insight on this? Any help is much appreciated.

http://s1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb448/Kmilitel02/



Thanks
-Km190
 
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Your knife blade has a flat grind, so you can easily get that nasty area ground out without really affecting the cutting ability of the blade. The blade is going to look different because the curve of the edge to the point will be much more pronounced. Any professional sharpener or maker can do the work. I recommend that you contact Richard J. on here. He does very good work for a reasonable price with a quick turn around time.

If you are handy with a belt sander or a grinder, you can do the work yourself. Just keep a bowl of water close at hand to dip the blade in occasionally to keep it from getting too hot and take your time. Once you have the profile fixed, all you have to do is sharpen it.
 
BK-11.jpg


2.jpg


If it was hot enough to do that, I would wonder if it was hot enough to affect temper.
The only thing you can do is re-grind it and see how well it holds an edge.
Tell your uncle to pack a cheap screwdriver to spark that solenoid.
 
Thanks Guyon and Cramsey for your input. Whats disappointing is that i had a screwdriver and a whole set of tools in my truck 15ft away. I'll regrind it tonight with a little help from my dad and see if he can work some magic. I'll post pics up after the surgery.

Out of curiosity are there any decent sharpening systems i could pick up somewhere like maybe a hand lansky sharpener or something that would help with the edge?

thanks again everyone.
 
I see it this way. At least you only hurt an affordable knife. Imagine that happening to a prized cutsom! Take this as a lesson. There are tools you can loan out, hammers, wrenches, etc, and they usually come back in the same condition. There are plenty of horror stories that start with the line, "can I see your knife"?

Don't use a knife for an electrical connection, use something cheap.
 
I feel for ya!
My only concern is wouldn't there of been current passing through that 11 expecially considering it doesn't have non-conductive handle?
 
EseeDownUnder said:
I feel for ya!
My only concern is wouldn't there of been current passing through that 11 expecially considering it doesn't have non-conductive handle?
Click to expand...

The path of least resistance is through the blade.

To the O.P. Is it chipped or did it melt away?
 
Looks like it melted. Frame that thing and get a new one, even if you get it reground it won't hold an edge. The temper must be all gone.
 
Temper is shot. Even if you regrind the area, it won't hold an edge as good as the rest of the knife. Temps on those arcs hit well over the range that's need to distemper/melt carbon steel.

My recommendation, use that as a hobby/practice knife, and get you another one.

We had a guy do the same thing with a "scissor lift" battery. He had small spots, but once we stripped the blade, you could see where the temper was lost.

Glad it worked for you, and hey, the benefit, it won't cost much to replace.

Moose
 
To Slapper, it literally melted the blade which really sucks, but like EseedownUnder said at least it wasn't a custom. what will end up happening is I'll buy a new one and use this one to just fool around with I've been trying to put an edge back on with no avail. Here is an image of the regrind (if it doesn't work i added the pics to my album so it will be there) My dad and I spent probably 15 minutes tinkering with it and this is how it came out. But for the 2 days I had it I used it a lot and loved it so buying another one tonight.


4.jpg




Thanks again for the insight and help from all
-Km190
 
I might be alone in the thought that there is still some usable knife left in that one. I am thinking that if you shortened it to 2" and give it the original tip profile you would have a municipal friendly(less than 2") and useable blade.

Did It get too hot to handle?
 
I've had screw-drivers rip in half when jumping the solenoid, bad idea...

looks alot better though..........
 
nicely arc welded/cut :) good fix. you could probably get the thing re-tempered if the temper is overall shot.
 
I'm surprised no one has suggested what is a very easy fix for this damage to your knife, Km190: your uncle gets to buy you a new one.

As a bonus he gets to keep the nicely reground and no-temper original to use on his car as many times in the future as he'd like.
 
I'm with Slapper. I think your electrical genius of an uncle just bought himself a ~ $30 solenoid jumper from you.

---

Beckerhead #42
 
Some say, "Don't loan out what you can't afford to lose". In this case it is an inexpensive knife, and a great lesson to all that pay attention.

Don't offer a knife, when a cheap piece of metal will do the same job. Older generations saw knives as tools, my Grandfather's knives were missing the tips, sharpened on a grinder, and just used up and replaced. Other folks buy cheap knives, and have seen too many movies where knives seem indestructable. Only us knife-nuts can really appreciate the limitations of steel, tempering, edge retention, etc..
Simple fact is, most people will treat your knife as if it were not only cheap but indestructable.

The paradox here is the people that would respect your knife, already carry a knife. The one's without a knife will more than likely damage your knife or themselves.
 
Overall I've learned now to keep my tools close by so that this doesn't happen again, and as for my uncle buying me a new one he's so cheap he hates paying for the "build your own" grandslam at Denny's.

Also Slapper no it never got too hot to handle overall I think the regrind went smoothly.

thanks all for your input
-Km190
 
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