BK-2 at the home "spa" for a treatment.

T

TAGannon

Joined
Oct 14, 2009
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Grips before re-shaping.


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Re-profiled edge.


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Closer shot.


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Even closer.


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Polished edge.


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Let the work begin.


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You need a file that removes lots of material, this is it.


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Even with the Magicut file, I got winded filing so much.
Time to take it outside. Too bad it was 8 degrees. Camera
did not want to cooperate. So, garage grinding shot. This is the
end result though.


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Back to hand shaping with different files.


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Getting close.


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Time for strap sanding.


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Now I'm happy.:)


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Close up of Micarta. Nice stuff.


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Sporting it's new shape.


With my new found love of the BK-2 comes the desire to spend a lot of time with it. Using it, pampering it, and treating it to a day at my home spa.

First comes the re-profiling of the edge. It is rough, but even and exact. Then, comes the handle reshaping. I love the Micarta, but long for the Camillus Micarta. That not being immediately available, I decide to shape the ones I have.

To avoid scratching the coating on the blade, I put the grips on the BK-2 that survived the cage fight earlier in the week. After grinding, filing and sanding, I have fantastic grips. They actually make it so the knife fits great in the stock sheath, negating the need for my newly acquired aftermarket sheath that I though would fit better.

Next post will show the thumb grooves I added.

Can't show everything on one post, otherwise I'll never get my coveted Beckerhead number.
 
Tom, that turned out really nice. Thanks for sharing the pics. :thumbup:
 
Guyon said:
Tom, that turned out really nice. Thanks for sharing the pics. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thank you.

Sorry about your scare earlier today. Stuff like that flips me out. Glad you were able to correct it in the same day. I hate sleeping on stuff like that.
 
Looks good. Are you going to put those divots in the scales like the old Camillus scales?
 
Very, very nice. I been thinking of thinning out a pair of my micartas to make my BK2 feel alittle more like my BK9. Not sure yet.

Sidenote: Ethan and I were talking this weekend about modding blades, and his comment about it was, "I'm truly honored that people see my knives as kit blades. A blank slate to customize to their own specific needs".

Great stuff, TAG.

Moose
 
You know, it's the subtle little refinements that really make a difference. Nice work.

Moose - interesting to hear that Ethan is positive on folks modding his blades. I think he has a great business model in that he provides a knife that has great steel and a great heat treat, but keeps the overall cost of acquisition down so that more people can get their hands on one.

Personally, I would take some time and DIY the knife to my specs and save $50-100 on the purchase price.
 
This is a very interesting post for me, b/c at first I thought micarta scales for my bk2 would be the next step. The more I use the BK2 the more I like the grivory scales, and the more I appreciate how well they fit my hand. No hot spots, surprisingly grippy even when wet. Waiting on a custom leather sheath from Moose - I think that may be just the ticket for me. Anyway, good post, adding my $0.02 for whatever that's worth.:D
 
moosez45 said:
Very, very nice. I been thinking of thinning out a pair of my micartas to make my BK2 feel alittle more like my BK9. Not sure yet.

Sidenote: Ethan and I were talking this weekend about modding blades, and his comment about it was, "I'm truly honored that people see my knives as kit blades. A blank slate to customize to their own specific needs".

Great stuff, TAG.

Moose
Click to expand...

That was a big selling point for me, this was a nice, basic knife that I bought because I knew it could do everything the more expensive blades could do at a much cheaper price. Now I plan on customizing it over time, my first step will probably be micarta grips or a nice leather sheath.
 
Moose, yet another reason Ethan Becker is my hero. Great blades for the price to be purely users, but they also provide lots of room for custom work. More on topic that BK2 is beautiful looking! Did the micarta need the sanding though or did you just do it to customize it to your grip?
 
my idea of a Becker Spa is taking my Becker into the woods and laying waste to wood.

nice mods man, sweeeet looking micarta slabs!
 
EBHM4 said:
Moose, yet another reason Ethan Becker is my hero. Great blades for the price to be purely users, but they also provide lots of room for custom work. More on topic that BK2 is beautiful looking! Did the micarta need the sanding though or did you just do it to customize it to your grip?
Click to expand...

I do the rough shaping with the larger, more aggressive files. Then the smaller ones and that pretty much gets it to a nice finish. After that, the sanding tape just evens things up and smooths all the surfaces and edges. Great way to maintain symmetry. I may, but this is a big maybe, texture the grips like I did for my ESEE 5. Those grips are from my ESEE 6 that I also textured, then swapped with my 5. Feels good in my hand and adds a lot of grip when wearing gloves.
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Some nice work TAGannon, I love my Esee 6....

SSShhhh don't tell anyone around here
 
I've been toying with a similar idea myself. I've been thinking of sanding from the oppsite side of the micarta, so I can keep the curves (who doesn't love curves?!:D), but thin out the grip.

I love the way yours turned out! Very nice job!! :thumbup:
 
Excellent job man! Really like how those turned out!
 
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