bk 7 choil and heat treat question

backwoods_boy89 · Nov 25, 2013

hi all I want to add a choil to my bk7. I am wondering what precautions I should take in regards to the heat treatment of the blade. I imagine I should keep the surrounding metal cool in the process by either submerging it in oil or water periodically during the actually "surgery" and how frequently. I have already stripped the blade so am not concerned about the coating. any thoughts or opinion would be appreciated. thanks

granitestateofmind · Nov 25, 2013

Though I've not gotten past the planning stages yet, from what I've read here on BF, it seems pretty hard to screw that up if you go slow and keep it relatively cool. Since it's not going to end up as a cutting edge anyway, you should have no worries. Then again, I probably wouldn't listen to me on this subject. Maybe someone who knows something will chime in....or you could head over to the Shop Talk forum and ask your question there, if there isn't an answer already available: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/741-Shop-Talk-BladeSmith-Questions-and-Answers
Let's see some pics, before and after. We loOve photos.

Psyop · Nov 25, 2013

You should be able to touch the blade to be on the safe side.

Dexwithers · Nov 26, 2013

I Choiled mine.

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I probably wouldn't dip it in oil but that's just me. I used water. If you are just using something like a diamond file or some sandpaper wrapped around a dowel rod then you probably wouldn't even need to cool it since it won't get very hot.

However, if you are using a grinder or a dremel tool, then cooling is needed. The system that I came up with that worked very well was to put a bucket of water right under where I was working. Then I put my knife in the vice or clamped it to my work bench depending on what angle I needed to get to at the time. Then I took one of those large sponges and soaked it in the water and as I was grinding I would just take the dremel tool away after every couple of passes and squeeze the water onto the knife and also press the sponge on the blade on both sides and let water run over the knife. All the water then dripped back into the the bucket and I just kept repeating this process. The knife never got hot this way so I know the tempering of the blade is ok. I also did some of it with my dremel in the drill press stand thingy with the sanding drum locked in place and just moved the knife and kept the sponge in one hand and dripped water onto the blade as I was grinding.

That's just my 2 cents and what worked for me.

Good luck with your blade!

backwoods_boy89 · Nov 26, 2013

thanks for the response. I never thought of the shop talk section. I like that sponge Idea, I will give it a shot! I would love to upload pictures but I have to upgrade my membership here first which I will be doing shortly because bladeforums is all I do in my spare time any way!

backwoods_boy89 · Nov 26, 2013

also how do you like the bk7 after removing the thumb ramp? what was your main reasoning for taking off? I like the way it feels with the thumb ramp but I can't decide what I like better aesthetically.

granitestateofmind · Nov 26, 2013

backwoods_boy89 said:
thanks for the response. I never thought of the shop talk section. I like that sponge Idea, I will give it a shot! I would love to upload pictures but I have to upgrade my membership here first which I will be doing shortly because bladeforums is all I do in my spare time any way!

Just an FYI: I thought the same thing about photos, and I was wrong. As long as you're a registered user, you can do it. Here's the link to get you started:Attachments & Images
It took me a little while to figure it out, as it does for a lot of people. There is other information here as well, and a good tutorial somewhere in the FAQ section. I would still encourage membership, though, as that's what keeps this place open for our use. Good luck!

backwoods_boy89 · Nov 27, 2013

thanks for that I'll check it out! but I will still be upgrading

Dexwithers · Dec 3, 2013

backwoods_boy89 said:
also how do you like the bk7 after removing the thumb ramp? what was your main reasoning for taking off? I like the way it feels with the thumb ramp but I can't decide what I like better aesthetically.

I actually really like the thumb ramp on my Beckers so the Mods on the 7 were really to experiment with how they feel. The BK-7 is my least favorite Becker and I rarely used it so I decided to try it out on that one first since I didn't want to regret doing it to my beloved BK-10 or BK-12 if I didn't like it. Same with the choil.

It feels really good and I still can't decide what I like better. It feels similar to the the BK-2 I guess? I need to use it more to really be sure.