BK2 Feedback after a few months...

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KOLONEL SOPDROL

Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Messages
58
I have had my BK2 now for about four months. The first thing I did was to remove the nylon strap from the sheath. Next was stripping the bk2.

I started making a couple of African Hardwood scales, but the wood is so damn hard I was having quite a difficult time trying to shape the scales. After growing more and more fond of the Grivory scales, I lost interest in that project.

After that I played around with a couple of patinas, but so far I ended up with a semi shiny finish. It seems to me that the readiness of the knife to take on a patina is directly proportional to the smoothness of the blade:

A mirror finish will not take a patina as quickly as a satin finish. ...... ?

This weekend I roughed up the insides of the grivory scales with my Dremel. Then I packed all the hollows with pratley steel - a type of putty that we get locally. It consists of two clay like putty tubes that you mix up. After a couple of hours it sets as hard as steel and can be machined and drilled etc.

The pratley steel is quite heavy - which is why I chose it. Personal preference, but I wanted to add more heft to the BK2. This morning I also filled up the cutouts in the tang. This gives the handle a through-and-through solid feel that I like.

I am replacing the standard bolts with a couple of stainless steel hex bolts and split washers - two per bolt. The split washers apparently keeps tension on the bolts and prevent them from unscrewing themselves. Also goes well with the more shiny blade.

The grind of my BK2 is slightly off center. The flat part of the blade from the spine to where the grind starts is slightly higher on one side than the other. Maybe about 1.5 to 2 mm. Doesn't affect performance though..

I got a Schrade SCHF 10 the other day, so here's a quick comparison.



Sheath:
The sheath of the Schrade is crap. Even my Jack Russells don't want to chew it. Love the BK2 sheath.

Shape:
Lets compare them to jets: The schrade is a fighter jet. Sleek and well proportioned. The BK2 is an A10 Warthog. Ugly, but hell its a bloody legend....

Grind:
I prefer the flat grind of the BK2.

Steel hardness:
The Schf10 is definitely harder than the BK2. My rather unscientific test involved using knife 1's tip to scratch a small line on knife 2's tang. The SCHF10 easily scratched the BK2 while the BK2 hardly scratched the SCHF10 at all.

Am I correct in assuming that the SCHF10 will have better edge holding, but with a more brittle blade?

Grips:

The SCHF10's micarta grips look better and are way more grippy than the BK2's smoother grivory. I have larger hands so the BK2's more bulky grips fill my hands better. I also like the fact that the BK2's grips are secured with 3 hex bolts instead of 2. Under heavy batoning the SCHF10's grips shifted slightly.


Wish list:

I want another set of grivory scales. I would like to experiment with some texturing on the scales but do not want to run the risk of messing up my current scales.

BK2.5 or BK6 : Exactly the same design as the BK2, but the blade is just one inch longer. :thumbup:
 
Wow sir, you have been busy! I have never heard of any one wanting more Heft out of the BK2, but it interests me.
 
cschol said:
Wow sir, you have been busy! I have never heard of any one wanting more Heft out of the BK2, but it interests me.
Click to expand...

that IS odd, but maybe he needs a billy knife??

The Beckers have a differential temper, and the spine will be softer than the edge. This provides overall toughness for blades that are likely to be abused. No idea how the Schrade is heat-treated. A better comparison would be to cut edge-to-edge, but one of your blades will end up with a small nick.
 
It's a testament to a great design design that so many people mod in a similar fashion, and continue to come up with great results.
 
I gotta bk2, the stock sheath dulled the blade really, REALLY bad so I made a leather one. Wasn't convinced, it's too thick and too short so I decided to get rid of it...twice I might add and wasn't able to force myself to do it. I gotta accept it's a knife I would not be afraid to abuse so now I'm gonna treat it to micarta scales and keep it. I also own the schf9 which I like a lot, makes me wonder if I should get the schf10, it's got looks that's for sure, Is it carbon steel?

The bk2 not for everybody, that's for sure.

Thanks for your feedback.
 
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Before, the BK2 weighed 410 grams (if I remember correctly). It now weighs in at 490g.

After filling the scales I used sandpaper on a perfectly flat surface to get a flat finish on the undersides.

Personally I much prefer the feel of the 'Solid' BK2. The balance of the knife has been moved back a bit into your hand a bit and if you tap something against the scales, they sound solid as well.

The hex bolts were cut down with a dremel.

Each bolt is secured using two of the split washers. They also increase the contact area between the bolts and the grivory. With these split washers it is very difficult for the bolts to come loose and fall out with general use. They keep tension on the bolts.

Before filling the scales I used the round diamond bit on the dremel to thoroughly roughen up the inside of the scales. I also created shallow hollows along the sides of the scales to afford the putty extra grip.

The putty sticks like 'shit to a wool blanket' to use a local expression.

I got a small 2 x 3 or 4 mm piece of it on my wedding ring while filling the scales. A week ago I polished my ring so it is quite smooth. I left the stuff to dry thinking I will just pop it off with a fingernail afterwards. It actually took a surprising amount of poking and scratching to get the stuff off.
 
If you're still looking for another set of grivory send me a pm. I have a set laying around
 
Know what ya man with the african blackwood, i tried as well to do a couple, the dust from sanding is like fine metal shavings,lol....that stuff is pretty hard to work with.
 
That is cool. Very weird, but cool.
You could have considered trading for a Gen-1 Ka-bar, which has no cut-outs in the tang and swapping out the grivory for micarta to get a similar effect.

I bet the metal epoxy absorbs a bit of the ring in the steel when you hammer on something with the pommel.
Can't wait to see the final result.

-Daizee
 
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