Breaking in the BK3

Semper Praesidio

Semper Praesidio

Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
1,184
So, I posted about a month ago that my BIL gifted me a BK3. Life's been a little hectic since then so I hadn't had much opportunity to properly break it in until this past weekend. A storm rolled through on Saturday and knocked a few large limbs out some of the trees in our yard and I needed to cut them down to around 18 inches so the city will pick them up. Enter the BK3.....

It ran like a champ! It chewed through limbs with zero problems and batoning was no issue.







Also, there was this birdhouse left here by the previous tenants:



My landlord (who is a Gator fan) gave me very succinct instructions when I asked him what to do with it....."burn it." I hope my method was an acceptable alternative. (DISCLAIMER: the following images may be disturbing to Florida State fans.)





All in all, I found this to be a very enjoyable tool to work with. I know it wasn't designed as a bushcraft/camping tool, but see some definite applications in those areas.

I'm planning a couple of modifications to the BK3. A question to throw out to all of you since this will be the first mod I've done that will involve taking away steel: anyone have any recommendations for or discouragements against against grinding serrations out of a blade?
 
Nice pics, fun times.

I think it will be very interesting to see how this mod turns out. I have a few questions though:

Are you going to recurve the blade to make it blend in?

Or, are you going to make that portion a draw knife?

Or, are you planning to just strip away that whole portion of the blade all the way down in a straight line to the belly? (If so, the angle will be way too steep....I think that's what I'm saying)
 
Tdhurl1103 said:
Nice pics, fun times.

I think it will be very interesting to see how this mod turns out. I have a few questions though:

Are you going to recurve the blade to make it blend in?

Or, are you going to make that portion a draw knife?

Or, are you planning to just strip away that whole portion of the blade all the way down in a straight line to the belly? (If so, the angle will be way too steep....I think that's what I'm saying)
Click to expand...

My initial thought was to blend a recurve into the blade...

But I didn't even think about a draw blade! If I created some kind of a kydex sheath to cover the tip for that application, it might be a good option.
 
At first I thought it said “Breaking the Bk-3" lol

I think making it a drawknife would be pretty cool too
 
Theknife said:
At first I thought it said “Breaking the Bk-3" lol

I think making it a drawknife would be pretty cool too
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Ha! No, last I heard there were two that had been broken, but mine isn't one of 'em. :-) Perhaps Uncle Ethan can confirm?

This is why we post stuff in here: you guys give us better ideas than what we had before. Definitely considering how to do this draw knife now....
 
According to an interview I heard given by Ethan Becker, one BK3 was broken by a law enforcement official in the process of prying open a stuck cell door during Katrina so the prisoner could be evacuated.
 
Charlie_K said:
According to an interview I heard given by Ethan Becker, one BK3 was broken by a law enforcement official in the process of prying open a stuck cell door during Katrina so the prisoner could be evacuated.
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Yep - heard that one. The other was a volunteer fire department disassembling a (I believe) Dodge Omni with nothing but a BK3.
 
Semper Praesidio said:
All in all, I found this to be a very enjoyable tool to work with. I know it wasn't designed as a bushcraft/camping tool, but see some definite applications in those areas.

I'm planning a couple of modifications to the BK3. A question to throw out to all of you since this will be the first mod I've done that will involve taking away steel: anyone have any recommendations for or discouragements against against grinding serrations out of a blade?
Click to expand...

First off, I want to be clear that I don't favour modifications for the most part, but to each their own. As far as removing the serrations, integrity of the steel aside, it would depend on your proposed use for the blade. If it's to be used as a bush blade, a function which it's quite suited for, despite popular opinion, I wouldn't recommend removing the serrations as we found them to be quite useful in shape carving as can be seen here (post 3, second picture).

Whatever you decide, it will be interesting to see what you come up with.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
First off, I want to be clear that I don't favour modifications for the most part, but to each their own. As far as removing the serrations, integrity of the steel aside, it would depend on your proposed use for the blade. If it's to be used as a bush blade, a function which it's quite suited for, despite popular opinion, I wouldn't recommend removing the serrations as we found them to be quite useful in shape carving as can be seen here (post 3, second picture).

Whatever you decide, it will be interesting to see what you come up with.

Doc
Click to expand...

Doc: wow, that was a great post/review of the 3! Thanks! Also, I appreciate your feedback on the serrations. You make a great point about their usefulness for some of the detail tasks compared to the rest of the blade. Now, I have more decisions to make.... :confused:
 
Haha, Becker + Birdhouse = pile of rubble. I like it thanks for sharing it with us.
 
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