Customizing the AFCK.

B

BM800S

Joined
Dec 20, 1998
Messages
15
Has anyone come across any ways to customize the AFCK? I merely ask because I can't help but mess with a good thing. I know the design is bordering on perfect now but, I would love to hear anything anyone has done to change the knife for the better. PLEASE do not just tell me I don't need to change anything. I know the design is great but, like I said before I just wanted to know.

Thanks,
Brian
 
Marion Poff did a really good job on his AFCK, we have pictures of it, it's just a matter of finding time to finish them for posting. Most of the mods he did are very very good.

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
Well I'll give it a go here.
The first thing I did was totaly deconstruct it. Took it all apart. I started with the blade first. Inoticed that when I opened it it would scrape? against the washers. This is what made me "customize" it in the first place. Anyway when I got it appart I noticed that the machine marks or grinding scrathes were big enough to make it difficult to open. Or at least not make it open as smooth as I wanted it to. So I clamed the blade to my bench and sanded all the grind marks out on down to 800 grit. I then took to the buffer and with jewelers roughe LIGHTLY! buffed the whole blade. Be verry carful around the pivot point you don't want to open it up wider and make a sloppy fit. Now the whole blade has got a mirror finish. Boy does she look nice!
However, I use this thing from time to time and scratches as we all know stand out larger than life on a mirror polished blade so I went bak to 400 grit paper and put a satin finish on the bevels and spine but left the flats polished. I then took a hardened steel rod in my drillpress big enough to have to apply "some" pressure to force through the pivot hole and burnished it. I DO NOT recomend this to anyone. I was sweating the whole time wondering when that hardened steel rod was going to shatter and send pieces flying! Won't do that again. Oh yeah, BM logo is now history on the blade. Nice and clean.
Next was the scales. Nothing much to do here but round the edges all the way around the scales. No more bite. Now for the liners. The nasty machine marks on the edges of the liners were sanded down to 400 grit to match the blade. Nothing else to do here. Pivot pin. She was LIGHTLY buffed to get a mirror finish on it. Once I reconstructed her and did some tweeking to get everything back in line I opened her up. Oh man! She was smooth as silk. Soft in the hand and a beauty to hold. At first glance you can't really tell I did anything to it until you handle it and play with it and really LOOK at it then the differences manifest themselves. Someone who has never seen or played with a AFCK won't know what I did but those who have one will be able to tell right off. I've done this to several of my buddies AFCK's and they are thrilled!
The contrast of brushed and polished surfaces on the blade realy make it look cool!
Cheers!

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The spirit grows, strength is restored by wounding
 
The only thing I did to mine was anodize the liners a deep blue it really sets the black G10 off looks like a different knife.
Steve
 
I was thinking about it when I got my AFCK, ten dyas ago or so. Getting a smoother action (mine is very tight), polish and anodize the liners, have the clip polished (black clips tend to scratch too fast), make some minor modifications on the liners profile and substitute the g-10 for something like carbon fiber (maybe even green G-10) and have the spacer made of the same material. Did I forget anything?
Best regards.

Ivan
 
I've done all sorts of AFCK customizations. Mainly replacing the scales with micarta, dymondwood, milled aluminum with inserts, or titanium. Here's one of the nicer examples:

<IMG SRC=http://members.delphi.com/corduroybear/afck1.jpg>

This one has 416 SS bolsters pinned to its original liners, and contoured black micarta scales on the lower portion. The liners are fileworked, as is the full-length aluminum spacer (not visible). The scales are held on by hex cap screws (note that it has one more than the standard AFCK) while the pivot and locking pin have slotted heads that can be adjusted with a Leatherman. The blade has also received an extra polish.

I did Benchmade modifications to gain experience and a little money before I began making my own knives. It's a great way to get started!

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-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
Ohhhh, that's sweet, Corduroy! Almost makes me wanna go out and buy an AFCK. Almost.

You mention the blade is polished. You didn't alter it to a flat grind, did you? It almost looks like it.

OBTW, I like your cartoon on the other thread...


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Live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse, it's the only way to win.
Outlaw_Dogboy


 
No, it's not a flat grind, just the lighting; I took the picture with a late afternoon sun behind me, hence the gold color. If you look closely you can just make out the other grind as a change in shade. Not a bad idea, though...but ATS-34 is a real pain to grind when it's hardened, at least with my equipment.

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-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
I modified my AFCK just yesterday. Using a Dremel I rounded off the corner of the handle above the pivot area. The original corner had a tendency to wear holes in my pants (vertical opening Dockers pockets) a bit too fast. This is a fairly easy and relatively risk free operation for someone like me to perform, not being a skilled artisan with lots of specialized tools on hand.

David Rock
 
Has anyone ever Cryo-Tempered their blade? How does it affect it if they have? I would like to know how it affects the edge holding capacity.

Brian
 
Corduroy
Can you do or do you still do these modifications on a Stryker? File work and Bolsters? and high polish on the blade surface? Would be very interested if so.
Bob
 
Strider,
I appreciate the interest, but I had to shut my shop down to return to school. I hope to get back to it, but currently have no certain plans about when that might be. Also, my focus will mainly be on totally original pieces. As I mentioned, modifying Benchmades was a good way to get into knifemaking, but making my own knives has been even more rewarding. Still, I never stopped working on Benchmades entirely, and if I do get some shop space again you can bet I'll let the forum know about it.

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-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
Corduroy
If you do decide to tinker around with modifications you can bet I will be first to have it done.
Bob
 
After seeing Corduroy's modified 800, I am ashamed to even post, but I wanted to mention that I was told that Benchmade does cryo treat their blades. You wouldn't know it from the toughness, but they do hold an edge pretty well.

All I ever did was round the handle edges, file the liner-lock teeth down even with the edge of the handle, and file down the G-10 next to the thumb hole to allow easier access. Works pretty good.

Harv
 
Let's say someone removed the blade of their AFCK and when they replaced the blade it would wobble slightly. How would that certain person get rid of the wobble? Please don't tell him to tighten the pivot screw because I eeerrrrrr, I mean he has already tried this and it works only when it is too hard to use. I used oil for lube. Should I have used grease of some sort? What kind if so. I appreciate it. This is a brand new knife and I doubt the spacers are worn. Is there something better to replace them with?

Thanks,
Brian
 
Check out Kevin Gentile's AFCK modifications on his web site:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ghca/Knifehead.html

I have had three of my AFCKs modified to Hi-speed folders by Kevin. I also had him bead blast the blades. I took the sandpaper off the clips because I kept accidently sanding my wooden furniture with it.

The mods are very nice. I highly recommend Kevin's work.

Axel
 
BM800S,
Are you talking about a side-to-side wobble or a front-to-back wobble? For front to back try bending your liner up a bit higher (it may be stopping shy of its full possible travel) or rotating the locking pin/tube (these aren't always perfectly round, and when reassembled my present a slightly different face to the tang). For side-to-side try different adjustments of BOTH your pivot and the screw that goes through the locking pin/tube. These two screws act jointly to set the distance between the liners+scales near the blade, and having them at different lengths can cause looseness or even tightness by causing the scales+liners not to be parallel. Just working on the pivot won't always work, so try adjusting that first screw as well. Email me if this was unclear and I can try to explain more thoroughly.

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-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
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