I ordered a BK2 last week, it got here on Thursday. Great price from Amazon with free shipping. While I think the KaBar Becker BK2 is a GREAT knife for the money, I prefer a more classi-cool look. The stock grivory handles are a great shape, but I just don't like the lack of texture. I thought about grooving or dimpling the stock grips, but in the end I ordered the micarta replacement handles from Tomar's.
I had to buy some longer hardware. The stuff that came with my knife was 10-32 socket hex head. The stock hardware is not long enough. I bought 3/4" long replacements in stainless. These are probably a little long and I will be trimming them down just a bit. The hardware uses a 5/32nd allen wrench.
I'm not a big black coating kinda guy, so I decided to strip it off. I used some $6 spray can paint remover from ACE. The stuff foams up and had the coating soft in 15 minutes or so. I left it on for 30 minutes and then used a disposable plastic paint scraper and some nitrite gloves.
After the coating was off I spent a few hours with some 220 grit sandpaper on the couch. The knife was a little rough under the coating, I didn't try for a mirror polish or anything, but I smoothed out the entire knife. The grind was a little rough and took some work.
In order to help protect the steel of the knife I decided to force a patina finish on the knife. I used the regular old yellow mustard. A thick coating for 30 minutes followed by wiping it to a thin coating, followed by another 30 minute soak. The mustard was them removed in hot water.
Following the forced patina I put a nice satin finish on the blade with some ultra fine steel wool. This gave it a nice finish.
Finally I gave all the steel a rub down with some olive oil before I reassembled it with the new stainless hardware and new scales.....
This thing is a beast. I have done the expensive custom knife thing. I had an older BK2 that I let go in my younger dumber years. It's good to be home again......
Next well be a custom leather sheath, personally I just don't like the stock one, and it doesn't have the right feel for me.....
