GL's BK2 Mod project

[glwanabe]

Been working this past month on creating my own custom BK2. Actually this is the 1st of 2 I'll be working on.

Dr Frankensteins patient

early sanding to see high and low spots. A lot of work was to come.

work progressing on removing handle material. this was work! The file skipped across the metal unless you really dug into it, to break the surface. Heavy sanding help to create a surface for the file to bite into.

initial material is gone, this work happened over several days. About 10hrs of work to this point. At this point my hands, and arms were sore from just this little bit of work, and a lot more was to come.

Beginning to remove material to create a new custom handle.

Working the tip into more of a spearpoint

Fairly deep pitting on the blade, but there is plenty to work with.

At this point I just kept sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and looking at the blade shape, and filing, and filing, and refining it, to where I thought I wanted to go. This process happened over the course of about 3 weeks.

Finally got to a point where I put the scales on, and did some initial shaping to get a rough idea of where I was.

After this point, both of the blades were stripped. Might as well do them both while were at it.

To be continued

 

[glwanabe]

A lot of continual refining of the lines, and cleaning up the blade material. I didn't want to go totally symmetrical with the point as I would have lost more length than I wanted, and it would have meant bigger issues with the top spine and sharp edge and the grind line. I think it looks pretty good as is.

Got to this point a few days ago. More work on polishing blade scratches out, refining the handle shape. Began aiming to replicate my Outback, by LT Wright.

Before more handle reshaping.

After. It's subtle to look at, but that's a good 4hrs of work today.

I'm close to finishing this project, or at least taking it out and seeing what I've created. It feels totally different, in a good way. It's still a brute of a blade, but I think it will do some serious knife type work.


The next project awaits. Not quite as drastic, but still will be some work. Blade shape will be a longer drop point style, and a big Brother to my BHK Patriot scout.

 

[GeofS]

Impressive work! Very cool how you’re matching the style of the other knives. You’re really making them your own.

You now have me thinking about a BK2 Kephart. Maybe smooth the handle bump out and round the pommel around the bottom bolt (through the lanyard hole).

 

[glwanabe]

Impressive work! Very cool how you’re matching the style of the other knives. You’re really making them your own.

You now have me thinking about a BK2 Kephart. Maybe smooth the handle bump out and round the pommel around the bottom bolt (through the lanyard hole).

Thanks, it's been fun, but a HUUUGE amount of work. Wouldn't have been so bad if I had more tools, but the garage is full right now. I literally did all this with a couple files, and lots of sandpaper, a orbital palm sander. BEER, lots of beer!



My current workspace. An old headboard for a bench, a large C-clamp, Files, Sandpaper.

This is an early sketch I did for the handle. I thought about a Kephart as well, but looked to stay fairly close to shapes I thought I could get out of the material.

You could do a Kephart but for a symetrical spear point, you would end up at about 4.5 inches of blade. It's pretty close as it is, the BK62 is a flat grind though.
I might actually do that to the blade. There is a shop here in town, (Houston) that will do the work.

 

[OnceBitten]

Looks pretty good.

Be sure to wear a mask when you sand/grind Micarta.

 

[Xr6x]

NICE WORK GL!

 

[fishface5]

Wow that is a lot of sanding!! Respect. But Harbor Freight sells an inexpensive belt grinder . . .

 

[The Warrior]

Nice work man, very impressive. Mods do take a lot of time. I modded a BK2 into a clip point, and also did a mild mod to a Cam edition BK2.

Stupid Photobucket marks on it now:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...tripped-and-striped-oh-my-photo-heavy.939205/

Cam mod: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/mild-bk2-mod.1393307/#post16057350

Here's a few photos:

 

[glwanabe]

Wow that is a lot of sanding!! Respect. But Harbor Freight sells an inexpensive belt grinder . . .

Yup, I looked at HF for tools. Couple of Sanders looked good. If I decide to do more than just these 2 blades I could see getting one of them.

Having to go slow on this actually helped a lot. Power tools make short work of stuff, And I probably would have made bigger mistakes.
I know a lot more now about what I want ,so the next blade will go faster once started.
I've got micarta scale blanks ordered to make a custom handle for the next project.
There's also the mental therapy of just having a beer and flat sanding the metal. I'm doing this work for me, as opposed to my time being spent on somebody else.

 

[glwanabe]

Cold white vinegar 3hr bath complete.

Wondering if I should steel wool it, and do it again?

 

[Tanker 1/66]

Cold white vinegar 3hr bath complete.

Wondering if I should steel wool it, and do it again?

Maybe steel wool it and throw on some mustard for a nice pattern. That blade is coming along nice.

 

[GeofS]

Heat is supposed to help with the vinegar.

 

[DerekH]

My hands hurt on your behalf! Nice work! Excited to see how they both turn out!

 

[glwanabe]

Been working a lot of hours lately, not getting much done except sleep, work, work, sleep, you know the drill.
I did put a decent edge back on it, and carve a couple sticks. It's still a beast of a blade, and for my taste, need more metal taken off the primary bevel.
I'll take it to a local knife shop and let them use belt Sanders on it, to save me time.

 

[Xr6x]

Cold white vinegar 3hr bath complete.

Wondering if I should steel wool it, and do it again?

Clean it with rubbing alcohol first than the vinegar. Any oils from your hands or anything else can mess with the vinegar and not let the patina to happen . It's worth a try if darkening is what you want Smooth steel doesn't patina as fast as rougher steel but 3 hours should have been long enough to have turned that blade DARK I think It's Looking GREAT

Middle Knife was cleaned with Alcohol than a 5 minute wipe with Appel Cider Vinegar on a paper towel .

The other 2 right after. This after many hours of sanding first