- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 953
Yup...the only way to ruin a BK7... Make it too pretty. I went from originally planning to let my 7 strip herself through batoning, chopping and good honest hard work. I even loved the look of the worn, scarred up black epoxy every time I put her through another log, or chopped another tree limb, she wore her scars well, and I couldn't wait to see her in a couple years... grim, gaunt, grizzled through hard use.
But then one day I got bored...
I started by spending a half hour making some crappy Xbox case handle liners, cool, but nothing compared to what I've seen Flexxx make. Whatever, that was a bust...well I want to personalize it a bit...Ok lets strip her. That's it, she's going to get that way anyway, might as well get her clothes off so I can play around with some patinas.
I went ahead and bought some Circa 1850 Furniture stripper (closest thing I could find to paint stripper at Wally World). Picked up some Stanley Stripping gloves. Set up outside on my balcony and went to work. Wasn't able to take pics, it was dark out and I was doing it with a flashlight in my teeth lol. Had some slight problems with the gloves, as about 20 minutes after I first applied the stripper, I put the gloves on again to change sides, and apply again, I felt a weird sensation. It was hot and cold at the same time, and about 2 minutes after that, my hand started really burning. I was able to rinse and wash my hand, and the redness and pain went away a few minutes after. When I checked the inside of the gloves, I saw large, brown burn marks on the palms. The stripper must have been eating away at the outter rubber, and released vapors into the gloves...good thing I was outside, not in a basement or shed.
Anyways, with that minor mishap cleared up, I threw on some thin latex gloves to rinse the stripper off, and was kind of surprised to see such deep grind marks... that won't do.
That's ok, I can knock these down pretty easily I think. So I started sanding. And sanding. And sanding. The marks are still there. Ok, this Is gonna take a while... I'm still going at it after a good 15 minutes. They're still there. I start feeling like a prisoner handed a file to saw his way out of the bars. And then realizing it ain't doing a damn thing and he's gonna be here for ages. Ok, I've gone through a bunch of grits but I can see them...I can hear them...must keep sanding....Boy she sure is getting shiny...
Ok, by all accounts they're knocked down. I have a smooth surface, a few slight imperfections in some particularly deep grinds...swedge still has a few grinds too...hmm, Ok lets just knock these things out and call it a day. Can't wait to patina this thing and chop a log... er maybe whittle a trap to start with. Wouldn't want to take a chance gouging this smooth blade
Wow, I can see myself now. This is looking like a fine piece of polished metal on a hotrod or something... Ok let's see how far we can go...Lets enter the 600+ grit realm. 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, I work each until my arm is sore, and then do the other side.
(Imagine Les stroud narrating this part)
I work feverishly, using an improvised set of lego's as a sanding block. At times using my bare hands, twice my frenzied fingers slip over the edge, the tip of the blade tearing up through the paper...between my fingers, my hand already half way down the blade when I finally stop. I'm becoming delirious... *tepa tepa tepa tepaaa...*
Seriously though, I realize now that I'm gonna have a very hard time wrecking this finish that I've put so much time and effort into, but I keep telling myself "Let her be pretty once". So I plan out an elaborate patina for the flat, upper portion of the blade (excuse my lack of technical linguistics). I start by giving an even base patina of lemon juice, left on for 5 minutes. I did this a couple times until I had it built up an even, slightly darker base. Now for the mango. I sliced it up, and squashed much of it to pulp. I then used tweezer, and methodically arranged the mango chunks to form a weaving, blotchy pattern, with tendrils snaking up and around, over the spine, and continued to the other side.
I was left with a really cool, almost Damascus looking effect. If I repeated it in multiple layers, it would probably look even better. Now I wanted to finish the patina with some cool rainbow tones of blue, gold and red. I used a mixture of whole grain mustard, thinned with a little white vinegar, dyed with a couple drops of blue food coloring. I don't know if the food coloring affects anything, but I figured it couldn't hurt to help with the deep blue tone I was going for. I applied the gloppy, now-green paste along all over the upper area, and let it sit for an hour.
Washed it off in hot water, and lo and behold, rainbow patina, over mango snake patina, over lemon base patina. Patina!
The pictures hardly do it justice, as the colors change in the angle of the light. Now I just had to go back with some 1500, then 2000 grit along the bevel, to tidy up the lines around the patina...and I was done. Filework is cool though...But that's for another time.
So now I've ruined it. A perfectly usable, workhorse of a blade, turned into a coveted, precious desk ornament. This is the first time I've modified a knife really in any way, so I was winging it for the most part, with some guidance from the rest of you guys. I still have plans for this knife, including filework (once I find some decent files), dyed micarta, some of flexxx's liners and maybe some of MWTIC's leather down the road if I'm lucky.
That all being said and done, fear not. I will use her, I will abuse her. I've never been one to keep my toys in their packages, or knives in a safe, So yes I will be using it. I might pick something else up...a 9 or machax when theyre available for heavy work. I think this 7 will still be seeing the inside of some logs though. I can already see a blue-bleach acid etch, grapefruit patina....hmmmm.
But then one day I got bored...
I started by spending a half hour making some crappy Xbox case handle liners, cool, but nothing compared to what I've seen Flexxx make. Whatever, that was a bust...well I want to personalize it a bit...Ok lets strip her. That's it, she's going to get that way anyway, might as well get her clothes off so I can play around with some patinas.
I went ahead and bought some Circa 1850 Furniture stripper (closest thing I could find to paint stripper at Wally World). Picked up some Stanley Stripping gloves. Set up outside on my balcony and went to work. Wasn't able to take pics, it was dark out and I was doing it with a flashlight in my teeth lol. Had some slight problems with the gloves, as about 20 minutes after I first applied the stripper, I put the gloves on again to change sides, and apply again, I felt a weird sensation. It was hot and cold at the same time, and about 2 minutes after that, my hand started really burning. I was able to rinse and wash my hand, and the redness and pain went away a few minutes after. When I checked the inside of the gloves, I saw large, brown burn marks on the palms. The stripper must have been eating away at the outter rubber, and released vapors into the gloves...good thing I was outside, not in a basement or shed.
Anyways, with that minor mishap cleared up, I threw on some thin latex gloves to rinse the stripper off, and was kind of surprised to see such deep grind marks... that won't do.
That's ok, I can knock these down pretty easily I think. So I started sanding. And sanding. And sanding. The marks are still there. Ok, this Is gonna take a while... I'm still going at it after a good 15 minutes. They're still there. I start feeling like a prisoner handed a file to saw his way out of the bars. And then realizing it ain't doing a damn thing and he's gonna be here for ages. Ok, I've gone through a bunch of grits but I can see them...I can hear them...must keep sanding....Boy she sure is getting shiny...
Ok, by all accounts they're knocked down. I have a smooth surface, a few slight imperfections in some particularly deep grinds...swedge still has a few grinds too...hmm, Ok lets just knock these things out and call it a day. Can't wait to patina this thing and chop a log... er maybe whittle a trap to start with. Wouldn't want to take a chance gouging this smooth blade
Wow, I can see myself now. This is looking like a fine piece of polished metal on a hotrod or something... Ok let's see how far we can go...Lets enter the 600+ grit realm. 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, I work each until my arm is sore, and then do the other side.
(Imagine Les stroud narrating this part)
I work feverishly, using an improvised set of lego's as a sanding block. At times using my bare hands, twice my frenzied fingers slip over the edge, the tip of the blade tearing up through the paper...between my fingers, my hand already half way down the blade when I finally stop. I'm becoming delirious... *tepa tepa tepa tepaaa...*
Seriously though, I realize now that I'm gonna have a very hard time wrecking this finish that I've put so much time and effort into, but I keep telling myself "Let her be pretty once". So I plan out an elaborate patina for the flat, upper portion of the blade (excuse my lack of technical linguistics). I start by giving an even base patina of lemon juice, left on for 5 minutes. I did this a couple times until I had it built up an even, slightly darker base. Now for the mango. I sliced it up, and squashed much of it to pulp. I then used tweezer, and methodically arranged the mango chunks to form a weaving, blotchy pattern, with tendrils snaking up and around, over the spine, and continued to the other side.
I was left with a really cool, almost Damascus looking effect. If I repeated it in multiple layers, it would probably look even better. Now I wanted to finish the patina with some cool rainbow tones of blue, gold and red. I used a mixture of whole grain mustard, thinned with a little white vinegar, dyed with a couple drops of blue food coloring. I don't know if the food coloring affects anything, but I figured it couldn't hurt to help with the deep blue tone I was going for. I applied the gloppy, now-green paste along all over the upper area, and let it sit for an hour.
Washed it off in hot water, and lo and behold, rainbow patina, over mango snake patina, over lemon base patina. Patina!
The pictures hardly do it justice, as the colors change in the angle of the light. Now I just had to go back with some 1500, then 2000 grit along the bevel, to tidy up the lines around the patina...and I was done. Filework is cool though...But that's for another time.
So now I've ruined it. A perfectly usable, workhorse of a blade, turned into a coveted, precious desk ornament. This is the first time I've modified a knife really in any way, so I was winging it for the most part, with some guidance from the rest of you guys. I still have plans for this knife, including filework (once I find some decent files), dyed micarta, some of flexxx's liners and maybe some of MWTIC's leather down the road if I'm lucky.
That all being said and done, fear not. I will use her, I will abuse her. I've never been one to keep my toys in their packages, or knives in a safe, So yes I will be using it. I might pick something else up...a 9 or machax when theyre available for heavy work. I think this 7 will still be seeing the inside of some logs though. I can already see a blue-bleach acid etch, grapefruit patina....hmmmm.
By the amount of orange in your sig and avatar, you gotta like the color yourself! lol
