I was looking into making some custom wood scales for my BK 2

azwelke

azwelke

azwelke.com
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Nov 12, 2007
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But most of the handle scale wood comes too small to fit the BK2:eek: Do you guys use the blocks of wood?:D

Show me your customs, please.
 
If you find some Arizona desert ironwood lying around and make scales out of that, I will be jealous. I'm into bocote right now. Also like cocobolo. Probably should use stabilized though. I wouldn't be surprised if jroden has a sweet BK2...

Have you tried calling Burl Source? I bet Mark might be able to get you custom sized scales. He's a really cool dude too.
 
Wow, Thanks for that. I was thinking Desert Ironwood too :) I love the looks of it. I want to try copper mosaic pins too, like an Arizona edition.


crimsonfalcon07 said:
If you find some Arizona desert ironwood lying around and make scales out of that, I will be jealous. I'm into bocote right now. Also like cocobolo. Probably should use stabilized though. I wouldn't be surprised if jroden has a sweet BK2...

Have you tried calling Burl Source? I bet Mark might be able to get you custom sized scales. He's a really cool dude too.
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I'm also a big fan of stabilized wood. I don't have any on Beckers, which is why I've refrained from posting pics, but I've done a couple in stabilized old-growth California redwood burl, oregon maple burl, and amboyna burl, and love all of them. Amboyna is probably my favorite overall. Wow, that stuff is gorgeous.
 
Nice job, Thanks for the pic :)
 
Okay, so I got a 2" x 2" x 6" block of desert ironwood, and match booked it into 3 @ 5/8" thick x 2" x 6" blanks (1 is spare in case mistake)
Also I was able to pick the best 2 of 3 for the slabs.
I am considering trying the hexnut thing on one scale so I can put these on different Beckers :) Does anyone have a helpful link or hint on doing that?
They are sanded at 80 grit right now and will highly polish up with higher grits and buffing coumpound. I have a lot of shaping to do as well.
What do you think so far?

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There is a how to around here somewhere I did over a year ago where I briefly touched on the whole hex nut hole deal, I think there was a picture of the tool I use also.
 
Yep, Oregon's probably got the best How-to on that. I think that might even be linked in the handle mod thread. I am too lazy to do that, so I usually just countersink a plain Jane hole. That way, if I want to use a different set of mounting hardware, it still works just fine and I don't need to do extra work.

Looking forward to seeing what these will look like after you're done and have done the Danish oil, etc. Just in case, like me, you're not really an expert on wood finishing, Mark at Burl Source is a fount of information on how to finish different types of wood up so they look the best. I've learned a lot from him, and he seems to always be happy to chat. If you need the help, he's probably one of the best guys to call, in my opinion.
 
Here are some progress pics.

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Getting hardware started. I used a sharpened screw driver as a chisel. I chisel ground it and narrowed it's shoulders for the hex nut part.


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A little shaping. This is my first attempt at handle scales ever. So I am green at this and scared:eek: And I'm using desert ironwood for my first attempt, and it's hard like a rock. And my sander is only 1" wide. :)

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Getting closer

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Here are few with some mineral oil on them.

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I need new hardware in black like the factory just longer :) and I will continue shaping them as time goes on. They are only sanded to 150 grit right now. I need to get some higher grit sand paper and the proper oil n stuff and I think they will work for me.

And I am really happy they will fit some other Beckers too.

Al
 
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I'd stop right there.

Looks great; you can only screw it up from here on in. I'm contemplating the same thing for my BK5. Once I get a BK5.

(Looks really, really good.)
 
Wow Thank You :) maybe I will.

Al

Rotte said:
I'd stop right there.

Looks great; you can only screw it up from here on in. I'm contemplating the same thing for my BK5. Once I get a BK5.

(Looks really, really good.)
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Now I need to strip and patina my BK 2, this is my ugly one.... She was dropped during shipping and I never fixed the tip yet, but you can barely tell, I will pretty her back up, after I strip her :)
 
Those came out nice!

I have no patience for handle making for some reason. I always screw them up. Anybody who makes them has got mad skillz in my book. I cherish the one's I got from oregon fal'er that are on my bk6..
 
tman038 said:
looks great! that wood is really nice. very impressive
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Skystorm said:
Those came out nice!

I have no patience for handle making for some reason. I always screw them up. Anybody who makes them has got mad skillz in my book. I cherish the one's I got from oregon fal'er that are on my bk6..
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Thank You both :) I really appreciate that :cool::thumbup:
 
Amazing stuff, difficult to beleive this is your first handle scale.... Awesome and heartiest congratulations on the outstanding job.

Regards
Moin.
 
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