Modding My Knives: Questions From a 1st Timer

[sharkattacksw]

I recently found a small local shop that had a Cold Steel American Lawman, AK-47 and Recon all at incredibly low prices. I bought the Lawman and AK and want to try my hand at modifying them a bit. I’m pretty mechanically inclined (mechanical engineer) so I figured I’d give it a shot. I’d like to have the satisfaction of doing the job myself.

Are these two knives easily disassembled and reassembled? I’d like to strip the coating off of the blades and other hard parts as well. I was just going to sand it off, but then I started wondering if removing it chemically, like using aircraft stripper from an auto parts store, for example, would be the better way to go. I ask about this because I’m concerned that if I try to sand it off, I’ll ‘thin’ those parts a bit and the fit will suffer when I reassemble the knives. Is it OK to sand these metal parts? But on the other hand, will the aircraft stripper ‘affect’ the metal of those parts negatively? Am I over thinking this? Since I don’t have access to a bead blaster, sanding or stripping are my only two options. (Sounds like two possible career choices, ‘eh?)

Regarding the scales, I’m wondering the same thing about them. Are the G-10 scales thick enough to allow for some sanding to smooth their aggressive texture down a bit? I don’t plan on going crazy with the sandpaper, I just don’t want to ruin them if there’s a chance that the scales are borderline too thin as they are, right out of the box. All I want to do is to knock the aggressive texture down to one that will be pocket friendly. I’d rather sand the scales as opposed to doing the nutnfancy mod which looks like a total mess, to be honest.

As always, any and all help, suggestions, tips, tricks, etc. will be greatly appreciated. I’m looking forward to working these knives myself and, hopefully, admiring my work.

 

[sharkattacksw]

Anyone?

 

[tabeeb762]

Chemical stripper is always preferable to sanding

 

[Whitedog]

You can use those 3M stripping pads to remove black coating on blades. You may wind up with a blade with a slight grey tint to it, all depends on how much you use the pads. I have done several Benchmades blades this way. Kinda like the slightly grey tint. I have not had much luck with the chem strippers. The pads work pretty quick. One thing you might want to watch is the direction of the sanding. Go from spine to edge and you should keep the scratch pattern looking nice.
Be careful sanding the G10 scales. Do this by hand and watch out for sanding dust, you don't want to inhale it.
You would have to sand for a long time on the blade to change the thickness any. So get some pads and get after it.

 

[myowngod]

That teflon is easy to mess up but not so easy to remove. "Bix" and a little elbow grease seem to be the best. I used sand paper on everything but the back spacer (anodized aluminum rather than coated steel - anodizing will come off easily when soaked in drain cleaner or oven cleaner).

I'm a huge fan of the Recon's ergos and lock, hated the blade shape and look... fixed it all with some work. Also take some sandpaper to the sharp edges of the g10, makes a big difference. I also sent mine to someone who stonewashed it.