Modified Production Knives (traditional only)

[JTB_5]

Looks good Joshua! I picked up a trio of these in orange delrin that I'll be working on very soon. I'm excited to get after them!

Thanks Jason. I really like the sodbuster pattern, even if it isn’t always what you want in hand. It’s tough and looks good.

 

[Sacto]

I reshaped my 71 farm and field today. I slimmed up and contoured the scales and reshaped the blade a little to make it more of a spear point.

I had been wanting to do this for a while but was scared I would mess it up. I’m happy with how it turned out. The handle is more comfortable and it gave it kind of a cool vintage micarta look.

 

[JTB_5]

I reshaped my 71 farm and field today. I slimmed up and contoured the scales and reshaped the blade a little to make it more of a spear point.

I had been wanting to do this for a while but was scared I would mess it up. I’m happy with how it turned out. The handle is more comfortable and it gave it kind of a cool vintage micarta look.

Looks good! Nice work.

 

[Signalprick]

I reshaped my 71 farm and field today. I slimmed up and contoured the scales and reshaped the blade a little to make it more of a spear point.

I had been wanting to do this for a while but was scared I would mess it up. I’m happy with how it turned out. The handle is more comfortable and it gave it kind of a cool vintage micarta look.

Turned out sweet!

 

[JohnDF]

I like that blade shape better.
Wish I had the tools and nerve to do that to mine.

 

[Sacto]

Looks good! Nice work.

Turned out sweet!

I like that blade shape better.
Wish I had the tools and nerve to do that to mine.

Thanks for the kind words. JohnDF - I’m think that blade shape should be better also. For some reason I don’t like the standard sod buster blade shape for my normal knife tasks.

If you’re thinking about changing the blade shape on yours, I would say go for it. I used a 1x30 belt sander, but you could just use sandpaper or files. As long as you go slowly it’s pretty hard to mess up. I just colored in the part I wanted to remove and sanded until it was gone. As I said earlier I had wanted to do the handle for a long time but was afraid I would mess it up. It came out fine and I’m happy I did it.

 

[JTB_5]

Sacto did you thin the entire handle or just taper it at the front and corners? The pattern on the micarta looks like it is tapering.

 

[Sacto]

Sacto did you thin the entire handle or just taper it at the front and corners? The pattern on the micarta looks like it is tapering.

I pretty much just rounded the corners all the way up and thinned the handle a bit at the pivot end. I wanted to thin the pivot end to get the pivot more smooth and flush. I already had the rawhide fob on the back end and didn’t want to cut it off and make a new one, so that made it hard to thin across the handle at that end. It felt comfortable, so I left it that way.

 

[Sacto]

Sacto did you thin the entire handle or just taper it at the front and corners? The pattern on the micarta looks like it is tapering.

Dropping the point of the blade also allowed me to round off the back end of the handle where it used to stick up to hide the point of the original blade.

 

[Markeologist]

A pair of Beerlows by a couple of our resident masters:

 

[JTB_5]

Thanks Sacto ! How pronounced is the taper as you look down the knife spine?

 

[Sacto]

Thanks Sacto ! How pronounced is the taper as you look down the knife spine?

It’s really not noticeable at all. Just rounding the corners of the handles makes a big difference on the knife. Can’t really see the taper.

 

[JTB_5]

Thanks again, Sacto it looks great.

 

[Will Power]

Sacto You need to go into mass-production Excellent aspect to the whole knife, Micarta colour looks mellow used I have no power tool so can't mod mine, maybe I should send you my Burgundy Red Bull Buster for the same 'tuning'

 

[JTB_5]

Sacto You need to go into mass-production Excellent aspect to the whole knife, Micarta colour looks mellow used I have no power tool so can't mod mine, maybe I should send you my Burgundy Red Bull Buster for the same 'tuning'

If Sacto isn't interested, I'd be willing to tune your burgundy bull buster for you.

 

[Sacto]

Sacto You need to go into mass-production Excellent aspect to the whole knife, Micarta colour looks mellow used I have no power tool so can't mod mine, maybe I should send you my Burgundy Red Bull Buster for the same 'tuning'

Thanks, Will Power . The project was a success, but I think I need a few more under my belt before I would feel comfortable doing someone else’s knife. I do have a couple other projects I’m working on that are going well that I’ll post when they are done. So maybe I’ll get my confidence up some time. I would say take JTB_5 up on his offer if you want yours done soon.

 

[hornetguy]

Not much of a mod by this thread's standard, but since I couldn't find an H20 GEC, I decided I'd make my own little fixed blade. I got two of the 4" Old Hickory paring knives, and played with one of them. The tang on these is pretty short, which is ok for a paring knife, but I wanted to have a longer handle for a possible carry knife. I welded on an extension, to bring it out to almost 4" long, which seems to be a pretty comfortable length for my hands. I ended up using a little arc welder to attach it, but have decided that if there is a next one, I will just braze them together. I then sliced a couple of thin slabs off a piece of walnut burl and pinned them on. I used the 1/4" brass pin just as an experiment, and went to 1/8" for the front pin.

anyway, here's some pics of my "poor man's" H20... with comparison pics of the other, un-modded Old Hick...

 

[Rose and Thistle Custom]

That's pretty cool. It's good to see a quality knife that's mostly neglected turned into a really nifty piece that'll see lots of use.

 

[JTB_5]

Got most of the way on JohnDF 's 71 spear and slim mod. The spear shape came out really nicely, but there are some flaws in other areas. I've still got to put a new edge on it and try and get rid of some rougher scratch lines on the pivot. Nearly there, though!

 

[JohnDF]

Got most of the way on JohnDF 's 71 spear and slim mod. The spear shape came out really nicely, but there are some flaws in other areas. I've still got to put a new edge on it and try and get rid of some rougher scratch lines on the pivot. Nearly there, though!

It looks fantastic.
I carried that knife solely for a week during Mike's Challenge GAW. The one thing I noted was that I didn't like the blade shape and wished the point was lower to aid in piercing tasks. Your modification should make it a much improved "user" and I can't wait to try it out. Perhaps I'll do another week's challenge in the totin' thread and report on how it has changed. I'm very excited and appreciate you doing it for me.