Modified Production Knives (traditional only)

JTB_5 · Jul 5, 2020

hornetguy said:
I finally got the stuff I needed to re-cover my RR VG-10 stockman. This is the one that comes with the stylish , cheesy aluminum covers, but I got it simply to see what it would look like, redone. The idea of a stockman in VG-10 was interesting, even if it had to come from China. I considered osage orange, and may still do that on another one, but I settled on good old traditional ebony. The screw heads were slightly sunken, but by the time I finished sanding, a couple of them are just slightly proud. I will probably go back and sink them a touch deeper, for appearance sake. I sanded it to 400 grit, and have (so far) not put any kind of oil finish on it. I probably won't, as I think the ebony will be oily enough to maintain the appearance without it.
Here are a few before and after pics....

Looks good! Nice, dark ebony and well shaped.

hornetguy · Jul 5, 2020

JTB_5 said:
Looks good! Nice, dark ebony and well shaped.

Thanks! I wasn't sure how far I wanted to go, rounding the edges, so I just went until it "felt right" in hand... I could probably go a little farther with it, but I'll wait and see how I like it this way.

r8shell · Jul 7, 2020

hornetguy said:
I finally got the stuff I needed to re-cover my RR VG-10 stockman. This is the one that comes with the stylish , cheesy aluminum covers, but I got it simply to see what it would look like, redone. The idea of a stockman in VG-10 was interesting, even if it had to come from China. I considered osage orange, and may still do that on another one, but I settled on good old traditional ebony. The screw heads were slightly sunken, but by the time I finished sanding, a couple of them are just slightly proud. I will probably go back and sink them a touch deeper, for appearance sake. I sanded it to 400 grit, and have (so far) not put any kind of oil finish on it. I probably won't, as I think the ebony will be oily enough to maintain the appearance without it.
Here are a few before and after pics....

That looks very nice as a shadow pattern. Good job!
Are the bolsters held on with screws, and you can just take the knife apart easily? If so, I'm tempted to buy one and see what I can do with my minimal hand tools.

hornetguy · Jul 7, 2020

r8shell said:
That looks very nice as a shadow pattern. Good job!
Are the bolsters held on with screws, and you can just take the knife apart easily? If so, I'm tempted to buy one and see what I can do with my minimal hand tools.

thanks!
Yes, the original scales are just held on with torx head screws. I replaced them with phillips head, because that was what I could find in that size. (M2.... tiny)
They did use some sort of thread locking compound on them, so loosening them requires some patience, so as not to strip the heads. I imagine you could use some kind of heat source to warm them up, which should make them come loose more easily.
I bought a 2mm (M2) tap, so I could chase the threads out on the little brass inserts that the scales are screwed into. This helped a lot.
I don't think you'd have any problem with doing it... it's pretty straightforward. Let me know if you have any other questions about it, shoot me a PM or email, either.

r8shell · Jul 7, 2020

hornetguy said:
thanks!
Yes, the original scales are just held on with torx head screws. I replaced them with phillips head, because that was what I could find in that size. (M2.... tiny)
They did use some sort of thread locking compound on them, so loosening them requires some patience, so as not to strip the heads. I imagine you could use some kind of heat source to warm them up, which should make them come loose more easily.
I bought a 2mm (M2) tap, so I could chase the threads out on the little brass inserts that the scales are screwed into. This helped a lot.
I don't think you'd have any problem with doing it... it's pretty straightforward. Let me know if you have any other questions about it, shoot me a PM or email, either.

Thanks!

Âchillepattada · Jul 14, 2020

A carboncarbon jack

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Will Power · Jul 15, 2020

Some of you may have heard about the anxious saga J jsdistin and I have been enduring over a 15 he was working on for me. The Hand of Covid etc intervened and despite Jeff sending out the completed knife on 24th March it only arrived today

More than worth the wait, this is Custom level finish and I'm ecstatic about it

Himalayan Ram's Horn:

JTB_5 · Jul 15, 2020

Will Power said:
Some of you may have heard about the anxious saga J jsdistin and I have been enduring over a 15 he was working on for me. The Hand of Covid etc intervened and despite Jeff sending out the completed knife on 24th March it only arrived today

More than worth the wait, this is Custom level finish and I'm ecstatic about it Himalayan Ram's Horn:

Marvelous! Glad it finally got there.

Railsplitter · Jul 15, 2020

Will Power said:
Some of you may have heard about the anxious saga J jsdistin and I have been enduring over a 15 he was working on for me. The Hand of Covid etc intervened and despite Jeff sending out the completed knife on 24th March it only arrived today

More than worth the wait, this is Custom level finish and I'm ecstatic about it Himalayan Ram's Horn:

That is stunning, Will. Congratulations!

Will Power · Jul 15, 2020

Railsplitter Thanks very much Rick but the congratulations are due to Jeff :thumbsup:

I only paid money and waited clinging to hope

Ram's Horn is a big favourite of mine, it often appears on European knives and when it's good it can outclass Stag!

jsdistin · Jul 15, 2020

Will Power said:
Some of you may have heard about the anxious saga J jsdistin and I have been enduring over a 15 he was working on for me. The Hand of Covid etc intervened and despite Jeff sending out the completed knife on 24th March it only arrived today

More than worth the wait, this is Custom level finish and I'm ecstatic about it Himalayan Ram's Horn:

Whew, lost on the way here and the way back. I’m just glad it made it, seemed like the tracking was never going to change.

Misplaced Hillbilly · Jul 20, 2020

Well at least it's not pink anymore

redsparrow · Jul 20, 2020

Misplaced Hillbilly said:
Well at least it's not pink anymore

Looks much better Dave, good job!

jsdistin · Jul 20, 2020

Looks good. What color did you hit it with? The few I’ve done seem to turn whatever color they want. This was a golden ale that I put in some dark red and it simply turned more brown with no hint of red. I could also be that I don’t know what I’m doing.

jsdistin · Jul 20, 2020

Oops.

Misplaced Hillbilly · Jul 20, 2020

jsdistin said:
Looks good. What color did you hit it with? The few I’ve done seem to turn whatever color they want. This was a golden ale that I put in some dark red and it simply turned more brown with no hint of red. I could also be that I don’t know what I’m doing.

I used red rit and dark chocolate brown, however since it was red to begin with I wasn't trying to change the color as much as darken it.

jsdistin · Jul 20, 2020

Misplaced Hillbilly said:
I used red rit and dark chocolate brown, however since it was red to begin with I wasn't trying to change the color as much as darken it.

Looks great. Did you prepare the bone or just throw it in?

Misplaced Hillbilly · Jul 20, 2020

jsdistin said:
Looks great. Did you prepare the bone or just throw it in?

Thanks, I washed it with dawn dish soap other than that I just dropped it straight in. Already had the dye simmering, to be honest I just put enough water in the pot to cover the handle while sitting on its spine and dashed a bit of brown and a bit more of red in. Along with a tidbit of dawn, from tutorials I've seen here people usually add some dish detergent to the mix. I do most stuff like this by the seat of my pants

Misplaced Hillbilly · Jul 20, 2020

Oh and it didn't take long, maybe 4-5 minutes, maybe not that long as usual I didn't time it lol

jsdistin · Jul 20, 2020