Modifying the Pen Knife or Giving Purists Heartburn with My Tactical Spatula

[Steely_Gunz]

I have long placed the Pen Knife in my top 5 most useful HI products. Handy, lightweight, and sporting a profile that chops above its paygrade, it has been one of my favorite belt knives.

I jokingly called it a Tactical Spatula once upon a time because its wide front-heavy blade resembled something one could turn pancakes with over an open fire.

As I have mentioned before, my Bura-made PK was stolen out of my jeep while it was parked at my office overnight about 7 years ago. I have given many HI blades away, but I can only remember 2 being stolen and never returned. Of those, the PK was the one that stung the most.

So when Yangdu posted a blem PK last week, I decided to bite. Sporting a decent hairline crack, a sheath with no chakma or karda, and a blemish of a buff where someone tried to polish out a bit of rust, it was perfect for what I had in mind. My game plan was to take a mild-mannered blem and rough it up and make it a rugged user.

I planned on giving it a satin finish on the blade, hitting the blade with a mild blue/patina, converting the scabbard to a "sticky holster", and (most blasphemous) wrapping the handle in a non-skid material.

So, be warned those of purest of purist. I did a few mildly unorthodox things to this rig, but im actually really happy how it turned out.

First, here's what we had to work with:

Run of the mill PK. A bit over 12" and coming at that ounce per inch sweet spot of 12oz. The swirls on the blade are from the oil left on the blade for shipping.

So this is what I figured I would need: Sanding sponge to rough up and buff, Super Glue to modify the scabbard and fill any potential cracks in the handle, Fiber Fix for my handle wrap. LOVE my Fiber Fix.

I couldn't really capture it, but this where a pinkie nail size scuff was on the blade. I took care of that with the next step involving a sanding sponge

Buffed the whole knife satin. The sanding roughed up the blade to let the bluing compound soak in and made the handle grippy enough for the wrap to take.

This process actually took a couple of steps. I did a series of bluing, buffing, and acid soaking. This was during the last bluing process before I buffed the blade with high polish scratch remover.

I skipped a few steps to get here, but I was multitasking at work. The finished product. PK wearing a buffed satin patina, scabbard has had an elective surgery to remove the frog and karda/chamka slots, the handle has been wrapped in Fiber Fix to stabilize the horn handle and keep it from cracking (think skateboard tape that sets up like a plaster cast on steroids). The scabbard has been wrapped in Fiber Fix as well to not only make it grippy as to hold tight in a sash-style carry (tuck n go), but it makes it nearly impervious to cutting through.

Basically what I was left with was a bombproof set up where the knife handle is stable and very tactile in the hand despite how wet it is. The scabbard has been made more resilient to cutting damage and now grips the sides of my nylon belt making it possible to carry the PK without a frog and loop.

I was really happy to see that this particular specimen of PK sports Kumar's keen yet robust edge over my old PKs overly obtuse convex edge. It cuts, slices, and chops just fine. Even after all the sanding and buffing, the edge popped back to more than razor sharp with a ceramic rod and a loaded strop. It is 100% ready to go.

As always, a huge thank you is owed to Yangdu as well as Kumar for making such a wonderful blade. I hope to give it a test run this weekend. Long term plans are to make a new leather sheath for it in te next few months. This little PK is what our late-great forum mod would have called a "pocket battleship".

It's a user...and a keeper

Thanks for reading.

 

[EricTheRedBeard]

Great idea and great job! I got some fiber fix on hand after you mentioned possibly using it for handles in another post. I have yet to use it, but it seems like a handy thing to keep on hand. Sash carry is so easy and comfortable. Seems like this extra grippiness would be really helpful for that. I love it!

 

[Howard Wallace]

Bowie sheaths often have a little stud to engage the top of the belt. Seems such a stud might be pretty easy to include when using the fiber fix.

 

[arbiter]

Fiber fix on the handle-It's blasphemy! lol! Great tip for scabbard fixes-thanks!

 

[Bawanna]

Never heard of fiber fix, I'll have to look for that. Perhaps slightly blasphemous but it turned out nice. I recently got a Micro Tech similar to your photo. Opposite ends of the historical calendar but a fine knife.

I'll have to show my PK some love tomorrow, haven't handled it in quite a while.

Nice work.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Bowie sheaths often have a little stud to engage the top of the belt. Seems such a stud might be pretty easy to include when using the fiber fix.

I actually thought about this too. I actually found a little belt clip in my leather craft stuff that would be easy enough to add with abother wrap of Fiber Fix.
I still may do it, but phase two is going to be a backdraw leather sheath at a 15 degree cant anyway. Just need to find the time to get to Tandy to pick up some supplies...and the time to actually make the thing.


And thanks all for dealing with my blasphemous Fiber Fix wrap. In truth, I wrap all of my horn handle users that have any kind of split to them regardless of size. I have a bad habit of leaving my carry khuks in my truck and the 105 degree heat causes them to crack. Nothing wrong with the khuk at all. Its my dummy self leaving them in there.The split in this handle was super small, but it ran along the ring of the grip, and I wanted to make sure i was proactive in fixing it. Also, Fiber Fix gives about 5 times more purchase over polished horn. I use the stuff on anything I want to give grip/protect. I wrap all of my spears in it, and it's a really stout way to protect axe and hawk handles from over strikes without adding weight. I actually always keep a little box of the stuff on hand at all times. It comes in a couple sizes and runs between about 8 and 10 bucks a kit.

I hope to maybe get a little use review this weekend. I might do some cutting/chopping comparisons between the PK and AKB.

Thanks again!

 

[pugs75]

Blasphemous or not, I think it looks great, mind not blasphemous by me. Looks like a tool that will serve you like you want it too. Great job, the only problem with this whole thread, is now you got me thinking, which can be dangerous lol.

 

[Bawanna]

Hold me mommy, I'm scared.

 

[XelaXela]

thanks for the trigger warning.... triggered! ack!

xx

 

[moparsbob]

Hi Jake Steely_Gunz ,

How many wraps of fiberfix did you use on that handle - did you use a whole roll of the 1" x 40" stuff? Did you wrap it with the vinyl wrap on top while it set up, or did you not use that to leave it rougher on the outside? I hadn't head about this fiberfix stuff before, but it looks like it would be very useful for a great variety of repairs and improvements.

Thanks, - Bob

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

I have long placed the Pen Knife in my top 5 most useful HI products. Handy, lightweight, and sporting a profile that chops above its paygrade, it has been one of my favorite belt knives.

I jokingly called it a Tactical Spatula once upon a time because its wide front-heavy blade resembled something one could turn pancakes with over an open fire.

As I have mentioned before, my Bura-made PK was stolen out of my jeep while it was parked at my office overnight about 7 years ago. I have given many HI blades away, but I can only remember 2 being stolen and never returned. Of those, the PK was the one that stung the most.

So when Yangdu posted a blem PK last week, I decided to bite. Sporting a decent hairline crack, a sheath with no chakma or karda, and a blemish of a buff where someone tried to polish out a bit of rust, it was perfect for what I had in mind. My game plan was to take a mild-mannered blem and rough it up and make it a rugged user.

I planned on giving it a satin finish on the blade, hitting the blade with a mild blue/patina, converting the scabbard to a "sticky holster", and (most blasphemous) wrapping the handle in a non-skid material.

So, be warned those of purest of purist. I did a few mildly unorthodox things to this rig, but im actually really happy how it turned out.

First, here's what we had to work with:

Run of the mill PK. A bit over 12" and coming at that ounce per inch sweet spot of 12oz. The swirls on the blade are from the oil left on the blade for shipping.

So this is what I figured I would need: Sanding sponge to rough up and buff, Super Glue to modify the scabbard and fill any potential cracks in the handle, Fiber Fix for my handle wrap. LOVE my Fiber Fix.

I couldn't really capture it, but this where a pinkie nail size scuff was on the blade. I took care of that with the next step involving a sanding sponge

Buffed the whole knife satin. The sanding roughed up the blade to let the bluing compound soak in and made the handle grippy enough for the wrap to take.

This process actually took a couple of steps. I did a series of bluing, buffing, and acid soaking. This was during the last bluing process before I buffed the blade with high polish scratch remover.

I skipped a few steps to get here, but I was multitasking at work. The finished product. PK wearing a buffed satin patina, scabbard has had an elective surgery to remove the frog and karda/chamka slots, the handle has been wrapped in Fiber Fix to stabilize the horn handle and keep it from cracking (think skateboard tape that sets up like a plaster cast on steroids). The scabbard has been wrapped in Fiber Fix as well to not only make it grippy as to hold tight in a sash-style carry (tuck n go), but it makes it nearly impervious to cutting through.

Basically what I was left with was a bombproof set up where the knife handle is stable and very tactile in the hand despite how wet it is. The scabbard has been made more resilient to cutting damage and now grips the sides of my nylon belt making it possible to carry the PK without a frog and loop.

I was really happy to see that this particular specimen of PK sports Kumar's keen yet robust edge over my old PKs overly obtuse convex edge. It cuts, slices, and chops just fine. Even after all the sanding and buffing, the edge popped back to more than razor sharp with a ceramic rod and a loaded strop. It is 100% ready to go.

As always, a huge thank you is owed to Yangdu as well as Kumar for making such a wonderful blade. I hope to give it a test run this weekend. Long term plans are to make a new leather sheath for it in te next few months. This little PK is what our late-great forum mod would have called a "pocket battleship".

It's a user...and a keeper

Thanks for reading.

Stuff like this makes my day. Thanks!

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Hi Jake Steely_Gunz ,

How many wraps of fiberfix did you use on that handle - did you use a whole roll of the 1" x 40" stuff? Did you wrap it with the vinyl wrap on top while it set up, or did you not use that to leave it rougher on the outside? I hadn't head about this fiberfix stuff before, but it looks like it would be very useful for a great variety of repairs and improvements.

Thanks, - Bob

Since I wasn't trying to reinforce the handle that much as the crack in it was minor, Ijust did one wrap around the handle for grip. That FF stuff sets up like a brick, so even one wrap is pretty strong. I went ahead and saved the rest of it to make sure I could wrap the scabbard from near the throat to the bottom.

I used the vinyl on the handle and then even hit it with a bit of fine sandpaper to take more of the roughness off. Even polished smooth, the FF is grippy. Certainly grippier than the polished horn. I left the wrapping on the scabbard rough as I wanted to make sure it stuck in my belt better. One thing that I did do to the scabbard was remove the karda and chakma loops and glued the extra flap of leather down so that it would ride flatter.

I'm actually really liking the set up. The PK rides well tucked in the small of my back at a 20 degree angle and draws just fine. I really have to work at it to get the sheath to dislodge. The grippiness of the FF and my nylon belt is pretty tight.

Here's a couple of crappy shots. I did not take a shot of the small of my back. No body wants to see that

It rides cross draw just fine. I could leave this tucked in my belt all day and it won't move.

Hey, the "Pen Knife" is a play on words as it is a "small" knife. You can pocket carry it...technically

 

[equila02]

I like "tactical spatula"lol

 

[Mateos]

Fiber Fix wrap. Something I never knew I wanted, but have always needed. I have a VUK with a rhododendron handle, very functional, but not like the newer VUKs with the prettier woods. The grip has always been a little small for my hand, couple wraps of this stuff might just be what I was looking for...

 

[Yangdu]

Nice pix and post, thank you for sharing