My BK-16 - Work in Progress

Pàdruig

Pàdruig

Reap What You Sow
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I could have sworn that I had seen a dedicated BK-16 thread, but I cannot seem to locate it again, if it indeed exists. Either that or I am going crazy, which is entirely possible. I posted this pic in the mods thread and I had wanted to include this in the possibly fictional 16 thread but since it might just be in my head, I will post it here.

I just acquired a new BK-16, a late B'day present to myself. I want to make this knife my potential EDC belt knife so I have some things yet to do to make it "ready". For now, the knife itself is good to go. I stripped the blade as I do with all of my Beckers and I replaced the black scales with the included tan ones. I performed my very first stippling job and I think it came out alright. I am in the process of making a new sheath and lanyard and will include a pic when the whole package is good to go.

Though I know a lot of what we do to our knives is largely determined by personal preference, I am still open to criticism or suggestions. I would love to know what you think.

J2oGsMm.jpg
 
Hey welcome to the Becker forum!! Nice man looks good.... the mods for a 16 I consider "necessary" is a 90 degree spine I do that on my belt sander but it can be done with a file... a patina generally I go darker here more protection from rust how I do it is get a water bottle cut top end off fill with vinegar than let knife soak it this for up to 5 hours..... another mod would be kydex pants which I make in my garage however leather would be better suited in my honest opinion on a 16.... and micarta scales... I know I know you can cover them in oil and run around and stab trees and be fine but I just don't like grivory plastic.... however your stippling job is great might cause some friction for sure though if it's a heavier use knife
 
Looks great! If you could patina the blade in a "flame" type of pattern to match... that would be cool :)
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I will post pics as my progress comes along.

James w said:
Hey welcome to the Becker forum!! Nice man looks good.... the mods for a 16 I consider "necessary" is a 90 degree spine I do that on my belt sander but it can be done with a file... a patina generally I go darker here more protection from rust how I do it is get a water bottle cut top end off fill with vinegar than let knife soak it this for up to 5 hours..... another mod would be kydex pants which I make in my garage however leather would be better suited in my honest opinion on a 16.... and micarta scales... I know I know you can cover them in oil and run around and stab trees and be fine but I just don't like grivory plastic.... however your stippling job is great might cause some friction for sure though if it's a heavier use knife
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestions. I have never taken a file to a knife, and putting it on a belt sander terrifies me admittedly. However, I do think the 90 degree spine is necessary as you say. I have always thrown sparks fine with an unaltered spine but I saw a video not too long demonstrating the difference in spark "volume" between a factory spine versus a modified one. I think this 16 is a perfect candidate for me to wet my feet, so to speak. Patina is a terrific idea, I will get on it, seems easy enough to do.

As far as a sheath, I make them from kydex and leather as well. However I usually prefer leather and I have one in the works already.

I dislike the Grivory too and I have largely just lived with them on my other Beckers as I have never wanted to shell out the coin for micarta ones. I do have aspirations to try my hand at making some out of of wood, so I am holding out until I can produce something at least halfway decent.

DavidCAndersen said:
Looks great! If you could patina the blade in a "flame" type of pattern to match... that would be cool :)
Click to expand...

That is a cool idea. I haven't played around with forced patinas too much, so I might have to do some research to see how I can produce such an effect.
 
DavidCAndersen said:
Looks great! If you could patina the blade in a "flame" type of pattern to match... that would be cool :)
Click to expand...

Pàdruig;16722089 said:
That is a cool idea. I haven't played around with forced patinas too much, so I might have to do some research to see how I can produce such an effect.
Click to expand...

Just lay out some masking tape on a piece of wax paper. Take the scales off the knife, lay the knife on the masking tape, and trace it. Then, draw flames on the masking tape, and take a razor knife, and cut the flames out. Pull the masking tape off the wax paper carefully, and apply it to the blade. Use whatever you're going to use for a patina, or as I did on my tiger stripes, gun blue. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...and-Stripped-and-Striped-Oh-My!-(Photo-Heavy)
 
The Warrior said:
Just lay out some masking tape on a piece of wax paper. Take the scales off the knife, lay the knife on the masking tape, and trace it. Then, draw flames on the masking tape, and take a razor knife, and cut the flames out. Pull the masking tape off the wax paper carefully, and apply it to the blade. Use whatever you're going to use for a patina, or as I did on my tiger stripes, gun blue. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...and-Stripped-and-Striped-Oh-My!-(Photo-Heavy)
Click to expand...

Wow... I have never been so attracted to a clip point, what an incredible transformation, such a beautiful job.

Thank you for the instructions, I was actually thinking about masking tape. You took some of the guess work out of it for me.
 
Pàdruig;16722213 said:
Wow... I have never been so attracted to a clip point, what an incredible transformation, such a beautiful job.

Thank you for the instructions, I was actually thinking about masking tape. You took some of the guess work out of it for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, it was a fun mod. No problem. Very easy to do, just takes a little bit of time is all.
 
Pàdruig;16722089 said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I will post pics as my progress comes along.



Thank you for the suggestions. I have never taken a file to a knife, and putting it on a belt sander terrifies me admittedly. However, I do think the 90 degree spine is necessary as you say. I have always thrown sparks fine with an unaltered spine but I saw a video not too long demonstrating the difference in spark "volume" between a factory spine versus a modified one. I think this 16 is a perfect candidate for me to wet my feet, so to speak. Patina is a terrific idea, I will get on it, seems easy enough to do.
Click to expand...

Belt stander terrified me as well the first times ;) anyway it can be done with a file just search how to put a 90 on a knife spine... vids will come with beltsanders as well as file methods.
 
Very cool Pàdruig.
Nice work. Looking forward to seeing the progress.
 
Apologies for the delays, I was anticipating making more progress on this by now. Holidays mixed with life in general can most definitely thwart the best laid plans...

Regardless, I have made my first attempt at a forced patina using vinegar and utilizing the ideas presented by The Warrior, DavidCAnderson, and James w(thanks guys). I think it turned out ok. Part of me thinks I should have done the patina reverse of what I did in terms of pattern. However, I didn't really think about it until it was finished, I can always redo it if necessary. I mostly wanted to get as much coverage as possible but still apply the flame effect.

I am still working on the sheaths, I am making one from kydex and one from leather, will hopefully have the leather one done by end of the weekend.

5YaZlCY.jpg



PCfrrDY.jpg
 
Not sure what it looks like in person but if it looks half as awesome as the pics...
 
Looks fantastic, IMO. Great thing about patinas, tho - if YOU don't like it, it's pretty easy to remove. Bad thing - they remove/metamorphose themselves with use.
 
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