My BK2 and a little elbow grease - UPDATED with scales and sheath

redhat6161

redhat6161

Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
292
This isn't anything you guys haven't seen before. I'm new to the forum and joined after receiving a BK2. I love the knife and am on a quest to make it "mine". I have a couple of mods in the works in the form of a custom sheath and set of scales which Marathonman is currently putting together for me. He suggested something really special and I can't wait to show them off.

My brother gave me this knife as a gift for being in his wedding. What he didn't know was that I received another BK2 in the mail only the day before. I ordered my own after he showed off his new BK2 to me a couple of weeks before. I will consider this knife to be a family heirloom going forward to be passed down to my son who is currently 4 months old. You’ll see picture evidence of him throughout the pictures below.

In preparation for my other mods I started off by stripping the knife. I’ve seen this done in a million threads here on the forums but I didn't come across anything that got into the level of detail that I was looking for. So I took plenty of photos along the way for future beckerheads to refer to in case they want to go this route. I was personally looking for a mirror finish after stripping. I’ve seen the forced patina and like it but this knife will be a safe queen so I’m going for the bling.

On with the pictures:
Below is photo of everything I used initially.


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Dissasemly of the knife


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When I initially started I planned to leave the paint on under the scales so I wouldn't have to worry about rust or corrision underneath. I planned to accomplish this by masking off the area so it wouldn't be affected. I either used the wrong tape or completely screwed this up because, as you'll see, it was a complete failure.


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I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the stripper (citrus strip) is the cause of the coating under the handles coming off. Not having seen a picture yet i'm guessing the stripper seeped in cause the blade was immersed in it for several hours. I've had success twice now using the same exact technique with the tape, though I did leave the grivory scales on during stripping. The stripper I used was very fast acting and removed the coating in less than 10 min. Just a guess based on what you've typed but that's what I do for a living.
Stripper with blade #2(BRAB)


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I believe you may be correct. Sorry about the tease. I posted the thread to pre-view it to make sure it was working correctly. I didn't realize it had to be approved by a Mod and that took a little while. On with the show. After masking everything off I then placed it in the pan and applied the stripper gel.


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I let it sit in there for about an hour. I planned to leave it in for 30 mins but having a small baby meant that I had a bunch of "honey-do's" that got in the way.

The stripper did a pretty good job. This is what I got with a little effort from a platic scraper thingy


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And this is the carnage from the stripper. This stuff was pretty impressive.


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Now, more on the failed masking tape. I assume you are correct Fal'er. In hindsight I shouldn't have put the stripper on the taped off part at all. I think I just left it in there too long.


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Not a big deal however. I'm more than happy with the final results as you'll see later. Now begins the fun. As you saw earlier I used several different grades of sandpaper starting with 400 and working my way up to 2000 grit. The 1000-2000 grit came from an automotive specialty store. I used the sandpaper wet and took a photo after using each different grit to see how it progressed.

Starting with the 400 grit. I probably went through 5 or 6 sheets of this:


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and the results


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Moving on to the 600 and the results. Used 5 or 6 of these sheets of this as well:


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Next is 1000 grit. I couldn't find anything between 600-1000 so I jumpred straight up. I used 4 sheets of this. The results (starting to get shiny now):


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Now to 1500. I used 3 or 4 sheets of this. Starting to reflect the camera in the shine:


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Now to the 2000. This is where I really saw the difference. I used 3 or 4 of these as well. You can read the writing off of the sandpaper in the reflection:


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This turned out a lot better than I was expecting. I wanted to put something on the knife to protect it since I wouldn't be putting the patina on it. I had gone to the automotive store earlier to pick up the fine sandpaper. At the same time I picked up some wheel cleaner/protectant for my truck. I had a strange thought that maybe I could use this stuff. I had it so what was there to lose.

I used this stuff:


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Now, I'm obviously a newb and I don't have much of a workshop. Having a 4 month old really helped me out in this case. I don't have a vise and needed a way to securely hold the knife so that I could polish it up. This is what I came up with:


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And here are the results on the first side. you can see the line where I had the tape holding the blade down. The polish made a pretty big difference.


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Shined up very nicely.


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On to the next side.


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Once again, nice results.


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And here is the final product. Turned out much better than I ever expected going this alone and never having done it before.


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Thanks bladeforums for providing me the guidance to pull this off. BTW, my wrists and forearms burn like crazy today......

Now i'm waiting on a custom sheath and new scales. Can't wait to get those in and i'll update the thread once I've got them.
 
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Really nice! it kinda makes me want to take my BK2 to a couple more levels above where it is right now. I stripped her but I didn't shine her. I think both looks have there appeal though, shiny and patina I mean. I'm sorry I just can't do black, being a civilian that is.
 
You did it right! The results speak for themselves. I'm impressed. :thumbup:

BTW said:
Assume the wrists and forearms burn due to muscle fatigue . . . not to stripper gel leaking past the gloves?

I recently became the proud owner of a BK-7 and have admired the results of several of you who have stripped the black finish away. After reading your procedure, I am really tempted to give it a try.

What precautions did you take to avoid the sharp edge of the BK-2 during sanding?
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Excellent work. I have a BK2 &Bk9 arriving next week so it appears I have some fun projects on the horizon. Thanks for sharing
 
Nice work man! Orange paint stripper and Bud Lime: fruitastic :) !

And I'm dying to see these special scales that marathonman suggested to you. That's gotte be something because what he already does is already something.
 
Right on man, looks good. As far as the stripping goes, you can't expect top quality the first time out. Which is true of many things in life.
 
Good Rob Mhan ! (thats Jamaican for "Good Job Man") :D

2's look sweet when they get all tuned up don't they.

What kind of scales you got in the works ? Come on give it up ... we're all handle junkies around here ... "We guts to know" (LOL)

Thanks for the pics.
 
Thank you all for the kind words. To answer a few questions:

My wrists and forearms are sore from moving the sandpaper back and forth 10 bazillion times. I wore the latex gloves and had no issues at all with the stripper irritating my skin.

I was seriously concerned with accidentally removing a digit while doing this project. Especially after reviewing the horrific pictures in the accidental cutting thread. I wore a pair of mechanic type gloves that did the trick. I was careful about it and had no issues whatsoever. I picked up the gloves from an automotive store for about $10. They can be seen in this photo.


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As for the scales, Marathonman says he's never made a set like this for a BK. To keep it fun I'm going to hold on to that nugget until they arrive. Should be about 2-3 weeks or so. As for the sheath, I got an update today from the person making it. He sent me an almost complete photo below. It's looking pretty awesome. More details to come on this later.


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dont be to hard on yourself lol, heck its down right great for first time!! I wanna do mine now!!!!!!!!!
 
I love all the mods and stripping you guys do. It almost makes me want to buy a second 2. One I can mod and one to be a safe queen. The original untouched would be the safe queen. Why you ask. Because all of you (meant as a mark of respect) are changing the 2 so much, one day we will look back and say Hey, anyone remember the original 2?

I will then produce mine and you will all salivate at her sexy original curves and color.
 
RedHat, I would have been able to tell this is your first go at stripping and polishing to a mirror finish. Awesome work. You obviously have an untapped skill. Keep it up.
 
Looks awesome, someday when my BK2 is worn the heck out I'll do the exact same thing you did. Can't wait to see it with the custom scales/sheath!
 
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