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

BushOgre said:
RedHat, I would (not) 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.
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Fixed?


Great job RedHat. I've done my 9 to a satin finish using the same chemical and same basic process you used on your 2. One thing I figured out after the fact is that polishing would've been a good time to put a convex edge on the knife. Could've been accomplished using a sanding block with a soft surface, like medium to hard rubber or something like that, and would have the added safety advantage of keeping fingers away from the sharp edge. I may still do that while taking it all the way to a mirror polish. Or maybe I'll just do my relatively new 2.

Anyway, good pics and tutorial for future strippers! :D

Blues
 
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Hat, that is some fantastic work. And great pics too. Stick around, it would be a pleasure to have you join us.

Moose
 
BluesStringer said:
Fixed?


Great job RedHat. I've done my 9 to a satin finish using the same chemical and same basic process you used on your 2. One thing I figured out after the fact is that polishing would've been a good time to put a convex edge on the knife. Could've been accomplished using a sanding block with a soft surface, like medium to hard rubber or something like that, and would have the added safety advantage of keeping fingers away from the sharp edge. I may still do that while taking it all the way to a mirror polish. Or maybe I'll just do my relatively new 2.

Anyway, good pics and tutorial for future strippers! :D

Blues
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Thanks. Proper correction.
 
...I didn't know a Becker could look so good. Off to do the Huggie mod! That seems to be the secret. (is that a full box or empty :))

Great post -- love seeing the pictures of the progress.
 
great write up. i've been thinking hard on doing this. gives me the bump i need. looks like i've got a project some upcoming weekend....
 
That is a fantastic job and you're gonna have a hell of a rig. You can always mask it off and shoot a light coat of clear polyurethane on the tang to rustproof it under the scales.
 
Good job! That looks amazing!
The new generation of Beckers have a much better finish under the powder coat than they used to.
Years ago I stripped my old BK-7 and my Becker Crewman and the condition of the steel underneath was atrocious. Full of machine marks and pits and dings.
Glad to see Ka-Bar has improved on the fit and finish of the Becker line!
 
Sorry for the delay getting back to you guys. I just got back in town after spending the week in Minneapolis.

On to asnwering some questions. This mod took me a fair amount of time, probably about 5 hours. It may have taken more time than necessary because I went through so many sheets of the sandpaper and I had some other chores that got in the way. If I sat down and did nothing but work on the strip/shine I think I might have been able to do it in 2-3 hours start to finish.

I was hoping that this thread would be used for guys that are on the fence about doing this mod. If I can do it with decent results, then trust me, so can you!

Thanks again fellas for all of the nice comments. I appreciate the hospitality and have added the forum to my favorites. Now to determine just how much more work I have to do to become a certified Beckerhead.
 
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Looks great and something to aim for when i completely strip mine (or leave it nasty looking :) )

Q: the finish in your last pic, how did you acheive this ?.
 
Other than putting the scales back on, I did nothing more than the procedures described on pg. 1. For those of you that use these procedures to strip/shine your 2 post up your results. I'd love to see 'em.

I started doing a little research on convexing the edge. I think this'll be my next project.
 
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redhat6161 said:

free image hosting
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Love this pic with the stock version and your work together. I really like the way the tang contrasts against the black scales. Gives it an almost aristocratic look! Who would have thought the BK2 could be a gentlemans knife?!?

The glow off the highly shined edge right near the tip is a nice tough too :)
 
shortwinger said:
Love this pic with the stock version and your work together. I really like the way the tang contrasts against the black scales. Gives it an almost aristocratic look! Who would have thought the BK2 could be a gentlemans knife?!?

The glow off the highly shined edge right near the tip is a nice tough too :)
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I took the coating off the edge of the tang on my BK2 also when I stripped it. It does look nice. I didn't polish mine as nicely as OP. beautiful! I would like to find some brass screws and nuts for the scales but have not been able to find any. I haven't looked much farther than my local hardware store though.
 
Awesome thread! Now I know what to do to smooth out some scratches on the ' and polish her up more. That, and Oregon Fal'er sharing his stripper of choice. (where'd you get that BTW?)

Now that your BK2 is naked as a jaybird, what are you using to protect the blade?
 
C_Tanner said:
That, and Oregon Fal'er sharing his stripper of choice. (where'd you get that BTW?)
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Don't know if that stuff is even available anymore, doesn't matter though. just get the methylene chloride based stuff and don't get it in your eye's.
 
So do you think from this point I could do the two higher grit sandpapers and get there?

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C_Tanner said:
So do you think from this point I could do the two higher grit sandpapers and get there?

249584_1371115053337_1695575791_616833_4336802_n.jpg
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I know your not talking to me but I'm gonna say Yes! You can get a total mirror finish if you want. Your knife looks great just the way it is IMO.
 
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