Neglected BK4

Psyop

Psyop

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Joined
Oct 17, 2011
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So I like to burn stuff in my backyard like many of us do. I usually go in to my wall of knives and pick one to build the fire. A few days ago I grab the BK9 and head out and to my horror I see my poor BK4 it was left out for at least a week and rained on twice.

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I don't take great care of my Beckers but that part of what I like about them however I normally don't treat them like this. Yes old timers this is the one that used to live on my John Deere [emoji39]

So I took it in and hit it with the wire brush on my bench grinder

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So not that I recommend it but even stripped Beckers can bounce back don't be afraid to get them dirty. There is no pitting at all and I could have completely shined it but I like its scars. Now what to beat on next?
 
you should have just oiled it to get a good start on a historic looking "rust blue"
 
The "before" photos were hard to look at...............my OCD meter pegged, then started to buzz and smoke before I got it unplugged.

Glad you avoided any pitting. Have you checked under the scales yet, or did that area get stripped?
 
No didn't check that I will as the bolts are bugging me a bit they rusted too.
 
52100 said:
The "before" photos were hard to look at...............my OCD meter pegged, then started to buzz and smoke before I got it unplugged.

Glad you avoided any pitting. Have you checked under the scales yet, or did that area get stripped?
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I'm not laughing AT you, but this is funny. Mine burned out a little while ago - patinas ever so carefully applied change with use, and a few minutes of chopping down Japanese knotweed made my customized Machax look like this when I pulled it out of the sheath about an hour after using it - only this is AFTER I cleaned it. Neil Young had it right: Rust Never Sleeps.

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I used a Scotch-Brite pad and some Howard's....what can a user do? Nothing. Honestly, I don't mind the look of it now. In the trades, if you show up to work with tools that look new there's no end to the razzing you get. Psyop's got it right. Users are beautiful. Luckily, the rust comes off and leaves you a little reminder to take a little better/more care of your tools. Uncle E. didn't design ANY of these things to sit around and look pretty. Gotta take the new off to see the real beauty.
 
Phosphoric acid (30-40%) losens rust, turns some orange rust black (havent seen that) and adds a nice blacker and thicker patina to blank steel than muriatic acid. Also this black oxide is non toxic.
Where to get this acid? Prep and Etch from Home Despot works well and is mostly phosphoric acid though it contains a few undisclosed ingredients and who knows if they react toxic in any way?
 
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Psyop, It just has "character" now.

We haven't had any rain around here in literally weeks. I keep my throwing knives out in a shed near my target range. We got a little shower this morning between 7 and 9, and then had high humidity all day. When I went out to throw some this evening, my speed throwing knives, which never got rained on, just exposed to the high humidity, now make your BK4 look NIB. 25 knives with a bright red "false patina". Need to take some pics tomorrow to show just how fast good old A36 will rust.

All my current daily throwers are made out of A36 mild steel. Yeah, I know, way too soft. All I can guarantee is that they will bend rust and ding easily. The good side is that the rust sands right off, the bends can be straightened with a couple of 2x4s and my foot, and the dings come out quickly with a 2x72 belt grinder. But I made 30 of them for less than $185 and I have steel left over. $164 of the cost was water jetting fees. It took longer to grind the edges from the blanks I cut out than it did to cut out the blanks - 57 minutes for 30 knives, and no band saws near my fingers.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
Psyop, It just has "character" now.

We haven't had any rain around here in literally weeks. I keep my throwing knives out in a shed near my target range. We got a little shower this morning between 7 and 9, and then had high humidity all day. When I went out to throw some this evening, my speed throwing knives, which never got rained on, just exposed to the high humidity, now make your BK4 look NIB. 25 knives with a bright red "false patina". Need to take some pics tomorrow to show just how fast good old A36 will rust.

All my current daily throwers are made out of A36 mild steel. Yeah, I know, way too soft. All I can guarantee is that they will bend rust and ding easily. The good side is that the rust sands right off, the bends can be straightened with a couple of 2x4s and my foot, and the dings come out quickly with a 2x72 belt grinder. But I made 30 of them for less than $185 and I have steel left over. $164 of the cost was water jetting fees. It took longer to grind the edges from the blanks I cut out than it did to cut out the blanks - 57 minutes for 30 knives, and no band saws near my fingers.
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Yes but why have you NOT posted pics in the Beckerhead Knife Making & Modification thread? Inquiring minds want to......see pictures.
 
Oxidized patina is FAR tougher than mustard or lemon juice patina. :thumbup:
It might not taste as good, but the Machax is not really a galley knife. :p
 
granitestateofmind said:
Yes but why have you NOT posted pics in the Beckerhead Knife Making & Modification thread? Inquiring minds want to......see pictures.
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Because I've been a lazy bum at taking pics lately. :o The new version of Office that I got with my new computer came without the photo editing software that the old version had and until I get off my lazy butt and decide what SW to get, it's a total pain to get the pics small enough to post on BF.
 
Happens to the best of us. I once left mine in the front box of the four wheeler for a couple weeks. Wire wheel does the trick.

Also, I do remember when you made a sheath attachment to your JD for "drive by bushwhackin".

Good stuff.:D
 
zzyzzogeton said:
Because I've been a lazy bum at taking pics lately. :o The new version of Office that I got with my new computer came without the photo editing software that the old version had and until I get off my lazy butt and decide what SW to get, it's a total pain to get the pics small enough to post on BF.
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You, sir, need a photo host, not software. Picasa is free and will edit stuff and also upload them to a web album (if you so choose) and then you can post PICTURES instead of those tiny little attachments. Photo host also means you no longer need to manage all that stuff on your user account and the limits imposed therein. It's also less work, so if your butt is lazy, it'd be a more streamline solution. You're smart enough, you'll figure it out. Then post some damn pics.
 
One of the reasons I chuckle when people freak out about getting their carbon steel a little wet, or want to know what super Uber duper Magic stuff ton put on it to keep it from rusting when they are looking at it in their den!
 
"fluid film"

lanolin based.

smells good.

even works well on wood.
 
None to worry Psyop,

If you look close a BK2 sticking out of the flames,,


did not know at time found out 3 weeks later as it was time to clean ashes and low and behold a freshly burnt BK2, will be testing strength and integrity of knife over the weekend, so yes we all leave our beckers in strange or forgotten places but they always come back to us a little worn or changed, and us a little wiser or just waiting for the new one to come in the mail and of course we find it the day after, always a reason for a new one but nothing like finding your favorite knife when lost. Love the Patina
 
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