- Joined
- Dec 2, 2010
- Messages
- 2,504
I enjoy modifying knives so I figured I would take on an Ontario Ranger RD-7. Love the knife being 1/4" 5160 steel but the fit and finish definitely needed some work. Here is what the original knife looked like:
and here is my modded RD-7:
I started off with etching the Ranger logo. I applied the etchant solution on 3 different occassions to get the desired effect. Once that was done, I applied bluing before stripping the paint.
The logo came out very crisp.
Here it is by a factory one:
Next I reshaped the handle. I removed much of the belly and the back. Here is a comparision pic of my work to a factory model:
Lastly I go the desired finish by using scotchbrite pads and alot of elbow grease. Here are a couple more comparison picks between a stock RD4 and my modded RD7:
I still need to finish up the edges and the finish but overall I am very pleased with the knife. It feels SO much better in hand now, almost like a completely different knife. I may do some detailed file work to the marcarta next. What do you guys think?
and here is my modded RD-7:
I started off with etching the Ranger logo. I applied the etchant solution on 3 different occassions to get the desired effect. Once that was done, I applied bluing before stripping the paint.
The logo came out very crisp.
Here it is by a factory one:
Next I reshaped the handle. I removed much of the belly and the back. Here is a comparision pic of my work to a factory model:
Lastly I go the desired finish by using scotchbrite pads and alot of elbow grease. Here are a couple more comparison picks between a stock RD4 and my modded RD7:
I still need to finish up the edges and the finish but overall I am very pleased with the knife. It feels SO much better in hand now, almost like a completely different knife. I may do some detailed file work to the marcarta next. What do you guys think?
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