(Pic Heavy) Making a stainless hardware "Becker-izer"

[ThePointyEnd]

Part I: What is a "becker-izer" plus notes:

Like many of you, I decided to replace my Becker's stock hexcap screws with stainless for rust resistance and the use of locknuts, and wasn't able to find the right length at my local home improvement megamart...

So, I decided to make a rig to make trimming them down easy. But, due to my innate tendency to over-complicate things, my directions are quite in-depth in an attempt to be comprehensive

Important notes:
--Disclaimer: Neither Myself, BKT, Bladeforums, the moderation staff, etc. will accept any liability for you using this tutorial, so DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK... use all tools, especially power tools like you have a brain, or do not use them! and so forth.

--This device will probably only pay off on time if you're trimming several knives worth of hexcaps, or you are picky!:abnormal:

--I used stainless 10-24x3/4" hexcaps for this mod, If you can find them in 5/8" this is probably not necessary!

--My measurements are for a stock, Ka-Bar BK-5 without liners, If you use liners or are trimming hexcaps for a 1/4" knife take this into account and tweak your measurements!!!

--According to the Becker Blade Database, Bk-5's have always been darn close in thickness (3/16" give or take a few thousandths for coating) so different generations vs. jig making should not come into play. That being said, I have not tested on older Grivory/Esta-Loc !

--Measurements should be adjusted if using a lock nut (thicker) with the rig instead of stock bolts (see below)

--Sorry for the pics that are blurry, looked fine on my camera's LCD

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Part II: Building the rig.

First, we start by taking some measurements:

Overall legnth of the bolts that came with my BK-5 were right around .79 inches.

That's around 20.25mm for you metric fans.

The length of the threads(minus the cap and screw at the other end) is just under 1/2.

Again, in metric, that's around 12.25mm.

A quick scrounge around my house lead me to find this: some 1/4" lumber that's actually close to
size... Two thicknesses should be right on the money to leave a little "wiggle room". The objective here is to find something pretty close to 1/2" /12.25mm thick; and remember: you can always remove, but once it's gone, that's it.

Metric is around 6.4mm.

I epoxied the two parts together -- The dimensions other than thickness are not crucial, just enough to

clamp in a vise or hang on to whlie sanding.

This part reminds me of watching paint dry...

So, While it did, I went off to get some more measurements:

Thread width: ~.18"

or ~4.75mm.

caps are ~.309" / 7.87mm
bolts are ~.365" / 9.26mm
I mention this so you don't pick a drillbit that's too big!

I found this 13/64 drillbit in my cheap-o-matic drill index -- check specs on your own, but 13/64 / 5mm

would be what I shoot for to allow plenty of clearance for the threads. 3/16 looked a little tight at .183".

Here's mine glued and trimmed squareish (so there's less lateral stress when in a vise.

Next, Mark the three points to drill for the jig: the trick here is to have them close enough to shorten them as one via your preferred method, but not so close that the bolts/hexcaps interfere with each other.
I used 1/2" / 12.25mm between the center of each hole to good effect

Be sure to level the jig before you go drilling if you don't have a drill press! (my drill was held level as well)

Here's the rig with the stock hexcaps in it, note the "wiggle room" built into the jig.

Reality check! let's see how close we came to our target thickness.

Metric friendly version:

Close enough for me, If you're pickier than me, sand it down using a "figure 8" motion and minimal pressure on sandpaper taped to a piece of glass; but be sure to leave the "wiggle room".

Here's where I expect to get a little well deserved flak about this lack of a "design" :foot:, My stainless locknuts were .237" (about 1/4") or 6.03mm thick. And the stock bolts were .126" (about 1/8") or 3.2mm thick, and also had different threading.

If building one of these for yourself,You should either buy 3 standard {not lock} 10-24 nuts of about .126" (about 1/8") // 3.2mm in thickness, or Shave 1/8" //3mm off the thickness of the rig!!!

For me, My taps & dies were 5 minutes of free. Hardware store trip was 25+ minutes and about $1 I could save for beer

Rig Complete !!! Insert blurry pic to show how close I got by "eyeballing it" before I built the rig...

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Part III: Using the rig:

Safety note: This gear will not only get you into a post-apocalyptic rave, it will help protect you from the airborn metal fragments you're generating (weather using dremel, belt sander, grinder, files, etc.).

SO USE IT! or preferrably something better!!! (the sunglasses are ANSI rated, BTW)

Example of filing: note filing should be carried out a few passes at a time, applying EVEN pressure, then filing the same number at 90 degrees to the first set; I find best results by making a + then an X on top; hence IIIII , then ------, then /////, then \\\\\. I hope this helps!

Example of using belt sander (taut belt on platen for you grind-meisters out there)
-use a pair or two of "locking pliers" to hold the jig, very tightly
-use protective gear
-don't grind too fast and create a ton of heat
-note: sander was OFF and unplugged for the picture--I like my hands as they are.

Example of using sandpaper on glass in a "figure 8" motion:
-use quite coarse paper at first ~60 grit
-oil helps if you have wet/dry paper
-finish to about 600 or so

You could also use Dremels, coarse sharpening stones, hacksaws, etc. to cut the hexcaps down, but the file and sandpaper should be relatively accessible.

Use the sandpaper method to finish your work for a clean finish regardless of how you removed the bulk
of the length.(can be used on fine sharpening stones as well) but be careful not to cut into your bolts at any point, lest you end up a little short.

--- be sure to do something to dull the very,very sharp threads at the cutoff edge at this point; I held the bolt about 45 degrees to the sandpaper and freehanded it, but you might come up with a better idea (chamfer tool, etc.)

Here's mine finished up and pretty close to square and spec...

And here they are installed on my BK-5 ready for action!

Well, hopefully this helps somebody out, feedback and/or questions welcome.

 

[BRL]

*applause*

Great post.

 

[Level headed]

nicely done:thumbup:

 

[jwaj]

Nice tutorial. Answered a couple questions I had. Thank you. :thumbup: