Removing top guard / 119

hiwa

hiwa

Joined
Jun 7, 2009
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I've been considering grinding the top guard down on my 119. I seen a thread with pics a while back ,but can't find it. It looked good to me. I would use my sander with a 120 grit ,then buff it smooth ,contoured along the front of the handle top. Any suggestions, or links ?
Thanks.:)
 
Hiwa, They're easy to do by hand sanding as its only aluminum . I've done them both ways by hand and power . If you do it using a power sander I'd recommend wrapping the handle with masking tape up next to the guard and try not to touch that part into the sanding belt . Work slow and watch . Good luck and show us your results when finished . DM
 
Worked out well on my sander. After deliberation, I decided to leave some of the top guard for a thumbrest. I found the factory guard just a little too high. Gave it about 200 on my new Sharpmaker also. Great unit !!
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Sheath shot
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I'll play with it a while to see if I'm going to take more off, but it's pretty good . I like this classic knife. It's served me well !
 
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Maybe 1/4" . I have done stuff like this before and over-did it ,so I want to use it some before I take more. Can't put back what I take off.
The post I saw before; the fella took it right down to the handle. I may do that yet.
 
I took mine down to the handle . But its like you said, its hard to put it back once you take it off . So, be sure . DM
 
I can't stand knives with upper guards, Kabars, Bucks, CS Military Classic - first thing I do is take the upper guard off so the knife is usable instead of virtually useless.

The downside is that if I ever get into a knife fight with one of these, I'm dead meat. Oh well. :)

BTW, good job on doing it right, low and slow.

Al
 
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About 46-47 years ago, one of the BUCk knifemakers had a similar idea. Here is an early unaltered BUCK 119 with a much shorter guard.

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Telechronos:):):)
 
Albin said:
I can't stand knives with upper guards, Kabars, Bucks, CS Military Classic - first thing I do is take the upper guard off so the knife is usable instead of virtually useless.Al
Click to expand...

Wow, I can only imagine how depressed and upset the thousands upon thousands of happy owners of a stock, unaltered 119 will be to find out that their knife is virtually useless! :( Yikes. :D
 
shecky, yours is the post I was referring to earlier. Great job you did. :thumbup:
 
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