Semi-custom bali pic...

Disco Stu

Disco Stu

Joined
Nov 9, 1999
Messages
1,137
A long time ago in a galaxy...well...pretty much the same galaxy, I decided to take my Jaguar with the cheapo black plastic inserts and spruce it up. The idea was given to me by Sniperboy's semi-custom expertly done by Hermit. Though I didn't have any fine hardwoods to use as inserts, I did have some black linen micarta and as you can see, I used it.
photo2.jpg


It's weight is now somewhere between that of a skeletonized Jag and my BM42. I pinned it back together with finishing nails and made an attempt at making them hidden. The metal portions of the handles are all mirror polished, the inserts are held in with epoxy and it swings quite well. The metal part will oxidize gray if you handle it much but it can be cleaned up with a little Flitz polish. Oh yes, and I will never do it again.
 
That looks great.
Why wont you do it again?
Too bad Jag doesnt make em like that to begin with. What did you use to mirror polish the handles?
 
Yah what did you use to polish it. i want to get my BM42 mirror polished all the way but I'm not sure if the Ti will polish or how to get all the way around the blade without dissasembling it.

------------------
I have a sword in my pocket!
 
Wow Disco, that looks great! Can you post more pics, or a link? How fast do the handles oxidize? What if you sprayed them with a clearcoat of paint. Think that would do it? Good lookin'.

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Steve
(Third Mate for hire!)
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">what did you use to polish it
</font>
Click to expand...

Why, a buffer of course.

And I will never do it again because it was so damn hard working with that piss poor metal. If you can call it metal. That, and I think the Micarta is actually harder than the handles. Makes it hard to work.

Epigram, I don't know about the paint thing. I have some epoxy clear coat for metal that I think will work, but I haven't tried yet. It takes a week to dry and I'm impatient. It's not too bad though. It will only turn grey if you touch it which makes me think it's not oxidation at all but corrosion from the oil on your hands. And if you wipe it off after flipping it will keep for a few days before looking too bad.

[This message has been edited by Disco Stu (edited 05-14-2001).]
 
Nice job!

I haven't done inserts on mine... but I did do pin replacements. I didn't bother making them hidden, but for those that are interested, 1/8" diameter stainless rod (I found mine for 86 cents a foot) fits perfectly in a dremel tool chuck, so it can be turned down by hand with a file, which is what I did. And doing it with a dremel makes it a relaitvely quick job (as opposed to a regular drill) It's easy enough to get a good "custom" fit that way, so there's not much play in the handles. (At least, not much more than has been worn into them, since usually by the time the pins need to be replaced, as mine did, the holes in the handles are more worn than those in the blade.) The handles latch securely now in both positions.

Fixing the pins can be a pain, (I just used threadlock, since I really don't use the knife that much now that I have the 42) but the best thing about replacing em is that the two- part, hammer together deals they come stock with are gone, resulting in a much stronger arrangement. Half the play I had in that knife was from pins that bent... or were in the process of coming apart. Not breaking, just coming apart in the middle, which was what made them weak enough to bend in the first place.

So for those of you that can't upgrade to a 42 yet (or for a while) the pin replacement thing might help. And if it's done fast enough after buying, it may help eliminate some of the strange wear that can happen when the pins bend. (one of the handles has more play to one side than the other)
 
what compound(s) did you use when you polished the handles Did you use a "flapper" wheel? Anything out of the ordinary that you had to do? I have some birdseye maple kicking around and I thought Id try it because I have a decent ammout of boredom mnow that my semester is over and I like to work in the garage anyway.
 
Glad you all like it. I'll try to get some better pics soon. Maybe with the scanner instead of my cheap digital camera.

Nate, you'll have to sand off all of the chrome crap on the outside and then all of the copper underneath 'til you get to the Zamak. Then I used a regular sewn muslin buffing wheel to polish. Since the metal is so soft, you don't have to sand high, the buffer will remove scratches easily. Doesn't matter which compunds really as long as you finish up with jewelers rouge or something similar. Also, don't try to polish the handle until you have the inserts in. If you do, you will likely be sorry. I was. I'll let you decide how to remove those damn knob things. If they were only bleeding round you could drill the holes in your material and not have to remove them.
 
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