Aubrey
Basic Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 1999
- Messages
- 670
I have a few TGLB's ...two in competition finish, two with coatings and one original Team Gemini..... my main user has been the black on black G10 TGLB.
Black on black ...very much like an lost teenage emo punk ....Just a little morbid and with competition finish no longer an option .... good excuse to strip it. Lots have been said about leaving the under handle coating intact ...... not an option ...either all stripped or nothing. Kids call it OCD .... I call it attention to detail.
The hollow rivets holding the handle on was the challenge ..... at long last I found 6mm hollow brass tubing at a scale model shop. So the first step is removing the handles ... a 6mm drill bit work well .... yip, SA 21st century but for those in the 18th century .... 1/4 inch will work. I taped up the blade and clamped in a vice. Used a de Walt drill but go slow. Drill about 3-4 mm (just under 1/6 of an inch) ... and then move drill handle in circular pattern ...it eats away the shouler on the rivet and the expanded part of rivert pops right off. If you just try and drill through .... the drill will happily grab that river and spin it like crazy . Good luck ... you were warned!
Wiped the blade down with thinners after removing the tape and submerged in 1/2 inch of paint stripper.
Took less than 10 minutes and the coating was falling off ...needed a little help in corners but no serious problems.
Washed with warm water and dish washer soap. Dull grey coating on blade ... started off with 180 grid and after 2 hours, I moved to 220 grid wet.....remember it is a user. Added black sealant under handles and rivited the scales back with my brass tubing.
Voila ...... few minutes on the APEX sharpener .....African finish TGLB
Black on black ...very much like an lost teenage emo punk ....Just a little morbid and with competition finish no longer an option .... good excuse to strip it. Lots have been said about leaving the under handle coating intact ...... not an option ...either all stripped or nothing. Kids call it OCD .... I call it attention to detail.
The hollow rivets holding the handle on was the challenge ..... at long last I found 6mm hollow brass tubing at a scale model shop. So the first step is removing the handles ... a 6mm drill bit work well .... yip, SA 21st century but for those in the 18th century .... 1/4 inch will work. I taped up the blade and clamped in a vice. Used a de Walt drill but go slow. Drill about 3-4 mm (just under 1/6 of an inch) ... and then move drill handle in circular pattern ...it eats away the shouler on the rivet and the expanded part of rivert pops right off. If you just try and drill through .... the drill will happily grab that river and spin it like crazy . Good luck ... you were warned!
Wiped the blade down with thinners after removing the tape and submerged in 1/2 inch of paint stripper.
Took less than 10 minutes and the coating was falling off ...needed a little help in corners but no serious problems.
Washed with warm water and dish washer soap. Dull grey coating on blade ... started off with 180 grid and after 2 hours, I moved to 220 grid wet.....remember it is a user. Added black sealant under handles and rivited the scales back with my brass tubing.
Voila ...... few minutes on the APEX sharpener .....African finish TGLB
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