Stripping First Becker

O

OutdoorBuck

Joined
May 20, 2015
Messages
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Hey guys, I am going to be stripping my first Becker tomorrow. The knife is the BK-7 and I have two questions.

1. Has anyone used citra strip to take the coating off of a Becker? I used it for a cold steel hawk and it worked well but wasn't sure if the Becker coating was easier/harder to take off.

2. I want the laser etchings to remain, from videos I have watched it seems to be fine after stripping, but I have heard people say that the stripper will remove the etching. Has anyone had experience with this?

Any advice and help is much appreciated.

Thanks!
 
The stripper will be fine, though it may take 2+ applications.

Regarding the etched logo, it will still be there, but a lot of people don't feel that it is as deep as they would like, so they electro-etch them deeper. It is a relatively easy process that adds a nice touch to a plain (and awesome) looking slab of steel.

One possibility to keep in mind is that you strip the blade, but stop at the ricasso. Where the sharp part of the blade ends and the grind plunge line is. This will leave your blade uncoated for usage, but leave a layer for protective measures under the scales and the handle as a whole.
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Welcome to be Becker Family!
Where we open our hearts and you open your wallet.

:D
 
Hey thanks a lot! I intend on leaving the coating on under the scales, as you said it will protect the steel from any moisture and other elements.
 
Citristrip works very well.

After stripping, only a faint image of the etch will remain. If you sand it or force a patina, it will be erased completely. If you want it to remain, you'll need to etch it deeper BEFORE you strip the blade. It's quite easy to do.
 
I accidentally sanded the logos off my bk2, they aren't that deep so etch before stripping if you want them deeper or plan on sanding out any pits or grind lines.
 
yes, definitely etch! I use jasco or equivalent to strip. its fast and extremely effective. also, it eats through latex gloves, so work fast and use caution, lol.

oh, and follow the link Jwheel posted. it has all the info you'll ever need on this subject.
 
This is the result of stripping and sanding...no more logo

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I feel like the signature is implied on the BK2. If someone doesn't recognize the 2, they wouldn't recognize the BK&T logo anyhow. :)
 
19-3ben said:
Bobby- That is a beautiful blade. You did one hell of a sanding/polishing job.
Click to expand...
Thanks, it was a chore to say the least...I have around 10 hours in hand sanding invested in it... That's also bc I mirror polished it then didn't like the upkeep required to maintain that polish. so degressed it and forced a patina on it then sanded that some and ended up with the satin like finish.
 
Dang Bobby...everytime I see that BK2 of yours....
I'd bet it slices like a razor blade!
 
Jonny1280 said:
Dang Bobby...everytime I see that BK2 of yours....
I'd bet it slices like a razor blade!
Click to expand...
It'll cleanly push cut thru phone book paper if that says anything lol. I'm actually surprised at how well it slices thru material given the fact that when I changed the blade profile it left behind the edge pretty thick. It actually worked out really well thou bc it's insanely sharp while at the same time being thick to withstand heavy impacts when chopping and batoning. I'll eventually thin out the primary grind when I do a full height convex.


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Progress so far:

10 A.M. lightly hand sanded the 7 in hopes it would "loosen" up material a bit and make the coating more porous allowing the Citra Strip to penetrate better. Taped the handle and applied the stripper. After 2 hours I checked the blade....no progress.
12 P.M. Re applied Citra Strip and let it sit for 3 more hours.
3 P.M. used coarse pad in an attempt to remove coating...hoping by now it would be easily removed. Almost nothing except for 2 spots of steel showing on each side a few inches long.
At this point I am obviously very disappointed in the Citra Strip...I like the fact that it is food safe but this shit does not work. I could have sanded the coating off by hand at this point.
3 P.M. finished scrubbing the blade as best I could...with little success... and decided to apply the chemical one more time, in much more ample amounts this time. Going to check it before bed and probably add more Citra Strip and then wait until tomorrow morning as the bottle says sometimes takes up to 24 Hrs.

Any suggestions on how to make the Citri strip work more efficiently and or what the best tool is to scrape of the coating?

Tanks again guys
 
OutdoorBuck said:
Progress so far:

10 A.M. lightly hand sanded the 7 in hopes it would "loosen" up material a bit and make the coating more porous allowing the Citra Strip to penetrate better. Taped the handle and applied the stripper. After 2 hours I checked the blade....no progress.
12 P.M. Re applied Citra Strip and let it sit for 3 more hours.
3 P.M. used coarse pad in an attempt to remove coating...hoping by now it would be easily removed. Almost nothing except for 2 spots of steel showing on each side a few inches long.
At this point I am obviously very disappointed in the Citra Strip...I like the fact that it is food safe but this shit does not work. I could have sanded the coating off by hand at this point.
3 P.M. finished scrubbing the blade as best I could...with little success... and decided to apply the chemical one more time, in much more ample amounts this time. Going to check it before bed and probably add more Citra Strip and then wait until tomorrow morning as the bottle says sometimes takes up to 24 Hrs.

Any suggestions on how to make the Citri strip work more efficiently and or what the best tool is to scrape of the coating?

Tanks again guys
Click to expand...

What are you removing the Citra Strip with?
 
For $12 buy a can of jasco paint and epoxy recover. Mine came off in 10 minutes with a wire brush...super easy and fast
 
its a rough pad...almost wirey...like an sos pad. was thinking of using something like an old knife but didn't want to put deep scratches in blade.
 
Bobby3326 said:
For $12 buy a can of jasco paint and epoxy recover. Mine came off in 10 minutes with a wire brush...super easy and fast
Click to expand...

I was trying to stay away from jasco and following the food safe approach. but at this point I am about to get jasco or Klean Stripper
 
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