Well it's that time again. That's right, time to break in a few more knives. I really don't like to hard use my knives until I Etch the logos deeper and usually strip the blade of coating. I decided to just add on to this thread instead of making a new so it will be more of an overall how to mod a Becker thread. (My way that is. Plenty of great ways out there to do it, this is just how I do things.)
I don't think I've really shown in depth how to make the new logos deeper and how much work it really is. Not hard work but does take some time.
If you choose not to etch the logos before stripping, you most likely will lose them if you develop a heavy patina or if you do even light sanding to the blade. Trust me, I have a couple of knives that you can't even see the logo. Cool if you are going for that look.
So first you want to start with one knife or many knives as you see here. I prefer to wait till I have a few and do them all at once.
(Doing a lot of Beckers, but also have a few ESEE's, my new KA-bar Potbelly, and my TOPS BOB.)
As you can see, I made a little workstation outside since I was cleaning out my garage/workshop yesterday. And I don't really like to be around the chemicals in a closed in place, so make sure it is well ventilated if you are doing it inside.
A few close up shots.
As you can see, the logos on all of these knives are not very deep, just breaks thru the coating and in some cases, maybe a little into the metal.
I am using some of the same PCB Etchant that I have used for the last couple of times. It seems to still have some kick to it. I do however add a little household Hydrogen Peroxide to it to get it activated. (I read somewhere to do this.) As you can see it bubbles up and slowly settles back down. Not sure if this is a necessary step or not but I do think it makes it work a little faster from my experiences.
One important step is to clean the area being etched with some type of soap or degreaser. I used household dishwashing soap and an old toothbrush. I have in the past used stronger stuff. It really just depends on how dirty or oily it is. If it is a brand new knife, you shouldn't have to do much. But if you have been using it then dirt and oils and blood and other stuff can get in there and stop the PCB from working properly. Also, If you oil your knives after use, then all that will need to be removed.
After I washed all the blades, I dried them and also now is the time to mask of any areas you do not want to be etched. I usually use fingernail polish for this but tried some tape this time. If the tape doesn't work, I will go back to the fingernail polish.
NOTE: You can take a stripped blade and use a paint or fingernail polish, or even a nice sticker or vinyl stencil cutout and make your own mask for your own logos or designs.
I didn't want full logos on some of the knives, that's why I taped them off. Hopefully when it's all said and done, I can light sand the blade and be left with only the part I etched. We will see in a few days.
Here they are with the Etchant applied. I did do the back sides as well as the top. NOTE: If you flip the blade over while etchant is on one side, make sure to flip sharp edge up so if any etchant drips down while rotating, it won't get on the exposed edge. It will eat the edge. If you are new to this, you may want to do one side at a time and also might want to coat the exposed blade with fingernail polish, tape, or even a heavy coating of vasaline should work. I have done that in the past but personally don't feel the need at this point. Just be warned, PCB is nasty stuff.
I used a q-tip to apply it. Make sure to rub it in the logo real good. I like to put a pile of it on top so as it eats thru, more fills in. If you don't put it evenly, some letters or markings will not be even. You can always fill those in later.
I just kept applying the etchant as need throughout the day as I worked in the garage. Since it was outside exposed to the wind, it did dry up faster than normal.
Now, I wanted to try something different to this 16. (one of the Lemons)
I used gun blue. Then applied household bleach. Wanted to see if this way would work faster to etch the logos.
You can see it starts to rust up quick with the bleach on it.
Here they all are just Etching away.
Later that night, I cleaned all the blades again with soap, water, and the old toothbrush, dried them all and reapplied tape where needed. Brought them inside for the night, and reapplied Etchant to only one side.
I am going to do the other side today. About to go out to the garage and check the progress and will update with new pics.
Also just my thoughts, if you are unsure if you will strip your blades but think you might want to at a later date, I would recommend etching them before you start to use the blade heavily. Reasons being, once you ware of the coating from either just hard use or batoning or what not, it is to late to go back and etch. I know from experience, look at my BK12, the Ritter/Becker logo is all distorted since I used the hell out of the knife before I ever stripped the blade. Just my two cents. Take it or leave it.
Haha. Enjoy Guys!
