The “Can’t leave anything alone” Thread

Scale-swapped into a blackout for this Kubey Dugu.

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... and for today's project. I dyed this Sencut Snap, Natural/Jade G10 with RIT DyeMore Daffodil Yellow. Since this comes up from time to time, here is the process I use.

Instructions:

8 cups clean water (distilled if you have it)
1 cup vinegar
half bottle of dye
1 dash unscented dish soap

Boil in a pot that you don't care about (and will only ever use for dye). Remove scales and clean off all oil. You can use dish soap and an old tooth brush. I like to finish by wiping with concentrated isopropyl alcohol. Be wary of sneaky oil in deep holes. You can soak briefly in the alcohol if need be.

Then put some wire through scale holes and soak in the boiling solution. (I recommend not letting them rest on bottom of pot.) Check periodically to monitor color change. You can rinse them under your tap and wipe with a paper towel to better see how they are doing. Once done, rinse thoroughly and repeat scale cleaning. (Trust me. There will be excess dye you'll want to remove.)

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Kershaw Emerson 6044. I don’t like tanto blades and don’t like chisel ground blades so i turned this into a rgei knife with a modified sheepsfoot or wharncliffe blade.
It took about an hour with a dremel. I removed about an inch of the tip, removed the thumb disk, ground the spine fairly straight, and switched the clip to the opposite side.
The blade is just under 3 inches now. It waves open with authority and is IMHO a better knife (besides the cosmetics.)
This knife would have sat in a box and probably been forgotten about and now it is in my pocket.
 
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Modded this heavy user Esee 4 that the coating was marred and edge left a lot to be desired. Stripped the coating, hit it with a trizac belt to smooth it up, then repainted. After hitting the edges with 600 grit to help with striking fire and accenting it, I put the scales back on and sharpened it to a razors edge. Polished it up and good to go. Now to make a sheath worthy of it.
 
Chronovore said:
Nice job! BTW, how do you like that Explorer? I have their Small Explorer Tanto fixed blade and love it for what it is.
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Thank you. :)

I do like the folding Explorer. It’s much better after swapping to the skiff thick washers that came with it. It’s a pretty large knife, but overall, I dig it.
 
SACBALLZ said:
Bestech really does an amazing job and is for sure equal to Reate.
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That is a wild statement! I genuinely don’t want to start an argument; I’ve just never heard that sentiment before. It bodes well though, as I have my eye on a Bestech Keen II.
 
el gigantor said:
That is a wild statement! I genuinely don’t want to start an argument; I’ve just never heard that sentiment before. It bodes well though, as I have my eye on a Bestech Keen II.
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In my experience, Bestech is very subpar to Reate…however, this Explorer is well executed. I’m impressed.
 
el gigantor said:
That is a wild statement! I genuinely don’t want to start an argument; I’ve just never heard that sentiment before. It bodes well though, as I have my eye on a Bestech Keen II.
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Sharp & Fiery said:
In my experience, Bestech is very subpar to Reate…however, this Explorer is well executed. I’m impressed.
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I've had a ton of Bestechs over the years, and also some of their OEM stuff for other brands. I still remember when their knives came with permanent thead-locker. Some of their budget stuff has been hit or miss but has mostly been decent and has only really improved over the years. I've had a few of their premium knives in recent years that have just been fantastic. The Lito, designed by Ostap Hel, is a great example.

I've had far fewer examples from Reate but mostly because the few models that interested me had stupidly thick spines for what they were or some other issue that kept me away. I've had more experience with their OEM stuff. I don't remember the issue but I remember having to return one they did for Giant Mouse. I also had a Pena X-Series with dangerously early/light lockup. So while my experience is admittedly limited, I sometimes get the idea that Reate's superior reputation has a lot to do with their early emergence as a quality name in Chinese manufacturing. Now, a bunch of other Chinese companies have really upped their game.
 
Didn't know that was such a controversial take lol all my Bestech stuff has been dialed, never had a problem. However I've had several Reate oem'd knives with numerous problems. Not centered. My Bowie Evo Typhoon straight up missed entire steps of production. One scale internally had visible machine marks left that you could feel with your finger quite easily, while the other scale was done properly and completely smooth and flat. The cutout for the lockbar had visible birrs that would grab your finger and could even cut you, unacceptable. To add insult to injury the m390 hardness was in the 58's. I bought the new Brown Brown Raptor integral by Reate and the hand rubbed satin looked like shit and wasn't uniform whatsoever. None of my Bestech stuff has been off center, none of it has missed manufacturing steps, and all of it is in Magnacut with 62+ Rockwell, and it's all been done at a cheaper price point. I've had great knives from both, still do. However only Reate have I had unacceptable problems with. Burrs so bad they can cut you? Inexcusable.
 
Emerson waved Police 4

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I always find myself modding when I get bored of my folders. I found that my wave is a bit too acute and it wants to catch my pocket too early. I'll need to blunt the wave a bit to get the perfect draw. I didn't realize it would need to be so "fine tuned".

I'll probably also end up putting serrations on this
 
Heres my Hawk Talon with Skiff's installed. I have a newer release, which I believe has a revision in comparison to older models. In the disassembly videos I referenced, some of them did not have hardened steel washers for the bearings to ride on. Mine does. They must be machining that gap a little wider so they can use washers without having to alter the bearing size. If you plan to install skiffs, I might recommend disassembling to check first. I like to use steel bearing Skiffs on my Hinderers since they ride directly on titanium, I would do the same here had I not had the washer revision.

I cleaned the factory grease out and used my preferred, it had very little from the factory(which was intentional and adequate) so I used a bit more. Mainly to hopefully extend any service/cleaning interval, and I was also curious how it would affect the acoustics. Sounds better IMO, less rattle, but more clack. Hopefully it comes across in the video, my old phone's camera and mic are not ideal.


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Sharp & Fiery said:
Swapped out the Edgerati’s blade for a modified Shaman blade.


(I modded the blade myself) 🙂
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Excellent mod, really nice work! May i ask if you had to make any other changes to the blade in order to fit the edgeratti body?
I have almost placed a pre-order 2-3 times by now, but as much as i like the handle design, that blade shape puts me off, and yours is a really nice solution.

*I'm basically saying that if no other mods are needed on a hardened steel i will steal your idea, thank you very much 😇
 
Chris*33 said:
Excellent mod, really nice work! May i ask if you had to make any other changes to the blade in order to fit the edgeratti body?
I have almost placed a pre-order 2-3 times by now, but as much as i like the handle design, that blade shape puts me off, and yours is a really nice solution.

*I'm basically saying that if no other mods are needed on a hardened steel i will steal your idea, thank you very much 😇
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Thank you.

DA170 DA170 actually figured out that the Shaman blade was a direct swap into the Edgeratti frame. My Shaman blade did swap without any mods, however, I cannot guarantee that every blade would. (There is a good chance they will all swap.)

Go for it!
 
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