The BK11 mini chef mod. FINISHED! Pics And It Did Happen!

Update: Yesterday afternoon I cut and epoxied in the filler blocks for the tang, then sanded them flush:



Then I had to make sure that this mod was going to perform the way I intended it to...and since I was headed out with a friend last night for a couple of brews, I tested it:



And rewarded myself for a job half done.



My bench is getting pretty sloppy again. Oh well. Sized up the small brass tube I'm using for the lanyard, chucked the appropriately sized bit into the drill press.....and overheated the steel and ruined the bit.



Bits are cheap, though...so I used the other one that I had, but first I slowed down my drill press and got some cutting oil on there. I managed to finish opening up the hole right before heading out for the evening. Just back from the dentist...trimmed up the already glued on scale and mixed up a little more epoxy to do the other side:





I thought I had an appreciation for the work all our custom makers do....but I think it's deepened more than a little through the course of this project. There is still a substantial amount of detail work left to be done, and I really plan on taking my time to do it right (as if this isn't taking long enough already). Still have to figure out a sheath and make sure I'll be able to get the retention to keep this as a necker.

Beers last night were drafts of Matilda's Red ale from the Moat Mountain Brewery up in North Conway NH and a Shipyard Black IPA from Portland, Maine. And a delicious vegan flatbread (pizza) made in a wood fired clay oven. Started here in New England, The Flatbread Company now has locations in several places, including BC and Maui. My brother has engineered some of their ovens, including their mobile one (which he mostly built himself) so here's a plug to check them out if there's one near you.
 
I'm psyched to see how this turns out. I swear I need to avoid these threads. You tempt me to buy more knives just to mod the crap out of them. STOP IT WOULD YA?!


Seriously though, I need to see the finished product a.s.a.p. I'm loving where it's going. Good job so far, bummer on the overheat, but it's an area of non consequence.
 
Isn't drilling hardened steel fun?
I've seen, on other threads, recommendations for using a reamer or chainsaw-sharpening bit to open up an existing hole to accomodate pins. But it looks like you managed it.

Glad to see the 11 can still do its most important job!

I hadn't thought much about the method of maintaining the bottle opener, but I don't think I have enough wood for a do-over (I'm trying to use the same piece for the "151", 15 and 5) so I'm going to study this closely when I get to that point.
Thank you.
 
Beautiful work!

This is about what I want to do to mine, just with micarta scales, and I'd leave the blade profile alone for mine.

Truly great looking work, I'm anxious to see the finished product.
 
Epoxy's still a little tacky, so I finished drilling the thong tube and flared the opening a little bit:





Glued in the tube and flared it with a small diameter brass rod, then trimmed it a bit:



Then drilled for the pins (thanks for the advice, daizee!) and epoxied them in, too.







Now comes my favorite part.....NOT! I will restrain myself until the epoxy is a little more cured before attempting to start contouring the handle.
 
I hope you had the part of the handle that faces toward the blade the way you wanted it before you epoxied the handle on! That area is near to impossible to get to once they're on. Looking like it will turn out cool!
 
AntDog said:
I hope you had the part of the handle that faces toward the blade the way you wanted it before you epoxied the handle on! That area is near to impossible to get to once they're on. Looking like it will turn out cool!
Click to expand...
I did...but, you know, first time, things slipped a little....I should be able to fix it, though. I did try like hell to get that part right; even made a second pair 'cause the first ones weren't going to line up right at all and were short of the plunge line. At least with them a smidge over the plunge line, it's fixable, even if it's difficult and tetchy. I'm really looking forward to getting them profiled and contoured. Still gotta give the epoxy a little more cure time. Maybe clean up the shop a little while I wait...;).
 
Looking great man,lots of work and i m sure it ll be worth at the end.also looks like having the right place and right tools make things a lot "easier".... Great thread,thanx for sharing
 
granite,
get up, get some coffee in you, and finish up this knife!

sincerely,
your anxious audience
 
I'm on it! Minor setback, tho - the "5 minute" epoxy I used to glue the pins turns out to be "infinity minutes" as it never set. Which I discovered while grinding the pins down, when they popped back out after I got the one side done. :rolleyes: Using the sure thing (slow set) epoxy instead. Probably won't get anything done now (on this one anyway ;)) until this afternoon. This is what it looked like last night from the good side:

 
I'm pretty excited to see how this turns out. Looks good already, and I see a lot of potential! Those pins will come out just fine.
 
Yeah, I don't ever use the quick set epoxy. I have tried it multiple times and it doesn't work for sh*t. Just use the regular long set stuff and you'll be fine. I've actually used JB Weld in a pinch one time and it worked great! I just drilled a lot of holes in the micarta to get a bunch in there. That handle has been on for 12 years and it's still kickin'.
 
AntDog said:
Yeah, I don't ever use the quick set epoxy. I have tried it multiple times and it doesn't work for sh*t. Just use the regular long set stuff and you'll be fine. I've actually used JB Weld in a pinch one time and it worked great! I just drilled a lot of holes in the micarta to get a bunch in there. That handle has been on for 12 years and it's still kickin'.
Click to expand...
I've been using the T-88 System Three epoxy for everything else, but I got a bit antsy and thought I could speed up the process....and I was wrong. Drove the pins out this morning, roughed them up and grooved them (chucked them into the drill and put the file to spinning brass rod) then re-epoxied them. Not much chance to work on it tonight...and I have to get up early tomorrow, but I should be able to finish contouring the scales tomorrow. One little hitch was that when I re-sawed (split) the wood on the band saw, I didn't get the slab sides exactly parallel; i.e. putting the scale flat on the worktable for contouring does not result in a square edge along the handle. It's only off by a little though.





 
Coming along nicely.
I haven't cut my scales yet, but I'm 99.99% sure they won't be perfectly square - I'll be content to get 'em flat enough on one side to mount them flush.
Do you have something smaller for shaping the front of the scales? Or are you going to try to leave them straight?
 
tjswarbrick said:
Coming along nicely.
I haven't cut my scales yet, but I'm 99.99% sure they won't be perfectly square - I'll be content to get 'em flat enough on one side to mount them flush.
Do you have something smaller for shaping the front of the scales? Or are you going to try to leave them straight?
Click to expand...

At that point i think the dremel comes to play...?
 
Finally, some shaping of the scales! Spent much of the day dinkin' around with a vacuum sanding table for the drill press, made more dust (almost) than it was worth AND somehow destroyed the bearing on the router bit I was using.



But it works. Long story short, I got out some workshop lubricant and started shaping this thing.



and here's the rough cut:





Trying to figure out on the fly exactly what shape I want this handle to take. That sawdust is awfully difficult to put back on once you get it off.



On to the fine grit drum!
 
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