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

Looking great. It's a Becker - going to be a user - I wouldn't worry too much about the "Maker's Mark." The Patina will probably cover it up anyway.

Daizee - thanks for the step-by-step! Gonna need that!!!
 
Aight. It's getting to the final countdown. Luckily I've gotten some great advice from Daizee, but not so lucky 'cause I'd already attacked this project like a dyslexic, caffeine addled, ADD 13 year old. Haven't cut myself yet, despite your warnings, daiz. Opportunities to cut yourself need NOT be taken. I tried to follow what stuff I could, so I took the spine and bottom profile through 600 grit w/d using mineral oil on the blade (didn't want to contaminate the scales); I used plenty of all purpose workshop lubricant as well:



Hey, gotta make sure that the "tool" part still works the way it's supposed to!
Despite my AR side, I'm pretty happy with the way this is turning out. Better than I thought I'd do on my first try:











I'll do a little more work on the scales to satisfy my inner master of symmetry, then try to put a finish on it tomorrow. No sense effing things up trying to rush it at this point. My 13 year old daughter held it today (taped blade) and declared "It's CUTE!" (not exactly what I was looking for....but, like she might say: "what-everrrr") then I had to ask for it back because she was having too much fun fondling it. It feels really good in my hand (although now I wish I had a 14), which is what counts, I guess.

Oh, yeah...then I skipped up to the 1500 on the blade, just for sh!ts and giggles (and I couldn't find anything in between 600 and 1500!)
Funny how beer labels can be somewhat prophetic:

 
Looks better every time. I can't believe you can read stuff in the blade.
I'm not ready to let my 9 year old daughter see my 11 (151) yet. I don't want to have to buy another!
 
Wow! That looks like kitchen goodness to the extreme. I absolutely LOVE the sales, granite. I bet it feels amazing in hand. Wow, just wow. Love it!
 
looking good!!
Heh. 'cute' is almost always a good reaction for knives. WAY better than 'huh.'

Sorry about the late list, I swear I tried to post that well over a week ago, but the forum refused me about 3 times. It would let me post to OTHER threads, though. :-/

The good thing about going about things out of order the first time is that now you'll see the reasons for the order between the lines. Good experience. BTW, it's hard to shape a handle on a sanding drum, IMO. A BIG contact wheel is easier, or a 1x42 slack belt sander (remove the platen) is actually really good at 80 grit. Also, I used to chuck the blade into the vise by the taped blade (and leather soft 'jaws') and hand-shape with files. Sharp files are amazing, especially on natural wood.
 
I was inspecting this little guy this morning trying to figure out if there was anything I needed to do before finishing, and I decided that it needed a butt plug where the cutout was for the bottle opener. So I epoxied one in:


Finally cured!



Cut off and ready for finish!



I'm going to put some finish on this. Hopefully be making a sheath by Monday....
 
OK....the anticipation is killing me, too. I have about 10 really thin coats of wipe-on poly (satin) on the scales, now. Waiting for this to dry (I'm supposed to wait 24 hrs for the final coat!) is just torture. There still doesn't seem to be a sturdy enough film on the handle, but I think I'm done. So far:



The little file scar shows in this; not that noticeable otherwise;









I should be able to buff it out tomorrow, and put a nice edge on it (although it's actually cut paper now). Then....the unveiling!
 
So, how much to do mine?

In all seriousness, that is work that I would GLADLY pay for if you were in the business, excellent work!
 
gruntinhusaybah said:
So, how much to do mine?

In all seriousness, that is work that I would GLADLY pay for if you were in the business, excellent work!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind words. I think at this point I need a LOT more experience IF I were to charge for it....at some sort of flat rate that would be even in the ballpark of reasonable for you, I would have made about 25¢/hr. Granted, a lot of that was setting up to do stuff I hadn't done before, so theoretically I could double that on the next one ;). It really has been fun, though, and I can see more of this happening in my future....
 
granitestateofmind said:
Thank you for your kind words. I think at this point I need a LOT more experience IF I were to charge for it....at some sort of flat rate that would be even in the ballpark of reasonable for you, I would have made about 25¢/hr. Granted, a lot of that was setting up to do stuff I hadn't done before, so theoretically I could double that on the next one ;). It really has been fun, though, and I can see more of this happening in my future....
Click to expand...

I didn't figure you were looking to get into customizing knives, I was just trying to emphasize how good this has turned out. Truly an inspiration, I'm going to look for some micarta slabs and pins for mine now!
 
gruntinhusaybah said:
I didn't figure you were looking to get into customizing knives, I was just trying to emphasize how good this has turned out. Truly an inspiration, I'm going to look for some micarta slabs and pins for mine now!
Click to expand...
Thank you...I knew that, I was just pointing out how long this has taken me. Good on ya for starting one of your own. I expect to see some pics soon.
 
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