- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
- Messages
- 1,261
So what do you do when you are restless and can't sleep at night? You turn regular ole' production GECs into custom quality pieces. Roughly a week ago I acquired a GEC #85 from KSF. At first I was like, "wow it's much smaller than I anticipated." Though as I held and used the knife I fell in love with the extremely thin clip point and the ergonomic grip. With that I put a hair whittling edge on the clip point blade that laughed at thick cuts of cardboard. Even so, I still wasn't at all too excited with the knife and considered selling it. I told myself, what could I do to make me like this knife? Then I thought, why not put a patina? So off I went to microwave some distilled vinegar and I plunged the sterile mirror blade to attain that rich dark finish. I looked at my #85 again and I thought, "not bad, I may keep this knife after all." Even so, it was far from my favorite knife in my collection and the mirror polished bolsters scratched so easily. Frustrated, I went to the traditional for sale section and thought, "maybe its my lucky day and I'll finally snag a charlow from the forums." To my dismay, I saw 3 different sales threads all with a charlow for sale. In each thread, every one was snatched before I could post, "I'll take it." In my self sulking, I repeatedly looked at the sold charlows and noticed one of them had a different looking bolster. I then noticed that the seller had stated that he brushed the bolsters. I thought it looked amazing, but I was unsure if I could replicate the result on my #85, as the bolsters on the #85 are heavily contoured as opposed to the more gradually curved bolsters on the charlow. Disappointed yet again, I sat by my computer and watched the latest episode of The Strain from FX and 2 episodes from season 2 of The Vikings. After that I went to clean up some of my tool and organize my self. I was moving some of my sandpaper and my mistake I brushed it against the bolsters of my #85. My gec #85 now had a very noticeable scratch making the bolster essentially look like shit. At that point, I said screw it and prepared to completely redo the bolsters on my #85 having never prior given any material a brushed satin finish before.
I grabbed some 600 grit silicon carbide sandpaper, an eraser, a neopreme phone case, some note cards, and a silicon carbide abrasive stick. 2 hours transpired and I had completely refinished all 4 bolsters and the spring/liners of my #85. As I looked at the end product, I felt a deep sense of gratification and thought, "I'm keeping this #85 after all." Please excuse the poor quality of the pictures as it is currently 4:35 AM with zero natural lighting. I also showed a half stop photo revealing a perfectly flush half stop on a production knife. Also the liners and springs are completely tight and flush. In some photos there appears to be small gaps, but there are none.
- BN
Just put a scotchbrite finish as opposed to a 600 grit finish on the liners/springs. Looks a lot cleaner now.
I grabbed some 600 grit silicon carbide sandpaper, an eraser, a neopreme phone case, some note cards, and a silicon carbide abrasive stick. 2 hours transpired and I had completely refinished all 4 bolsters and the spring/liners of my #85. As I looked at the end product, I felt a deep sense of gratification and thought, "I'm keeping this #85 after all." Please excuse the poor quality of the pictures as it is currently 4:35 AM with zero natural lighting. I also showed a half stop photo revealing a perfectly flush half stop on a production knife. Also the liners and springs are completely tight and flush. In some photos there appears to be small gaps, but there are none.
- BN
Just put a scotchbrite finish as opposed to a 600 grit finish on the liners/springs. Looks a lot cleaner now.
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