The Perfect GEC #85--custom quality

[Bladenoobie1]

Agreed!

Before:

After:

More recently:

~ P.


(No, I don't remember exactly how I achieved the finish, only that ScotchBrite was key, and that 'errors' were easy to buff away.)

Did you refinish the bolsters too? I can't tell. I want an extremely dark matte patina, but the mirror polished blades actually patina pretty slow and keeping them in vinegar for extended periods of time introduce micro pits.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Great stuff y'all.

 

[Bladenoobie1]

Great job on a nice pattern, B-noobie!
I love that pattern! I remember having the discussion about the Candle-end Bolster. I had to do a bunch of persuading to get it that way!
When I compare it to round-end Teardrops, I think the candle trumps them hands down! Not that Teardrops are ugly - they are also neat, and the design goes back a century or two!!
The Candle just makes them extra special!
You chose a great knife to customize, B-noobie!

Thanks waynorth, that means a lot from the person who designed the knife.

Nice job and great looking 85, Bladenoobie1. I oiled my ebony 85 this weekend and ended up polishing the bolsters and springs & liners. Next time I might try a brushed satin finish. This thread inspired me to acquire another 85 that I am most anxious to have in hand, a Harness Jack Primitive Bone. I'm still hoping to find a 2011 Forum 85.

Yeah I really want a 2011 forum knife too ever since I got my 85. I initially had just polished the bolsters and spring/liners and while it looked nice, it scratched up the moment I dropped it in my pocket and would develop a hazy look rather quickly. The brushed satin finish isn't as hard as I anticipated. You just need to work from edge to edge, slowly rotating the knife to follow the bolster's contours and make sure the knife is kept in the same orientation with every push--pretty easy to do since you can use the cuts as a guide to keep it straight.

 

[JustinR]

I think that it looks great. I have an ebony 85 with a heavy patina that I think would look great with brushed bolsters.

 

[Bladenoobie1]

I think that it looks great. I have an ebony 85 with a heavy patina that I think would look great with brushed bolsters.

Yeah I would go for it. Worse case scenario you mess up and just grab some high grit sandpaper and jewlers rouge and polish the bolsters back to a mirror finish. The material is pretty soft so errors can be easily corrected.

EDIT: Another shot

 

[grins000]

That really turned out great, I tried this on an old beater and was floored how it transformed the old cheapie into a sort of a classy looking knife, the trick is the grit you use. Oh and doing it in one direction only.

 

[thedaver8]

I love the 85. I don't have one yet, but I've always wanted one. Maybe they'll make another run soon, since I don't see the "perfect one" calling my name on retail sites.

 

[Bladenoobie1]

That really turned out great, I tried this on an old beater and was floored how it transformed the old cheapie into a sort of a classy looking knife, the trick is the grit you use. Oh and doing it in one direction only.

Yeah its a nice finish. If I were to do it again, I'd probably use 400 grit sic carbide sandpaper as opposed to 600 for a "coarser" satin finish. Really all you need is an eraser and sandpaper for most bolsters. If all the bolsters are a gradual curve an eraser would work fine. For my particular knife, the #85, the bolsters at the butt were also tapered down to the very end and not just contoured the reason why I used a neoprene phone case. I also refinished my spring/liners. Turns out the spring liners were flush but not completely flat as a rigid surface with sandpaper wouldn't clean up the spine as much as I liked. I intially used a hard surface to flatten the back then hand sanded it as my fingers would fill the subtle contours. This really is a near a perfect knife for me and I plan on doing this to any GEC I purchase with bolsters.