This BB13 went on a diet

Wow, that really looks killer!! :eek:

I'm a little surprised by the balance point pic, from what I can tell it barely moved. Sort of makes sense though since material was removed behind the balance point as well. I'm sure even a slight move back towards the handle along with the weight reduction will make it feel like a completely different blade.
 
Too cool! It's a thing of beauty.

zmbhntr will have to measure the new balance point. Mine is at 4 3/8" in front of the handle. From the pic above, it does not seem to have moved much.
 
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BB13 Rev3, looks real nice. Looks like it would cut like a laser now. With that recurve and changing the center balance, it is truly an executioners blade now. Great job and that is some beautiful steel. Congrats on the custom job. She is a real show piece now.
 
Yes I will love to hear feedback on it in use... While the balance point may not have seemingly changed much, it feels much less blade heavy losing over 4 oz from the blade... At least imho!
 
Beautiful!! That looks like the new King of choppers.

Congrats!!
 
Awesome Josh. I think I need to consider having you work your magic on a blade or two.
 
That is BEE-YOO-tiful work! I would love to get mine looking like this, but I like the weight and balance like it is.
 
Josh, That is great looking work! :thumbup: Thank you for the excellent photos.
zmbhntr, Congrats on a unique, very cool new blade! :cool:
 
Josh, you totally rock!!! Zmbhntr, you lucky dog...er...HOG!

ETA: When you remove metal from both sides of the balance point, I would not necessarily expect the balance point to change. However, I have no doubt that Josh is right about how much better it feels in hand having shed some of that up-front weight.
 
The BB13 was waiting for me on my desk today after getting home from a work trip. I gotta say, wow! Amazing job Josh, it turned out fantastic!

Upon picking it up it feels drastically different, in a very good way. According to my measurements, by removing 4.6 oz of the blade, the balance point shifted ~0.75" towards the handle. That may not sound like much, but the difference in feel is night and day. It now has a balance point very similar to the 1311 balance point. It's dark outside so I have not gone out to do any chopping, but just from swinging it around in my office I can tell it is a much more nimble, comfortable, and controllable knife to swing. It's perhaps a bit early to call this since I have not used it to chop with, but I have to say that I'm glad that I sent this one out to get modified by Josh instead of putting it on the exchange and being done with it. I realize that everyone has different taste, but the stock BB13 did not feel right in my hand, and it was not comfortable to to chop with. For me, the reason is that the res-c handle was not large enough to provide me with enough grip and stability for such a heavy blade. I have plenty of big INFI that is manageable with a fusion handle, but not this knife with the res-c. Again, this is just my opinion, so take if for what it's worth. Making this a full flat grind completely changed the knife and it makes the res-c work for me, just like it works for me with the 1311. I'm excited to get out there and use this! I'll update my "I like big blades" thread when I do some chopping and have some results from use.
 
oh man this is awesome. I am right at the decision point. I have the BB13 and it is way too front heavy for the handle. I love the 1311 though. So depending on your chopping tests and pics, I might do the same mods. Plus it looks just cool!!
 
I went outside to do a little bit of chopping with the BB13 before work today. Huge improvement over stock! I feel confident and in control swinging this knife now, and the bite is much better. I chopped through a 2x4 a few times and through a small log, so I have not done a lot of testing, but it's definitely a keeper for me now. Will it possibly knock my MOAB or Keffeler Sasquatch off the throne as king chopper? No. It's an awesome knife now though, and I look forward to using it quite a bit going forward and giving it a thorough comparison against my 1311. I'll definitely be bringing it on the camping trip in April for others to try out.









 
I should also point out that I'm not used to using a knife with such a large recurve, so I'm still learning where the sweet spot is. It's fun to practice though. :)
 
resinguy said:
zmbhntr will have to measure the new balance point. Mine is at 4 3/8" in front of the handle. From the pic above, it does not seem to have moved much.
Click to expand...

My balance point was ~4 1/2" in front of the handle, it's now ~3 13/16" in front of the handle after modifications.
 
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