Last February I was having fun with my BK-2s and did quite an overhaul of one. Turned out great (if I do say so myself). The result was a forward/blade heavy knife that gave me a little more oomph in the chopping department and lighter weight overall.
A couple weeks ago, I did a little work on a knife now known as the BK-HB (Bladites winning entry).
The unseasonably warm weather here gave me some unexpected energy to play with a virgin BK-2.
Let's start with the raw blade. Weighs in at 12.2 oz.
(No, that is not a drug scale. I got it for free years ago when Stamps.com first launched. They gave them away when you signed up)
Let the drilling commence.
If you ever plan on drilling, use care to go slowly. Id drill about 1/3 of the way in and then stop for 5+ minutes to let everything cool down. Not too concerned about the heat treat of the handle, but more so of the drill bit.
Now for the big hole!
When it came time for the ¾ hole, I only drill for about 10 seconds and then stop for 5+ minutes. I opted for the large hold in the middle rather than completely cutting it out like I did last year. Kinda liked the finished product and left it alone. Of course, I filed and contoured all the edges
Time for a weigh in. Wow. 1.3 oz of steel removed. Not bad.
So I can torque down on the handle bolts, I created a nylon spacer a couple hundreths (or RCH for you engineers out there) fatter than the blade, to account for any compression it may experience over time.
I wanted to lighten it and move the weight towards the blade like I did on the last BK-2, but I wanted to keep the same butt and make it look like it had not been worked on, other than the obvious regrinding of the edge, oh, and the rounding of the spine and my jimping work. What I meant was I did not want the lightening to be obvious and wanted to keep the original lines of the knife.
Stainless hardware from Lowes holds the handle on. Home Depot does not carry small nylon washers. Here is a note of interest. If you torque down on the stock bolts, or the stainless version, you will put undue pressure on the inner part of the hole of the bolt side of the handle. Sometimes resulting in a donut hole of Grivory breaking free. The solution is to use this style of bolt. It fills the hold completly and therefore spreads out the pressure. I use a couple nylon washers to build up the bolt side so I don't have to grind down any length on the nut side. The aviation nuts (also stainless) are also larger and fill the space beautifully. Again, spreading out the force. You can torque down on these babies as hard as you want. I love them.
First I cut the Jimping. Then rounded the spine. The result feels great. A little extra grip for the thumb, but more importantly, when you choke up, there is a nice smooth, soft comfy place for the webbing of your hand. I may end up rounding the spine of the one I did in February.
Now a weigh in between last years mod and this most recent one. Pretty darn close without having removed the butt. What I'll have to do next is take the handles off and compare the balance point. I'll save that for another post.
Thank you very much for looking,
Tom
A couple weeks ago, I did a little work on a knife now known as the BK-HB (Bladites winning entry).
The unseasonably warm weather here gave me some unexpected energy to play with a virgin BK-2.
Let's start with the raw blade. Weighs in at 12.2 oz.
(No, that is not a drug scale. I got it for free years ago when Stamps.com first launched. They gave them away when you signed up)
Let the drilling commence.
If you ever plan on drilling, use care to go slowly. Id drill about 1/3 of the way in and then stop for 5+ minutes to let everything cool down. Not too concerned about the heat treat of the handle, but more so of the drill bit.
Now for the big hole!
When it came time for the ¾ hole, I only drill for about 10 seconds and then stop for 5+ minutes. I opted for the large hold in the middle rather than completely cutting it out like I did last year. Kinda liked the finished product and left it alone. Of course, I filed and contoured all the edges
Time for a weigh in. Wow. 1.3 oz of steel removed. Not bad.
So I can torque down on the handle bolts, I created a nylon spacer a couple hundreths (or RCH for you engineers out there) fatter than the blade, to account for any compression it may experience over time.
I wanted to lighten it and move the weight towards the blade like I did on the last BK-2, but I wanted to keep the same butt and make it look like it had not been worked on, other than the obvious regrinding of the edge, oh, and the rounding of the spine and my jimping work. What I meant was I did not want the lightening to be obvious and wanted to keep the original lines of the knife.
Stainless hardware from Lowes holds the handle on. Home Depot does not carry small nylon washers. Here is a note of interest. If you torque down on the stock bolts, or the stainless version, you will put undue pressure on the inner part of the hole of the bolt side of the handle. Sometimes resulting in a donut hole of Grivory breaking free. The solution is to use this style of bolt. It fills the hold completly and therefore spreads out the pressure. I use a couple nylon washers to build up the bolt side so I don't have to grind down any length on the nut side. The aviation nuts (also stainless) are also larger and fill the space beautifully. Again, spreading out the force. You can torque down on these babies as hard as you want. I love them.
First I cut the Jimping. Then rounded the spine. The result feels great. A little extra grip for the thumb, but more importantly, when you choke up, there is a nice smooth, soft comfy place for the webbing of your hand. I may end up rounding the spine of the one I did in February.
Now a weigh in between last years mod and this most recent one. Pretty darn close without having removed the butt. What I'll have to do next is take the handles off and compare the balance point. I'll save that for another post.
Thank you very much for looking,
Tom
nice mods :>
