Trying to get/make BK14 trainer

C

conwict

Joined
Oct 29, 2007
Messages
43
Hey beckerheads,

I am a big fan of the bk14 and own three. One I have stripped the coating off of, added jimping to, and it rides IWB drawpoint style at about 1:30-2 o'clock. I think I like the micarta scales (rit dyed deep purple :p) but I'm not sure.

I also own two others, one that stays accessible on a pack I walk around with (kind of an edc/preparedness/day-pack) and the other is sharpened really nicely with a convex edge for taking on camping/outings in the woods.

Okay, so, what I want to know is: What do folks recommend I do in order to make a trainer for this knife? I'd love to have a drone (metal) one with dull edge and blunt tip AND a rubber (semi-flexible) one for contact training drills...but unless someone has directions for making a mold for the rubber dummy knife, and a fairly easy to obtain set of materials (challenging to mix or set is not a problem, I like projects), I doubt that'll work.

So, I'd considered contacting the factory, but I don't know that they'd sell me a blank for any cheaper than I could just use one of my 3 and totally dull it with a belt sander.

That said, I could also use some input as to how one might go about making the knife safe (dull and blunt) without removing a ridiculous amount of metal.

Oh, and here is a little review I wrote on my blog of the bk14 - check it out - not trying to spam, so mods feel free to remove if I'm out of line.
 
I've never thought about doing this before, but if someone asked me to make a blade "safe" without totally ruining it, I would start by slicing through a ton of cardboard. That will "take the edge off" the edge, but not to the point where it is destroyed. After that, why not just take some duct tape and put it over the edge in about 4 or 5 strips. Maybe bulk up the tip a little more as well to pad it.

You now have a pretty safe blade with the same feel as a standard blade.

Just an idea, but I don't see how it wouldn't work. You couldn't put it into the sheath like this, but I never really understood the idea behind needing a training blade, so my ideas are admittedly myopic and perhaps worthless. :confused:
 
you could make a rigid trainer with a 1/8-1/4" piece of flat wood.
Cut the profile on a buddie's bandsaw, finish with some sanding blocks. Done.
There's flat metal stock at the hardware store - it probably won't harden into a knife, but then that's exactly what you DON'T want. Trace your knife on the steel and bust out the hacksaw and maybe a file. Of course a little sander/grinder doesn't hurt, but isn't STRICTLY necessary.

As for rubber, I'd go scrounge wallyworld or joblot for some dense fatigue mats - maybe the interlocking ones, I've used those for everything. You can cut that out with a knife. If you find serious rubber sheets, bandsaw again. Hell, old Linoleum tile would probably be great. You could laminate several pieces to thicken the handle and leave the blade as one layer for flexibility.

Much eaiser than making a blue gun.
If you take some care, it might even fit in your sheath.

-Daizee
 
perhaps 3D printing? :)

perhaps dull the knife some, then wrap from spin to edge with split dense poly tubing glued on with PE glue (gorilla), secure ends with fiber tape.. voila. inspect regularly. reversible, doesn't cost much more than normal knife or add too much weight. just don't stab hard with it... or round the tip over a lot.

or as daizee says, get some iron stock, trace knife, cut out, round edges, drill some big hole in handle to reduce weight... coat with tool dip if you really feel like it.
 
If you can find a piece of polycarboante/lexan/ plexiglass, you can make a pretty good ridgid trainer out of that.
 
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