To strip, or not to strip? That is the question.

Wood Splitter

Wood Splitter

Joined
Jul 16, 2011
Messages
993
And on a very different topic, I'm also thinking about removing the coating on my new knife. :D

BECKERHEAD #150 Reporting for duty, sir!






:cool:


AFTER STRIPPING...









 
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Though this is a topic that can be rather subjective, I, personally, do not care for blade coatings. Though it does provide protection for rust prone steels, it otherwise reduces the usability of your knife in other respects and use tends to make it look like hell eventually anyway.

That all being said, when I get a new Becker in the mail, I pause (albeit briefly) and experience the beauty of a new knife, coating or no. However, I have opted to remove the coating from all of mine.

I gifted a BK10 to a dear friend of mine, but do not own one currently myself. Between seeing yours and Warrior's, I will need to add a new Becker to my current lineup, I think...

Is that the sheath it came with? I usually do not care for the nylon sheaths but I am a bit of a sucker for "multicam".
 
I own about 8 Beckers at the moment, if my memory serves me, and all but this new 10 are stripped.

I'm almost certainly going to strip it, but like you, I do like to take a moment and enjoy a pristine, new blade.

This is actually my second 10. I still have my first, but I dislike some of the mods I did to it 5 years back. I removed the ramp, the guard, polished the flats and convexed the edge. This one is going to remain practically stock, save for the coating.

The sheath didn't come with it. It's a multicam Spec Ops Combat Master short. Just took the liner out and formed it to fit the ramp with a heatgun on low. Worked perfectly.
 
Strip it! The only becker I own that still have the coating are my pair of bk4's. That is the only model I don't see a benefit. Other than that, as soon as I get them, they get stripped and given a forced patina.
 
Nice! I do not have near that many, not yet, anyway. That will get remedied with time, still on the hunt for a reasonably priced 15 but I could be just kidding myself...

Are you unhappy with the ramp removal on your first 10 or the polishing? I've seen folks remove the ramps on their 9's and 10's and just figured it was an aesthetic thing for them.
 
Pàdruig;17013947 said:
Nice! I do not have near that many, not yet, anyway. That will get remedied with time, still on the hunt for a reasonably priced 15 but I could be just kidding myself...

Are you unhappy with the ramp removal on your first 10 or the polishing? I've seen folks remove the ramps on their 9's and 10's and just figured it was an aesthetic thing for them.
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Shot me an email. I might have a lead on a 15... Maybe.

I'm mostly unhappy about the guard removal I did years back. I just prefer how it looks with the guard and ramp these days.
 
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Wood Splitter said:
Shoot me an email. I might have a lead on a 15... Maybe.


I'm mostly unhappy about the guard removal I did years back. I just prefer how it looks with the guard and ramp these days.
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Email sent.

I am with you, I am a fan of the ramps and the guards, though admittedly, I haven't found any practical use for the ramp on the 9, other than the aesthetics. On the 10, I could see where it would help with finer work.
 
Pàdruig;17013980 said:
Email sent.

I am with you, I am a fan of the ramps and the guards, though admittedly, I haven't found any practical use for the ramp on the 9, other than the aesthetics. On the 10, I could see where it would help with finer work.
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I actually never use a knife with my thumb on the spine. Never have figured out why anyone does that to be honest. It's a weak grip and offers little control compared to a hammer grip, reverse (chest lever) or pinch grip.

The ramp actually does bite into the meat of the palm in a reverse (tip down, edge forward) grip, and does help prevent sliding if force is applied. And having been stalked by numerous mountain lions, I'm happy about that.

Other than that, I just like the aesthetics.
 
Pàdruig;17013947 said:
Nice! I do not have near that many, not yet, anyway. That will get remedied with time, still on the hunt for a reasonably priced 15 but I could be just kidding myself...

Are you unhappy with the ramp removal on your first 10 or the polishing? I've seen folks remove the ramps on their 9's and 10's and just figured it was an aesthetic thing for them.
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You really do need a 15. :D When they were being discontinued I was looking at the tweeners and JT told me if I got a tweener, carried it for 30 days and did all my knifey junk with it, and still didn't like it he'd buy it from me for the amount I paid. Since it was going away (and was insanely cheap) I got a 15 and did what he asked. It gets overlooked because it's almost "kitchen knifey" but I wailed on it and it took it like a champ. Best. Knife. Ever.


Oh, and strip it!
 
Been thinking about the BK10 for my third Becker using this exact sheath. What did you use to make room for the ramp after warming it up? I dont have a heat gun or any way to apply heat. Glad I read your thread before buying this sheath, which looked like my best option.

I'm new to modifying knives. (But not guns) Mine have been self defense carries, and used an axe for camp. Recently getting knives that are capable of a number of tasks.

I don't mind the ramp on Becker except when it comes to choosing sheats, I don't use the ramp. *Strip it* =)

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
 
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BigSky01 said:
Been thinking about the B10 for my third Becker using this exact sheath. What did you use to make room for the ramp after warming it up? I dont have a heat gun or any way to apply heat. Glad I read your thread before buying this sheath, which looked like my best option.

I'm new to modifying knives. (But not guns) Mine have been self defense carries, and used an axe for camp. Recently getting knives that are capable of a number of tasks.

I don't mind the ramp on Becker except when it comes to choosing sheats, I don't use the ramp. *Strip it* =)

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
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I used a heat gun on the low setting, and was very, very careful with it. I completely destroyed a 6" liner a couple years ago by over heating it. Damn thing shrunk down to nothing! Pro tip, don't use an oven!

All I did was carefully applied heat to the spine side of the liner, and (with my edge taped up to prevent it from accidentally cutting the soft, hot plastic), inserted the blade while applying pressure to the spine. As it cooled (only a couple seconds), I just moved it in and out for the length of the ramp, to open up a channel for it. I had to carefully reheat a couple times to get it perfect, but right now, it slots in easily and there's a few of millimeters of clearance on the edge side.

I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Just refinished my micarta scales, and gave some of my stainless hardware a forge scale finish. Now all that's left to do is strip this thing!
 
By popular vote, here she is in all her nude glory! :D

Turned out great!

Becker micarta, refinished to 400 grit, stainless hardware with forge scale finish (I can make a tutorial on that if anyone is interested), and a MC Combat Master sheath.









 
Very nice man. Love that sheath too.
 
Love how the knife came around! That looks all business now, wow! Nice work Sir! What method did you use to strip it?

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
 
BigSky01 said:
Love how the knife came around! That looks all business now, wow! Nice work Sir! What method did you use to strip it?

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
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Much obliged. I used some Dominion Canada industrial grade paint stripper. Sprayed it before I went to bed and let it sit overnight at 3 degrees C. Ten hours later, and it barely touched it.

Sprayed it again and used a heatgun to speed the process up. Was done in 10 min.
 
Wow, now that just looks sweet. What an incredible transformation, I love it!

However, my wife now hates you... The BK10 is now in the shopping cart...
 
Wood Splitter said:
Much obliged. I used some Dominion Canada industrial grade paint stripper. Sprayed it before I went to bed and let it sit overnight at 3 degrees C. Ten hours later, and it barely touched it.

Sprayed it again and used a heatgun to speed the process up. Was done in 10 min.
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Will the factory sheath insert fit into the Spec Ops sheath? Thinking of just swapping them instead of forming the Spec Ops sheath insert, I'm afraid I might blow it. [emoji21]
 
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