Beckerhead Knife Making and Modification Thread

it's a beast!
or at least a King...

i tried to go a bit thinner but the cutting wheel stopped having much grinding effect.
Liners ended up.090, or just like having.030 pinstripes on top of.060 liners.

Adding tung oil finish today.
then hopefully i can get an action shot to put in the Throne Room thread.
 
thanks!
it feels great in the ole oversized mitts.
and I no longer have that ShadeTree burlap begging me to do something with it!
 
I was wondering how good it was gonna look...came out nice! I want some Tommy scales, but I don't have a big Becker with stock scales, so no real need. Oh what a dilemma that would create tho...can't have custom scales just sitting around....that has to break some sort of rule right?
 
TwiceTheExcitement said:
I was wondering how good it was gonna look...came out nice! I want some Tommy scales, but I don't have a big Becker with stock scales, so no real need. Oh what a dilemma that would create tho...can't have custom scales just sitting around....that has to break some sort of rule right?
Click to expand...

Just get the scales.
Impetus to get the knife you're waffling on...

Tommy does great work.
 
tjswarbrick said:
Just get the scales.
Impetus to get the knife you're waffling on...

Tommy does great work.
Click to expand...

Yes Tommy does do great work.

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These grips are called scales because they are removable in 2 pieces and surround the full tang of the knife handle, with bits of the steel exposed.

Tommy the Who's scales, and I think every example in gtblade's spiral excepting (possibly) the 2 at 1:30, are wood.
I see rosewood, ipe, ironwood, I think osage orange and cocobolo.
I've also worked with elm and buckeye (and rosewood) on my own (as well as mycarta and shadetree composites.) And have some great maple ones made by someone else.
I like the natural look and feel of wood - though the stabilized (injected with polymer) buckeye I used feels plastic-er than the phenolics I've worked with.
 
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Okay, now I understand the difference, thank you for that.

I love the look of the wood on it, it gives a nice classic feel to your blades - although sometimes it's difficult to tell what is wood and what is micarta.
 
For my BK-16, I asked my brother about patinas, and he suggested a stone wash instead.

Mostly I see you guys recommending patinas, so I wanted to get your thoughts on stone washing vs. a patina.

My brother identified that patinas are not as permanent as a stonewash, but what I saw of stonewashing gets the blade very dull.

Any help is appreciated.
 
stonewashing will get a blade dull, but that's a great excuse to put a new edge on it. I like a stonewash finish, but don't know how durable it will be on a carbon blade. It actually might speed a natural patina.
 
Funny.
I've had the stonewash instructable up on my phone all weekend. Planning to try it on my own 16 (that I haven't ordered yet) in the near future.
But I haven't done it yet, so I really can't comment.
Looks to be pretty involved and potentially dangerous - to the knife, and the person performing the work (includes an acid bath, which may or may not be necessary.) Probably not a great "first step" if you're just getting in to this sort of thing.
I've been trying to think of a way to protect the edge that I can apply evenly in just a very small area, that will the survive the process and not be a nightmare to remove. Nothing yet...
A couple guys have done a PCB-Etchant patina that comes out smooth and deep and actually looks a bit like a mild stonewash finish. I would recommend reading up on that and seeing if, perhaps, it offers what you're looking for, and looks do-able.
But, if you're a jump-in-with-both-feet (or headfirst!) kinda guy, try it out and let us know how it turns out!
 
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tjswarbrick said:
Funny.
I've had the stonewash instructable up on my phone all weekend. Planning to try it on my own 16 (that I haven't ordered yet) in the near future.
But I haven't done it yet, so I really can't comment.

...But, if you're a jump-in-with-both-feet (or headfirst!) kinda guy, try it out and let us know how it turns out!
Click to expand...


I am not a headfirst kind of guy, though sometimes I wish I was. I saw that Instructable, and it looked more complicated than I was willing to try.

This would be first excursion with anything of this sort, though I do have a knife somewhere that I could test the stonewash on ,but an acid bath is above my personal willingness - my friend that is a chemist and is hooking me up with a leather sheath might convince me otherwise, though.

Some of the videos I watched on youtube just said to strip it (already done in my case, courtesy of brother oXide) and then put it in a bucket with rocks and a LOT of WD-40, and put the bucket in a rock tumbler, paint shaker, or the dryer. I'm leaning towards getting a paint can, and asking the friendly folks at Home Depot to hook a brother up on the paint shaker - if I go the stonewash route.
 
From what I've read, the acid wash is the patina that protects the blade. The stonewash evens it out - and looks great.
I also saw a warning about not overdoing the acid on 1095!

And good luck at the HD.
If you tell 'em what it is (or they can tell by the weight) the guys I used to work with wouldn't put it in. And if you don't tell 'em, when they hear it rattling around, I doubt they'll be amused. YMMV.

I'm thinking it's about time for me to shut up and let someone else - hopefully someone with more experience than studying it for a weekend - answer for a while.
(I spent 5 years behind an orange apron, so I consider myself somewhat experienced there.)
 
I can see why they would be uncomfortable with it, but I feel I could better convince them to use a paint shaker than I could convince my mom to let me use her dryer for that.

I'm still not sold on the stonewash, but I'm open to it.

Do you think a patina could work instead of the chemical wash?

Also, I read that someone used gorilla tape to protect the edge. I think that was in the comments for stonewashing a BK-9.
 
I've always treated my carbon blades with the Super Blue gun blueing kit. Blade will be as dark or light as you want depending on how much you rub it with steel wool after. Great for beginners as everything you need comes in a kit except for the steel wool. I used it on a couple Moras, a couple Cold Steel hawk heads, and a Condor Kumunga. All still look fantastic and aren't as prone to rust. If you screw up you just keep rubbing and start over. I haven't done any of my Beckers yet as I like the stock coating (and live in humid Florida). Good luck on whatever method you choose! 😉
 
tjswarbrick said:
Tommy the Who's scales, and I think every example in gtblade's spiral excepting (possibly) the 2 at 1:30, are wood.
I see rosewood, ipe, ironwood, I think osage orange and cocobolo.
Click to expand...

Very well spotted. Yes the 2 is on factory micarta it made it into the picture for symmetry purposes.

I love the ipe and the cocobolo. Tommythwwho has been great to work with.
 
Is there anyone familiar with stonewashing who could tell me if I could just do the stone wash and then a vinegar patina? Patina would be for protection in this case, while the stonewash is for looks.

Does TommyTheWho do non-exotic woods? His work is beautiful, but I'd like to see if I can do a set of scales for a little lower cost, as well as fitting better with my purpose for a regalia knife.

Any help is appreciated.

Sent from my SM-T210R using Tapatalk
 
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