Monday, May 14, 2012

Becker BK-17 Modification


A few days ago, I decided I didn't like the finish on the BK-17. It is much similar to skateboard tape in its appearance and texture. I find that somewhat strange for a knife to be so rough. Therefore, I decided I wanted to strip the finish off and go with a classic stainless look.

Hitting the forums I found several other folks that shared my opinion and whom had stripped their Beckers. One agent often used is Citrusstrip.  This paint and finish remover is none fuming and biodegradable.  I dunked my BK-17 in this gloop and threw it into a disposable cake pan and waited for 20 hours.

I rinsed the agent off with hot water and tried removing the finish with a wire brush. I had expected the finish to come right off but had no results.  I was stumped for a while until I remembered I had a dental pick.  I was able to put a scratch into the finish and amazingly the pick slid under the coating. The coating had become like a latex. By sticking the pick under this skin I was able to raise it up enough to pull large bits off.  Together with the pick and a razor blade, I managed to scrape off of the old coating off within an hour.

It will nose need lots of sanding to give it a a bright finish and remove the scratches that the coating removal left behind. I look forward to a finish product in a few days!

UPDATE: After discussing my finishing options with some of the guys in #sharpthings, I decided to clean up the blade really good before I choose my route.  Under the extremely rough traction coating is a stonewash finish.  All it took was a good scrub with hot water and dish soap to make this knife look pretty darn good.  I'll leave it like this for a while.

3 comments:

Top Inexpensive Knives said...

The BK7 is one of my favorite knives of all time!

Rammy said...

You put great information about hunting knives. People should carry a stun gun, tactical knife, flashlight, pepper spray and keychain alarms, is a good idea for personal defense.

People across USA will connect us regards bulk orders of tactical gears, rifle/gun parts, martial arts equipment’s, tactical flashlight, rifle accessories, sport and hunting weapons.

Thank you.

Rammy
DMA Inc.

Alizy said...

Good kitchen cutlery can make the difference between cooking being a chore or a joy. If kitchen knives are dull, then the task custom damascus steel knives of cutting and preparing foods can be pure drudgery. If you are using dull cutlery, you are more likely to injure yourself than with sharp cutlery. On way to keep those knives sharp and looking new is by storing your cutlery in a proper manner.