Modding the KA-BAR Becker BK-2 

Fantastic job with the new finish and the scales look great. Thanks for sharing this with us Mark.

You made this video super interesting to watch. Never thought much about this kind of customization, but I really enjoyed watching/learning from you.

Excellent video and modifications Mark, as always. Thanks for sharing! I always love getting a new knife because I like modding them to fit my likes and needs, take care!

Love what you did with the knife, I've been wanting to do it to my BK2 for awhile and now I think I finally will.

this is by far one of the top 3 vids on bk2. He explains everything he does at a nice even pace and doesn't cut any corners. You made a killer video AussieMark

YOU HAVE THE ORIGINAL BK2 BEFORE THEY SKELETONIZED THE HANDLE. LUCKY!

I wish I'd thought of it too. I learnt it from a vid Kyley did as part of the Sugar Creek Forge build along. You just gotta love the free exchange of ideas here, it really is fantastic.

👍 Good video. I like the finished product. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks mate, I really pleased with how it turned out.

Knife looks fantastic! Good job sir.

Thanks Robert, and good luck with your knife making.

That's very cool brotha ! I really like how dark the blue came out. Thanks for sharing !

nice and well done project. there was a tutorial for blueing knives in a german knife-magazine last year, and ever since then, ideas for a similar project have been swirling around my head. so you might just have inspired me to finally do it. one thing they did to make it shinier at the end was get the knife to a finer grit finish befor blueing and the rub it with some oil at the end. Thanks for showing us!

It was very interesting to watch you progress in your project. And it turned out pretty awesome imho. The new handle scales are the bomb. And the gun blue finish lets you forget that this is a mass produced knife. Great job.

Sir, you have given me a great idea for my Bk2. Thanks for the info.

Wow... I am very impressed! This video made me go to our local store and buy a BK2! I think im going to try darkening the blade too! Thanks for the video, and best of luck!

Very good video my friend. Very informative and easy to watch. Keep up the good work! Thank you.

Cheers mate, every time I look at it I like it more.

Thanks mate, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Allways enjoy your videos. Very informative and most of all no " hokus pokus" Thanks Mark.

I learnt a hell of a lot from this video. I never knew that bluing was something we could apply ourselves and placing the sandpaper on timber to make it easier to control is sensation. I wish I'd thought of that. :)

Very good work.

Great job Mark. Looks nice.

Cheers Mark. Great looking knife. Very informative vid. Keep it up

Awesome, good luck with the project. I think you'll be happy with the result.

Very nice video, I appreciate your time for making video , from Pennsylvania USA

Impressive. I like what you have done. I have been watching a lot of videos on this knife. I am going to purchase one.

Fantastic! Looked like a fun project.

Thanks mate...well done...well video'd and explained! I might have a go at something like that myself!

Yes, just paint stripper I got from the local hardware. Worked perfectly. I was a bit nervous to try this too but very glad I did.

I used walnut oil on my micarta scales and darkened them up nice. Great video!

Thanks for posting this. I've recently started making knives, and was curious about using gun bluing for the blades. You did a great job and the scale are really nice. Congratulations on a project well done.

I gave mine a vinegar bath instead of bluing. I got a cool, unexpected design out of it, I also opted for those micarta scales. I didn't hate the originals, but the micarta sure works well. I'm a nice leather sheath away from having the knife I always wanted. :) Thanks for sharing your

Congrats! Nice video. Thank you

You have the best version of the Bk2. 1st Gen Bk2 is so much better and stronger. I wouldn't even think of buying the new ones that are weaker with the skeletonized Tang handles. I need me a first Gen! Great video thank you

Thanks Andrew, it's always nice to hear that people enjoy my videos. This was a fun little project and I'm really pleased with the result. Thanks for subscribing, hope to see you around in the comments :)

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Cheers, Mark

well done, knife looks great!

Good work!

Nice mod project, Mark. Well done!

great job mate

Thanks for the info, that will be very helpful to me on future projects. Cheers!

Very Nice, Mate. You did that just like you'd done it 100 time before. Gutsy gamble that paid off big time !

This came out great!

I cross hatch cut my original handles for more grip and it made a great difference in grip feel and handling. I’m going to get the micarta scales for my other BK2.

Great knife

Thanks for the tips, with the info I'm getting in the comments I'm sure next one will turn out even better.

Thanks my friend, glad you enjoyed the video.

G'day Bruce. Thanks mate, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Not bad for a first atttempt. I will keep learning and maybe down the track I'll redo the BK2 to a finer finish. But then again, it is a working knife so it's not that big a deal.

Looks like a good heavy knife for most applications. Nice job.

From Arizona, thank you!

Good looking knife man... I just bought a BK2 and although I am not to the point of modification, your vid makes me want to. Nice job.

Looks great. Nice job.

Thanks, it worked out to be much easier than I thought.

This has turned out so well I think I'll be do more mods in the future. Thanks for watching mate.

Thanks, glad you liked it.

Nice mod. Love the bluing!

Thanks for the tip on the fine grit before bluing, i'll keep that in mind for next time. Cheers :)

Good to see there are actually some Aussies on you-tube as well, ha ha good on ya mate!

Good video as always. Thank you..I would love to have one to.

Say Heah M8, nice job, looks spiffy, I left my BK-2 stock, using it like I do it has its own unique love marks, sort of shabby but when you pick it up in your hand the virtue of the knife is there and you know your picking up a tank of a knife, I actually like the look, reminds me of a well used tool by men of old that's kept in very good condition, I put a convex edge on it too but I used a Work Sharp I have both the new and the old, the newer one has a little wider belt, it makes the edge nice and sharp, I don't sharpen it alot, because I don't want to take too much metal off the knife, unless it really needs a good sharpening, but after a good work out when I get back home, a good cleaning and I strop it with the green compound then a little oil and it's back to sharp again and ready to use, the sheath is the only Modde I did to it because I actually like the Grivory handles, I don't have any slipping problem, but then I don't get fat or blood on my knife, even when wet the Grivory doesn't slip that much for me, I got a new sheath, because the kydex sheath it came with was so tight that it hurt my wrist pulling it out of the sheath, so I got the small Spec Ops sheath, it's very well made and it has a pouch and not that expensive and it fit's the BK-2 like a glove, I also have the O.K.C. Ranger Afghan that's another tank of a knife, but it has a choil and a Flat Grind and it's made out of the 5160 carbon steel instead of the 1095 CroVan, Oh Yeah, I also have the O.K.C. GEN2 SP-47 that's very similar but a little thinner so it's more of a match with the BK-10 which sometimes I like using it better because of the thinner blade and it's a great match with my BK-9, with my Ratmandu I have a nice stable of robust 5" blades (I do have other 5" blades). Thanx M8 for sharing your BK-2 and what you have done to it.

That’s pretty! 👍

excellent job, thx for the vid. thumbs up. cheers!

I got my Gen2 (milled out tang) BK2 for 30 Aussie dollars with an original multi-point sheath about 6 months ago. Bought it from a non-knife person. I've removed the coating and given the steel a bit of a polish. The knife and the sheath had been neglected, so it ended up being a resto job as well as a mild modification. This video has been sitting in my 'watch later' list for at least 5 months. I watched a few minutes of it back then and got sidetracked.

nice upgrade love the look of the knife, now all it needs is a nice leather sheath for it (insert RDPproject hear ) looks grate

I loved this video so much. Subbed.

Hmmm, might be worth looking at this and strengthening before it happens. Thanks for the tip.

nice mark. good little bit there on getting a convex edge.

I did a distilled vinegar patina on mine, and I did just that. Soak the knife in vinegar for a couple of hours and then rub with 000 steel wool to smooth/even out the finish. It took several repetitions of this process, but id did come out nice even antique looking steel grey finish.

Great vid mate. I have a BK2 that I kind of runied the edge. I have another on the way but might use this one as a project knife and try this. Thanks for the vid

Well done.

Well done, Mark! The Micarta handle scales look far better than the original ones.

Say Heah M8, The only thing I didn't like about my BK-2 was the Sheath, Mine was so tight it actually hurt my wrist and I'm not a whimpie guy, Played outside linebacker in the American Football game. So when I found out that there was a Full Grind BK-22, and the knife is virtually the same as the BK-22 but came with a Nylon Ballistic Sheath, I bought the sheath, and it fit's a glove, Before that the Spec-Ops Small Sheath worked great, Now it houses my Modde Rodent 6 which I had thinned down and the top gaurd taken off, One of my Fav's, Nice to see you again MI. Cheers. ,,, ,,, ,,,

Thanks man!

The micarta scales are very nice. Glad you liked the vid, thanks for watching mate.

Well done! We should have no fear in personalizing our things. You’ve inspired me to attack my BK-2! Love the knife, but the paint scars up and ruins the look. I also have the Becker Kephart and use it frequently as an all-around camp knife. The more I use it, the more character it develops. Love the rugged cutlery!

I gave mine a stonewash and micarta scales, it turned out nicely

Thanks, very easy to do, give it a try.

Absolutely! I figured at the time it was a temp fix. But it's held up to some very harsh abuse. Just remember to singe(melt) the slits in the nylon or you'll risk fraying the material. If you go this route that is. Rivets are great fasteners for metal. Not so much for fabric.

I own the bk2, customized mine though. Stripped off the coating and put a 90 % spine on it to strike a ferro rod, and opted for micarta scales, completely different knife now. There's nothing this knife can't excel in the outdoors. Took some hard work and a couple days, but worth every bit of it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinion on this awesome blade.

No worries, glad you enjoyed the vid.

Thanks mate.

They really change the feel of the knife too. Thanks for watching Stefen.

Should have mentioned in the video that I did just that. I now have to coat the whole blade not just the edge to prevent rust, but thats no problem. The blue shows up great when oiled up. Good to hear from you Bruce.

nice job man

So you've ordered one at last, good for you. I really don't think you can go far wrong using this stuff, from other comments it seems like some finer prep work might pay off with a more even blue. Enjoy the BK2.

Very cool.

Thanks my friend.

Thanks mate, if you do nothing else, get the micarta scales as they make a big difference.

Good luck with it.

I got the Mora to use as a workshop knife. Does the job well.

Too think for a lot of finer slicing tasks, but for hard outdoors use it is the bomb.

Oh, I like the bluing. Might get around to that one day.

thanks for doing this. I look at my bk2 and just don't have the heart! ;)

Keep an eye on the handle strap rivets. Was out on a hump and had to hug a rock,the handle got hung up and ripped the strap off the belt loop of the sheath. With out retention the sheath provided I would have undoubtedly lost my blade. Got base and repaired by making 2 slits in the nylon beltloop with a hot blade.Threaded the strap thru.

Cheers my friend :)

Great job. I am doing the same to my BK9.

Cold blue is a pain in the ass to use. I used it when restoring one of my old shotguns to give it a rustic look. To get it more even you need to buff it inbetween coats with steel wool and do at least 3 coats. Just a tip for next time. Apart from that it looks good and I may consider doing something similar to my BK2.

Me too, they are not cheap but they are pretty cool.

Thanks, you've been hinting I needed to get modding and now the bug has bitten.