Customized ESEE 4-My first attempt.....

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  • Wheeler-Dealer

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    Mar 6, 2013
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    Customized ESEE 4-1st attempt-New ACID-ETCH & FORCED PATINA !

    ***11/06/13 UPDATE-Look below for new mods (Acid Etched Logo & Forced Mustard Patina)***

    I decided that I wanted to do some "customizing" to my ESEE 4.

    First I didn't like how the handles fit on the knife so I fitted them to the tang.
    Then I didn't like the way the rear part of the handles covered the tang, so I cut the rear section off of the handles to allow me to expose the rear of the Tang.

    Then I modified the Sheath with some leather remains from 2 old holsters and a clip from a flashlight sheath to allow me to wear the knife lower and to give a back-up retention system for the knife if I thought it was necessary.


    Next, I hand filed the handles for better grip. I used my very old and very tiny, Italian made needle files because my wooden handled needle files were too big for what I wanted to do.

    Finally...I decided that I was then going to go ahead and try my hand at doing some FileWork on the Spine of the knife ..fun..fun !

    I wanted 2 different styles of filework on the spine of the knife...1 traditional style (vine) and the other was just a pattern that I made up as I went along and it looks a bit like smoke. Or at least I think it does.

    Lastly, I will be adding some color of epoxy to fill the filing areas in (probably in black)..and I'll sand it down to expose the filework on the tang of the knife and I'll be done !

    Either way..I like my knife and I feel like it makes it "Mine".

    Tell me what you guys think.


    Here's what I started out with:


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    Here's what I did to it to make it mine:



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    bmbutch

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    I know very little about knives & the type of work you did, but dang, looks awesome to me! May have to start researching some, looks fun & rewarding. I say Awesome Job!
     

    chezuki

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    It does look cool.

    When did you do the false edge? Or is ESEE making them with that option now?

    It's a sharpened clip point. ESEE made them for a while, but I don't currently see them on their site. They are still available from other vendors.

    ESEE Knives: ESEE-4P-CP-MB, Sharpened Clip Point Fixed Blade Tactical / Military / Survival / Outdoor / Hunting / Camping / Hiking / Personal Protection / General Purpose / Bushcraft / Knife with Black Plain Edge Blade (Sharpened Back Edge) & Grey Li
     

    Wheeler-Dealer

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    Mar 6, 2013
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    East-Central
    I know very little about knives & the type of work you did, but dang, looks awesome to me! May have to start researching some, looks fun & rewarding. I say Awesome Job!

    Very cool. The work you did on the grip is art. How long does it take you to do stuff like that?

    Very nice work! Looks great.

    It does look cool.

    When did you do the false edge? Or is ESEE making them with that option now?

    Nice work - you definately have a talent - are you taking orders?




    Thanks guys !

    It does take a bit of time to do. I probably have a solid 9 or 10 hours into doing this stuff. I just worked on it for 3-4 hours a night over a period of 3-4 days.

    I would definitely want to do several more of my own before I thought about taking a file to someone else's knife ! Haha !

    I guess maybe I could have the same mentality that Bob Ross, the painter, had. That way, whenever I did make a mistake I could always just turn it into a "happy little bush" or whatever !:):

    It seems like you used to be able to order your knife with the false edge or clip point part sharpened from either ESEE or Rat Cutlery (can't remember which though).

    I recently picked this knife up along with a Becker Campanion (BK2) from another member here...on a trade.
     
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    Wheeler-Dealer

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    Thanks for that link...that place also sells a pretty good selection of G10 handles for the ESEE's.

    I think those handles are what was on mine..because when I started they looked exactly like the "Ranger Green" handles that they're offering on there.

    Here's the scales (handles) that they have on there: ESEE 4 Series Custom Sporting/Field Handle Kits - Custom ESEE Knives Handles


    For my next Modification, I'm thinking about ETCHING the ESEE Logo's and other writing into the steel of the blade with one of the technique's that use the liquid "Etchant".

    I'm thinking that the cans/bottles that I see people using are from "Radio Shack" but I need to research it some more first.
     
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    Wheeler-Dealer

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    Looks great! I bet that grips nice now.

    Thanks and yea it makes a big difference in the grip traction, at least for me anyways ! :thumbsup:


    Nice work. Me likey !
    Fabulous work. Well done!

    Thanks !

    Good work OP. If you need some inspiration go to the ESEE forum and check out a member named Salve7. His work is outstanding.

    Thanks for that and the info too.
    I checked out some of "Salve7's" posts and tutorials and he does some awesome Modifications.
    I really like the one knife that he did a forced patina on and it looks like a cross between a High Heat flame treatment and an almost Copper look !
    I'm looking for more info about that process right now..because I'd like to do that to my ESEE4 !
     

    Wheeler-Dealer

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    ON to the next mods ! I've watched several hours worth of video's about Forced Patina's and Acid Etching, on YouTube, to get an idea of what I wanted to try to achieve.

    I ACID ETCHED THE LOGO'S using Radio Shack's PCB Etchant Solution, Eye Dropper, Isopropyl (Rubbing) Alcohol, small chunk of Irish Spring bar soap, old toothbrush, painter's masking tape and paper towels. (The PCB Etchant Solution has Ferrric Chloride in it)

    I STRIPPED THE COATING OFF OF THE BLADE using a can of "Klean Strip's Premium Stripper", some protective gloves and a small plastic scraper.

    I COLORED THE LOGO'S with one of my Birchwood Casey "Super Black" paint pens. I chose the flat black one for the look I wanted here. I dabbed it into the logo's then I wiped off the excesses with a paper towel with a tiny bit of denatured alcohol on it.

    I ADDED A FORCED MUSTARD PATINA- Using some fingernail polish, Plochman's Mustard, Denatured Alcohol, paper towels and bubble wrap.



    I normally take tons of pictures of my processes but I didn't get a chance to do that this time so I'll just explain what I did and add a few pics that show some of the results.

    I went to Radio Shack and picked up some of their PCB ETCHANT SOLUTION. It was around $12.xx by the time the tax was added in.




    Then I stopped by WalMart and grabbed up a can of Klean Strip's Premium Stripper (around $6 with taxes).
    My can looks exactly like the one on the Right.





    I already had the rest of the supplies that I would need so I was ready to get started.


    I pulled the Scales off of the knife and I cleaned the entire blade with warm soapy water, then I rinsed it and dried it really well.
    Next I cleaned off the areas that I was planning to etch with a clean, lint-free rag and isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and I let it dry/evaporate for several minutes.

    I took some red painter's scotch tape and cut a thin slice off of it and I applied that to all of the sharpened edges of my blade. I did this to protect the blade from the Ferric Acid, in case I accidentally got any of it near the blade's edge.

    I used the eyedropper to place the PCB ETCHANT SOLUTION on the areas that I was wanting to etch (all of the logo's and the various numbers marked on the knife)

    I etched in 2 hour increments and I etched the left side of the blade for a total of 12 hours. I then etched the right side of the blade for 10 hours. I could've went deeper with my etching on the right side but I like where it's at right now so I stopped it there.

    At the end of each 2 hour etching session I would get my water running in the sink until it was hot and I'd slowly carry the blade over to the stream of hot water and I'd tilt the blade so that when the Etchant Solution rolled off of the blade, it would NOT go over any areas of the blade's edge. I'd put the blade into the stream of hot water at the same time that I had started tilting the blade, so that the Etchant Solution was actually being mixed with the hot water BEFORE it was going off of the blade.

    Then I'd take the bar of soap and rub it into the logo's/numbers that I was etching and I'd take the toothbrush and scrub those areas from every direction for several minutes. I would then rinse it all off really well and pat it dry with a paper towel.
    Then I'd use a lint-free cloth and the Rubbing Alcohol to clean the area's I was etching and I'd let it evaporate and air dry.

    I did this EACH time between etching sessions to make sure that it was as clean as possible.


    After my etching was completed I cleaned the blade really well, again.

    I then took some fingernail polish and I painted 2 coats onto just the blades edges.

    After that dried, I put some random drops of the fingernail polish on the blade and I took a toothpick and I drew some sweeping lines thru each drop, in all directions. I did this in sort of a sweeping motion. I probably put around 12-15 drops per side and I added some very small drops on top of the spine of the blade too.

    I allowed all of that to dry and I got out some bubble wrap, paper towels and Plochman's mustard (right out of the fridge).

    I squeezed about a dime-sized spot of mustard out on a piece of cardboard and I took a scrap piece of cardboard and I spread it out as thin as I could, while still leaving a thin coating on the cardboard.

    Then I cut out 2 strips of bubble wrap and made it just a little bit wider and longer than the knife blade.

    I took a small piece of paper towel and I bunched it up into a ball about the size of a quarter and I lightly dabbed it into the mustard that I had spread out on the cardboard.
    Next I used the paper towel to very lightly dab the mustard onto the bubble wrap.

    It's very important here to make sure to put just a little bit of mustard on the bubble wrap. I made it so that you could barely see a slight yellow haze on the bubble wrap pieces.

    Then I laid one piece of the mustard coated bubble wrap down with the mustard bubbles facing up, next I laid the knife onto it and then I laid the other piece of mustard coated bubble wrap onto the top of the knife.

    I then placed a small box that weighed around 2lbs on top of it all, to keep pressure on it.

    I think it's important here to use 2 individual pieces of bubble wrap that are just slightly larger than your knife's blade because this allows oxygen to still get in easily which is an essential part of this whole process.

    I left it on there for about 40 minutes and then I removed the knife from the bubble wrap "sandwich"...and I let it sit out in the open for another 5-7 minutes.

    To get the look that I wanted for the underneath the scales and on the spine of the tang, I took the mustard bottle and tilted it so that mustard was down by the nozzle, then I turned it upright so that only a little bit remained and I squeezed the bottle to get a real fine mustard "Mist" and that's what I used in those areas. I let it sit out in the open for around 25 minutes.

    I removed all of the mustard on the entire blade and tang with a rag and some denatured alcohol and I achieved the effects that you see here.


    I'm really happy with it and I can't wait to do this to my BK 2 next !!





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    Wheeler-Dealer

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    Thanks Fergy. I really like the way that it came out. Today I did another one of my carbon blade knives, a schrade SCHF9 and I added in another step where I crumpled up aluminum foil and then I straightened it back out before I put mustard on it. After I was done with that, I did the bubble wrap effect and it really came out nice too.

    Next on my agenda for tonight is to strip the coating off of my BK2 !

    I'm having a blast modding these knives.
     

    rhino

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    Mar 18, 2008
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    That's what we call a Beauty, right there. Well done, sir! I was undecided on the clip point, but with all of that, it fits nicely!
     
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