Bubba Knives:Modified Production Knives

Sam Cade · Oct 28, 2013

Sometimes Bubba gets tired of gunsmithing with a pipe wrench and goes to work on a perfectly good knife.

Beckers seem to be especially attractive for the tender ministrations of Bubba's love. :evil:

BK9 stripped for food prep, Grivory scales selectively stippled and sanded. Bubba left the northern portion smooth so as to not abrade his hands with heavy pinch-grip chopping.

Outlaw Man · Oct 29, 2013

That looks a LOT better than what I was expecting from the thread title.

hso · Oct 29, 2013

Yeah, that's hardly "Bubbaed". Slap some ratty upholstery micarta wrap on it and strip the finish so you can acid pattern the surface with discount yellow mustard if you're going to tease us that way.

Sam Cade · Oct 29, 2013

I'm going to have to find something uglier. *rummage rummage* :evil:

I'm surely not the only one who isn't afraid to attack a production knife with tools and chemicals and bend it to my will.

Lets see your masterpieces....or trainwrecks.

hso · Oct 29, 2013

Using your wife's flour sack bloomers for "momcarta" wrap handles was about the most impressive thing I've seen in loooooong time.

Sam Cade · Oct 29, 2013

Ok...call this one battling bubbas.

Finally got around to rehabbing the poor guy in this thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=718536&highlight=cold+steel

..and it now looks like this:

I'm not fond of spine side guards.

Sam Cade · Oct 29, 2013

hso said:
Using your wife's flour sack bloomers for "momcarta" wrap handles was about the most impressive thing I've seen in loooooong time.

I think that if I used up ALL of my wife's undies I might have enough material to do one wrap.

:evil:

desidog · Oct 30, 2013

Well, i clicked on this thread thinking of
http://www.bubbablade.com/ tv ads...

Sam Cade · Oct 30, 2013

desidog said:
http://www.bubbablade.com/ tv ads...

The things I miss by not having TV.

Bubba Blade 7 inch Penetrator Tactical/Survival Knife a.k.a. "The Beast"

hso · Oct 30, 2013

Golly, that thing has several points of failure built right in!

scramasax · Oct 30, 2013

Looks like a knife designed by a video gamer.

peacemaker45 · Oct 30, 2013

I haven't got a pic of it, but my favorite Bubba knife was a classic Buck folding hunter, the 110 model I think it's called, which someone had tacticooled. It had been drilled and a Phillips screw head emplaced as a thumb stud, the blade had been half serrated with a triangle file, and a sheet metal pocket clip added.

MErl · Oct 31, 2013

Looks like a knife designed by a video gamer.

Bubba Tools
Built by Gamers for Gamers

hso, what are the points of failure built in? I see the deep cuts in the spine, what else?

hso · Oct 31, 2013

They're published hardness is too high for a knife of that design and other forums have been critical of their customer service when edges chipped out and tips broke.

The "saw teeth" on the back that caught your eye are the most glaring potential points of failure. The tang has to be dramatically reduced with a right angle to fit into the handle instead of transitioning. The tip is pretty pointy for the hardness.

It's a knife designed by marketers instead of knife users.

GLOOB · Nov 1, 2013

Most of my working knives are bubba'd in some way.

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv241/gloob27x/DSCF5902_zpscdc6f856.jpg

It looks like I'm addicted to wood handles and carbon blades. Anyhow, from top to bottom:

1. Opinel #8. The head of a toothbrush is screwed and epoxied to the bottom of the handle. And a thumb notch is Dremeled into the side of the blade where the "carbone" stamp was.
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv241/gloob27x/DSCF5905_zpsdeffeb1c.jpg

2. Mora #2, convexed and handle thinned.

3. Mora #1, convexed

4. Mora #2/0, convexed

5. Mora #1, blade chopped to ~2 1/2" and convexed. Handle slightly shortened. I purposely left the tip and belly obtuse for holding a toothy edge.

The handles were burnt with a torch and treated with flaxseed oil. All of the convexing was done with an upside down portable belt sander.

MyGreenGuns · Nov 1, 2013

The head of a toothbrush is screwed and epoxied to the bottom of the handle.

Forgive me if this is a stupid question.
But why would you want a small brush on your knife?

GLOOB · Nov 1, 2013

It's not for brushing my teeth.

I have used toothbrushes for cleaning gun parts, springs, gears, sandpaper, files, hair clippers/shavers, mutli-blade safety razors, computer keyboards... who knows what else?

I try to keep at least one or two old toothbrushes on hand, but I can never seem to find one when I need it. I have used up countless gun patches and Q tips where a toothbrush would have actually worked better. And even when it doesn't work better, a toothbrush practically never wears out. Anyone who has watched war movies depicting boot camp knows that one toothbrush is good for at least 100 toilet cleanings. Plus, I got brush envy after seeing the Opinel mushroom knife.

hso · Nov 1, 2013

I thought you'd made your own mushroom knife.

Outlaw Man · Nov 1, 2013

They're published hardness is too high for a knife of that design and other forums have been critical of their customer service when edges chipped out and tips broke.

But it has a "guard to protect you from the blade," so it's all good.

Deltaboy1984 · Nov 7, 2013

Good Bubbaing Sam.

25cschaefer · Dec 3, 2013

Here is my submission, it is one of those dorky Ka-Bar tactical knives, my brother wanted it to look cool.I sharpened the back, acid etched it, and blued it.

Deltaboy1984 · Dec 4, 2013

LOL Sam does some good bubba work.

hso · Dec 4, 2013

Nice job on the etch and bluing!

Sam Cade · Jan 23, 2014

I got conned into helping lay some carpet today and took the opportunity to use a Kershaw 3850BLK un-assisted, 3Cr13 (roughly equivalent to 420J2) bladed "Swerve" from the Wal-Mart Christmas 3-knives-and-a-flashlight-for-$20 package.

It worked. No drama. Didn't hold an edge worth a toot. No chipping or failures on the nasty dirty carpet. Easy to sharpen.

Regular Swerve here:
http://kershaw.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/swerve

The knife is a cheapy, and free of obvious defect but I like to tinker.

The powdercoat finish was a bit rough and wasn't conducive to smooth opening so I pulled the blade out, removed the studs and polished the finish away from the flats and pivot. That slicked the action up a great deal. Now it can be flipped open without pitching the knife like a fastball.

Note how rough the blade is under the powder coat.

So I'm looking at this knife and I think to myself, "This knife needs a Wave in celebration of Kershaw's recent Emerson collaborations!"
Off to my bitterly cold, unheated shop I go.
Grinding on an already heat treated knife always carries the risk of ruining the blade if you aren't careful with the heat.
I use a cup of ice to keep the blade extra-chilled and only keep the blade on the belt for 10 seconds at a time, just long enough for the dampness to start crawling away from the area being ground.

A few minutes work gets us to this point:

With just the plunge cut from a belt we have a functional "Wave" but it sure would be hard on pockets.

Sam Cade · Jan 23, 2014

Contouring the Wave cut a bit and paring back the texture on the scales under the clip.

Not bad. Needs a bit of finish work, but, not bad.

Bubba Knives:Modified Production Knives

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