Custom Crooked River M4
Stupid hobby. I saw this one (new) on eBay and liked the looks (except for the orange backspacer- anyone know where I can get a nicer black one?). It sure is big. It will be my walk-in-the-dark-at-6am knife. The M4 blade is really sharp, even more than my other Benchmades. Still has a stiff action, especially the Axis lock, but I'm working it loose by playing with it. I hadn't planned to buy any more knives, but... you know how it is.
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So you can always dye the orange backspacer! You could even dye the Dymondwood scales black if you so choose. You'll need some Rit Dye More "Graphite" (The color name of the dye), 1/2 cup of vinegar 1/4 cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. I suggest using a electric hot plate in a well ventilated area to bring your broth to a boil. If you have that setup you can even add about 1/4 cup of acetone to the broth to have the dye job go faster. Not that acetone boils a 130° and will ignite in an open flame. Don't boil over! Don't use regular Rit Dye!
You can't dye to a lighter color. So orange will dye to black, burnt red or brown.
With acetone it should take less than 5 minutes in the broth. Without up to 15.
I know that Flytanium makes Mini CR Backspacers but don't think they do full size CRs.
Good luck!
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Well, not planning to buy any more knives is just poor planning. Particularly so in my case.
Excellent choice. Crooked River in M4 is about as superb a folding cutting tool as can be had. It is ridiculously easy to dye the back spacer black, or dark brown to match the scales, with RIT Dye More (for synthetic material) liquid dye. Put the spacer in a little pot of slowly boiling dye for ten or twenty minutes, with a splash of vinegar or acetone as accelerant, and Bob's your uncle. Works fine lasts a long time.
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Jinx! Your it Po!
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Acetone, huh? I'd rather take my time than play with that stuff.
To remove the backspacer, all I have to do is remove the two Torx screws and slide it out, correct?
Thanks!
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That's why I mentioned using an electric hot plate. Wouldn't want you to blow up the kitchen! Lol
Yes, simply remove the two screws using a T6 Torx driver and as you loosen them press down. This will push the blind head nuts out enough for you to pull them out the rest of the way. Note you'll also need to remove the clip first as it's screws go into the liner.
Let us know how you fair!
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Thanks, guys. I bought some brown dye, added a splash of vinegar, and 20 minutes later my backspacer was a much better (to me) color. The only issue was getting the blind head bolts back in cleanly, took a bit of playing to get everything lined up (lots of layers). I also took the precaution of tying the knife up with twine just to be sure nothing moved too much when I pulled the bolts. My wife, observing the process (I had the blade open while I was doing this) said "nice-looking blade." I take that as a win.
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/|\ nice job!👍🏻
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[@mention:661243556573300231] posted:
Thanks, guys. I bought some brown dye, added a splash of vinegar, and 20 minutes later my backspacer was a much better (to me) color. The only issue was getting the blind head bolts back in cleanly, took a bit of playing to get everything lined up (lots of layers). I also took the precaution of tying the knife up with twine just to be sure nothing moved too much when I pulled the bolts. My wife, observing the process (I had the blade open while I was doing this) said "nice-looking blade." I take that as a win.
Looks good Dude! Blind head bolts do take a little getting used to. Blue painters tape can be your friend holding things together when you're not doing a complete teardown. A strip in front of the blind head bolts and a strip behind holds things together pretty well.
When the wife likes a knife its usually a good thing. But... If she likes it 'a lot" you might find your knife in her purse or end up buying her one as well. I found this out the hard way. Mrs. O has a bit of her own little collection going on due to that simple fact. Lol!
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My wife has a little pocketknife she likes. The "better" ones don't seem to interest her. Thankfully. She has, however, found many other things to buy.
My almost-18-year-old son has my first Kershaw (a Leek) and I gave my much older son a Kershaw Cryo and a Benchmade 202 Leuku (he's in rural New Mexico on a farm). He's getting my Zero Tolerance 0770 for his birthday next month (I moved to Benchmades because they allow for ambidextrous use). I've seen all the back and forth about ZT vs. Benchmade and while I agree the ZT's are overbuilt, I much prefer the Benchmades. Especially as a left-hander.
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