Modify Lars Fält Bushcraft knife

[Rambo Rees]

Hi All
Anyone done any modifications to their
Lars Fält (Falt) Bushcraft knife?

I'm thinking of sanding down the flared guard in front of the blade flat...making it more like my F1 and from what I gather...most Woodlore style knives.
I may also lessen the material in the rear shallow, before the butt flare (that sounded a lot less rude in my head).
See below rough (read: rubbish) sketch.
Anyone done any such mods?

 

[eraaij]

I had one where I took a bit of steel of the spine, slimming it down a bit -it was too much of a pancake flipper. But that handle is pretty comfortable as is. Excellent knife.

 

[Rambo Rees]

I had one where I took a bit of steel of the spine, slimming it down a bit -it was too much of a pancake flipper. But that handle is pretty comfortable as is. Excellent knife.

I was thinking if reprofiling the spine a little. There's a bit of a bump rather than the elegant taper of the woodlore.
Handle is a bit too bulky as is for my liking.
Have you got any photos of the work you did?

 

[eraaij]

Here it is. I did not take much off. It is a great knife, but as with many of these -way too much blade height for my taste..

One addition: what I usually do with new knives is round off a bit of the the spine right near the handle. Saves thumb slices when placing your thumb there. Enough spine left for the ferrorod.

 

[Rambo Rees]

Here it is. I did not take much off. It is a great knife, but as with many of these -way too much blade height for my taste..

One addition: what I usually do with new knives is round off a bit of the the spine right near the handle. Saves thumb slices when placing your thumb there. Enough spine left for the ferrorod.

Fab, thanks....did you thin down the blade (i.e. make it less than the standard 4mm thick?)

 

[TLM]

It depends on the intended use but many BC puukkos are general purpose tools and so the blade is shaped to be able to take some bending and battoning too, not only cutting. The ones intended for cutting only are often in 2-2.5 mm thickness range. (Just as a note.)

 

[Rambo Rees]

I really like the original Woodlore's blade profile and coke bottle handle shape. So I think I'll sand down the Lars handle.
Any tips on how I should grind down the spine? I need to remove about 3-4 mm of the blades height at it's highest. Will a grinding wheel and lots of dips in water do? I don't want to mess the temper!

 

[Rambo Rees]

 

[eraaij]

Fab, thanks....did you thin down the blade (i.e. make it less than the standard 4mm thick?)

No, I didn't. It is 4mm nowadays in Sleipner, but this was the K720 version which was about 3.5 mm. It did cut well enough with the standard grind and kept a good edge.

 

[eraaij]

I really like the original Woodlore's blade profile and coke bottle handle shape. So I think I'll sand down the Lars handle.
Any tips on how I should grind down the spine? I need to remove about 3-4 mm of the blades height at it's highest. Will a grinding wheel and lots of dips in water do? I don't want to mess the temper!

My setup is pretty primitive due to lack of work space.

For the spine - I used disc sanders in a drill before but that was not very accurate. I now use a cheap, noisy band sander (the one you attack floors with) clamped upside down in a workmate. So basically a makeshift belt grinder with a nice big belt surface.

Go slow, use a bucket of water to prevent overheating and make sure you keep the spine at 90 degrees. Never had a problem modifying knives like that.

 

[Rambo Rees]

My setup is pretty primitive due to lack of work space.

For the spine - I used disc sanders in a drill before but that was not very accurate. I now use a cheap, noisy band sander (the one you attack floors with) clamped upside down in a workmate. So basically a makeshift belt grinder with a nice big belt surface.

Go slow, use a bucket of water to prevent overheating and make sure you keep the spine at 90 degrees. Never had a problem modifying knives like that.

Fab mate, many thanks....I've modified a few handles with a similar setup, (belt sander upside down in a vice) worked ok.
I'll go ahead and tackle it this weekend