What does it take to do a conversion on a Boker folding knive? I see the folding knives have a button on the side, or at least thats what it looks like in pictures i've seen. Is it just a matter of taking the knife apart and installing the proper spring? Any help or links will be greatly appreciated. TIA

roddy

An area for the spring will likely have to be milled out on the liner and the blade, but I'm not to smart when it comes to auto's.

Trenton

Well i bought a boker speed lock. Apparently all that needs to be done is to take it apart, throw away the washer, drill a hole in the blade near the hinge point, pop in the spring and put it back together. It all sounds really easy but i've broken three 5/64" titanium coated drill bits trying to drill. I've made a small impression in the blade so far only. I am using some "Buddy's Toolmates" cutting oil at the same time and have set drill press for about 600rpm. Any suggestions for getting a hole boared through this sucker? TIA

roddy

cobalt bit, keep it cool, and a lower RPM if you can.

Trenton

What does it take to do a conversion on a Boker folding knive?

I’ve converted many of them. It’s very simple, just remove the button side handle and insert spring. It helps to remove the stop so you can swing the blade up high enough to align the spring.

Use blue Loctite on all screws!

I’ve been powder coating them;

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/1747/both0ew.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4638/pink1rq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Despite their inexpensive acquisition costs, these are great knives. I’ve used one as my camp knife, which for me, ain’t no picnic. I’ve used them to carve deadfall traps, make a shelter, etc.. It’s what I carry now all the time. The finish on the blackened blades is garbage, you can wash it off with a good solvent. Otherwise, they’re a great value.

Thanks for the info billgow, i think i'll have to look at purchasing a magnum. My speedlock requires a hole drilled in the blade. That stainless is pretty tough stuff. I believe i've spent #### near 30 bucks on diffrent bits and cutting oil, barely even made an impression on the blade..

By the way, nice job on the powder coat. Did you do it yorself or have it done at a shop somewhere?

Thanks for the info billgow, i think i'll have to look at purchasing a magnum. My speedlock requires a hole drilled in the blade. That stainless is pretty tough stuff. I believe i've spent #### near 30 bucks on diffrent bits and cutting oil, barely even made an impression on the blade..

The knife and spring don’t cost that much. A large Magnum is about $25 and a spring is in the $3 range. I think you’ll be surprised at how sturdy these things are too. I like the non-serrated blades best.

By the way, nice job on the powder coat. Did you do it yorself or have it done at a shop somewhere?

I had a friend do it who has a military surplus store. We’re mostly playing around. We’ve done about a dozen of them now. Most were gifts and we sold a couple. The one below we sold and got $80 for. It was our first and I think one of the prettiest (although the photo sucks). I thought we should have asked more for it myself and it was one I bought and had coated. I was a little disappointed to hear it was gone.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2832/spot3af.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Merry Christmas!

I found this thread interesting, but I have a few questions for you guys.

Is this the knives you have been converting to automatic? If not, what model do you use without drilling?

https://www.bokerusa.com/default2.asp

What spring do you use? I've made a DDR3-BL automatic and it came out pretty good. I'd like to try converting one of these Bokers.

Merry Christmas and thanks for yor advice.

I found this thread interesting, but I have a few questions for you guys.

Is this the knives you have been converting to automatic? If not, what model do you use without drilling?

Some of these knives are butt ugly and all the black blades have a crummy spray paint finish on them. If you stick with the natural finished (silver) you’ll be light-years ahead of the game. The black finish on handles also wears off over time. Handles are aluminum, blades are stainless.

Boker# Discription
BO007 silver, non-serrated
BO017 black serrated
BO008 silver, tanto non-serrated
BO018 black, tanto, serrated
BO107 small BO007
BO117 small BO017
BO108 small BO008

I’ve gotten springs from;
http://www.knifekits.com/

Boker USA has been a real pain in the ass to deal with. I told them I needed new screws and they wouldn’t talk to me because I admitted to converting a few. I think they’re taking heat because these things are showing up all over the place and now they’re playing politically correct to duck any legal action that may come their way. I live in Arizona and don’t care about their “problem” we don’t have any laws against these things here.

BTW – the screw size in 3X56 and there are none anywhere to be found, don’t loose one!

Another great Magnum knife is the Kalashnikov series. I like their handles but the blades aren’t as stout and the stop is lighter. They’re designed more for fighting and since I have no interest in carrying a fighting knife, I haven’t used them much.

I strongly suggest anyone who is interested in these things become familiar with their state regulations; they could be illegal where you live. Do not order autos through the mail! It’s a federal crime to mail and/or receive these things by any common carrier. Buy the non-auto version and convert it yourself!

This is what they look like on the inside;

http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/4758/01both8lm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I don’t care for the natural handles, so I switched out a stainless blade in the black handles. This is what I’ve been carrying for about 4 months now. It’s good looking and as strong as a Buck folder. It wouldn’t surprise me if it outlasted any of the high dollar, limited function jobs we all salivate over at the shows and I didn’t have more than $50 invested in both.

http://img419.imageshack.us/img419/6241/02both2np.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Another tip - throw away the cheap plastic safeties. They always seem to get stuck in the locked position and are not very easy to manipulate. On my salt and pepper knife, I ground .020” off the button just to be sure it wouldn’t accidentally open in my pocket. It wasn’t necessary as I’ve never had any of the others open either and neither have my friends.

To drill hardened blades you need carbide drill bits. A 5/32" size will probably cost about $10. Run your drill press as fast as it will go. I do all the holes in my blades after they are hardened. Frank

Hi Billgow:

Thanks for the knife models and photos.

Are the springs a simple drop in conversion like the DDR3-BL?

What size knifekits.com spring should I order?

Looks like a fun project.

Forgot to mention I live in FL and concealed weapons permit covers just about anything.

I wrote to Boker with questions and got a nasty response. You'd think I was a mass murderer for crying out loud. Unpleasant company.

You guys are a big help. Can anyone answer the questions in my last post? Particularly about the spring size and if it drops in? I'd like to try one of these.

Hi Billgow:

Are the springs a simple drop in conversion like the DDR3-BL?

What size knifekits.com spring should I order?

Yes, the springs are a very simple drop in deal. Just remember to use blue Loctite!

For the large Mags, use the .500. The small ones use the .430 I think.

Thank BillGow! I'm going to order one or two and give it a try. I appreciate this thread and your information.

Thanks for the detailed info, billgow. I've ordered a BO007 to play with after seeing your photos. Couple of questions:

I didn't see any washers in your photos. Do these knives use washers at the pivot, and did you upgrade to phosphor bronze when you modified yours?

I'm thinking of using Beechwood-Casey's Aluminum Black to color the natural aluminum handles, since I don't have access to (cheap) powder coating. Anyone here have any experience using that stuff?

Thanks,
Warren

Not sure why i didn't receive an email notification from the post after mine, I was just logging in to do a follow up.

I had a local machine shop bore a hole for me. First they did a hardness test, it tested at 55 Rockwell and told me that regular stainelss is probably 15 or 20 Rockwell. They used a 7/64" carbide end mill bit in a milling machine the size of a truck. They didn't want my money, nice guys there.

Anyhow after i got home i realized i had marked the blade 180 degrees in the wrong direction, that was bad. Before i had a chance to return to the machine shop my father showed up with a set of 'Agressor by BLU-MOL' 10 Piece 4-Edge Split point drill bit set' from Home Depot. They are Cobolt bits (M42 hss with a 143 degree point). I couldn't believe it when he tore through the blade with the 5/32 bit in about 20 seconds flat.

We assembled it and it works great!

roddy