How many of you refurbish or customize your Busses/Rats?

[MtMike]

I've seen many custom jobs over on Bad Mojo, and occassionally someone posts one on the Busse and Swamp Rat sites. But I want to know how many of you do the work yourselves, and have the pics to show us. (Work done by Jerry doesn't count for this thread )

OR can you recommend work done by a fellow Forumite?

Heres' what I have in mind -- I have Wetdog's SEVERELY well used Mean Street -- it'll get a new canted leather sheath this week. But it's in need of some tender loving care on both the blade and the handles -- Rob really knows how to USE a knife
So, if you have the skills, and want to try your hand at refurbishing the Dawg's MS, AND posting before and after pics here for all of us to admire your handywork....................... I'll give you a custom leather sheath, made to order by me, for the Busse or Rat of your choice
If more than one sign up for this awesome responsibility, I'll be the final judge of who get's the MS for re-work.
C'mon tweakies -- let's hear it

Mike

[SpearHead]

That's a pretty generous offer Mike... I have someone in mind who could do the work but I doubt that he has any pics of his previous handywork. I'll ask.

[leatherbender]

hmmmmm, did someone say refurb? Nifty place here Mike, good to see another hog haven.

[MtMike]

Hey Dwayne - welcome aboard mate Glad to have another cow-cutter here.

Yep, refurb --the way I figure it, this is a new Forum, so a little combo pass-around will be a three-way winner: Rob gets a "new" Mean Street, somebody gets a custom sheath from me, and I get a little advertising for my sheaths. Gotta love a deal like that, right

BTW Dwayne -- congrats brother

Mike

[leatherbender]

I'll put my offer in for a free strip and bead blast! Anyone got the skills for a real nice sharpie? I can put a good field grade edge on but the hair poppin edge is not my forte'

[MtMike]

Dwayne -- thank you sir for stepping up Let me give it a few days and see who pops up, because it's the blade that really needs the most attention -- this little nasty really needs to have the following work done : blade stripped and sanded, re-profiled, and sharpened. Handle bead-blasted to restore some grippiness. This is one of the5/16" stock blades, and I'm guessing that a fair amount of steel needs to be moved to get the blade to "like new". Rob talked about sending it back to Busse (always a good option ) -- I just thought we'd stir up some Forum interest and see if there's anyone who's already done something like this on their own blades.
Problem is Rob's having confuser problems getting on the web, so I have to relay all this back to him via email.
We've become slaves to our technology :

Mike

[mark23]

I had some beautiful customization done on my AD's slabs. They're now Desert Ironwood.
Best regards
Mark23

[MtMike]

Welcome aboard Mark -- glad to have another International contributor
Who did the work on your AD, and which slabs did it have originally? I like the new contoured slabs on the AD, tho I'm not decided yet as to whether I'd prefer a more shock absorbent handle on the bigger knives.
Got any pics you can post? Or email to me and I'll be happy to post them for you ,
Mike

[MtMike]

Here's Mark's AD clad in Ironwood A real gent's Busse
Who did the work Mark?

Mike

[mark23]

Hi, Mike!
Thanks for posting. The work was done by a German custom knifemaker, Juergen Schanz . He really excels at making knives and often helps me out with my projects.
Best regards
Mark23

[MtMike]

Mark - has he done other Busses for you? No doubt a very talented knifemaker

I've heard (via email) from woodchuc (Chase Axinn), a really fine new knifemaker and an old friend. He'd like to tackle Rob's Mean Street --'ll warn him to be careful what he aslks for
Did I mention that Rob really knows how to abuse a knife???
(sorry Rob, couldn't resist )

So my plan is to finish the sheath (new design with a lot of Chuck Burrows influence -- thanks buddy ), then mail the whole rig to Chase. Chase has much better photo stuff than I do, so I'll ask him to do the before and after pics.

Watch this space

Mike

[mark23]

Hi, Mike!
No, he hasn't done any other Busse customization for me. However, Juergen helped me on some other projects.
I used to have an Anorexic Badger, but I didn't like its handle, both shape and feel, so the Active Beauty is my only Busse left.
Waiting for the FSH
Best regards
Mark23