AFCK. How I Made The Best Tactical Knife Ever Made Even Better Part Two

Fast forward one year.

I did not bother to call Les.  If I ever do, I will mention to him that he may want to read Part I and that I would like to commission a special run of the old AFCK in the configuration I have now finished creating.  Due to the fact I am constantly combing the internet for AFCK related stuff, I stumbled upon a blade steel variation that I was not initially aware of.  It was a very brief run but the blade steel literally kicks the butt of every other blade steel available at that time, even today, except M4.  

There was an AFCK for sale on eBay that had M2 HSS steel.  Holy Crap!  M2?  That makes 154CM look like aluminum and M390 look like....well....garbage.  So I bought the knife.  It was unused and pristine.  Within five minutes of it arriving, I had the blade out and in my old AFCK handle.  Thank goodness for Benchmades tight tolerances.  This blade fits like a glove.  It has the lock up I LOVE and was straight as an arrow, so in the closed position, it sat TDC (Top Dead Center).  After a re-profiling of the edge, I had a knife that out cut everything else I've ever owned. 

This is the 154CM blade I removed.

Here is the M2HS blade ready to be installed.  Notice the round hole, as opposed to the oval hole of the blade above.  I do wish they made this blade with the oval, but I am thankful the hole is a little bit larger than the round hole of the original first generation AFCK.  Below is the Round hole in the new blade.

Notice the two notches in the butt of the blade.  That is the marking system Benchmade used to identify the M2HS blade.  Just guessing here, but two notches represents the 2 in M2.  And, if you stare at it for a minute, it looks like an M. 

Here you see the M2 next to the 154CM.  Another thing I noticed after taking this photo, was that the surface area for the locking bar to engage with is larger on the M2 than the 154CM.  If you look at the pivot hole towards the bottom, there is more material ground away on the M2, making it fairly thin at the 6:00 position.  I found that interesting.

How much better could this knife get?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  The only thing this knife was lacking was a better bushing system.  That is where having several Griptillian knives lying around in parts comes in very handy.  Griptillians use oil impregnated bronze bushings.  They have the same inside diameter as the AFCK.   

Out come the nylon bushings. 

 I use them as templates on the Griptillian bushing.

Then very carefully cut using an aviation snip.

I cut fairly close to the line.  Sure don't want to go past the line, so it is best to leave a little, and then use a small bastard file to remove the rest right up to the line.  Then a little work with some emery cloth on the edge and then the washer is ready for a little light polishing.

These washers have been sitting around for awhile and have collected a little tarnish or patina.  To make sure they are silky smooth for the blade to ride against, I use Simichrome Polish on a piece of cardboard and lightly work the washer with my finger across the compound.  

You can see in the photo below how black the cardboard has become and a hint of the bronze on it as well 

 

All cleaned up and polished and ready to be re-installed. 

Here are the "new" bronze washers next to their Nylon originals. 

Voila, this knife darn near opens itself.  The side to side blade play typically evident in the nylon bushing version is gone.  Below are several pictures of the washers installed. 

The Nylon washers were adequate, but perhaps because of their material, you either had to snug up the pivot screw too much to eliminate blade play which made opening the knife a bit more difficult, or have it loose and tolerate the play, just so you could zip that blade open.  Also, the surface area of the Nylon has a higher degree of friction than the bronze.  Now, with the bronze washers, the blade is secure, and yet has a nice surface to glide against.  I use Break Free CLP as the lubricant.  I've tried the gamut of lubes.  For reasons unknown to me, I was resistant to using Break Free for about 20 years.  I use it on my Semi-Auto Kimber .45.  One day I decided to give it a try on a knife.  Well, I'll never use anything else.  It keeps things clean and lubricated.  I use it on all my knives.  Even on the blades of my Randall Made Knives.  

In closing, I really do not see anything else I could do to this knife to make it any better.  The results pleased me so much, that I waited another year to finally obtain a small AFCK with the same blade steel.  I duplicated all the things I did for the large AFCK in the small one and now have two of the most versatile and reliable cutting tools I could ever want.  I have incredible blade steel, a tip up carry, great washers facilitating ridiculously fast deployment of the blade culminating in a knife that I know can handle any task I ask of it, and be comfortable and out of the way and forgotten about until I need it. I just pray that when I die, I don't look down from heaven and see these two knives on the "everything is $1.00 table" at the estate sale.  I just may have to return from the dead if that happens.   

Here are a few photos of the two finished products as of today.