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sfa437

** Ultimate Arktos Bezel Marker Repair **

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sfa437

OK now we all love the Arktos- that's a given. Big beefy and it has a built in solar compass. Harcore survival tool with one well known defect. The @%^@$ bezel markers pop off with surprising regularity.

 

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I've tried doing the repair before using a steak knife for the donor steel and while it was OK it wasn't spot on. Seeing as how we're all anal to the point of pointing out flaws that can only be seen by using a scanning electron microscope I began searching for a better solution.

 

I am proud to say that a combination of ingenuity, homegrown modding skills and a LOT of Jack Daniels paid off.

 

Here is the donor steel:

 

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It was sourced from Mrs. SFA's 34D bra. It's the underwire from the cup. It's SS, about the right thickness and color and best of all- it was free :rolleyes:

 

You are going to of course need more than some Victoria's Secret unmentionables to complete the repair. Here's what you're gonna need:

 

Dremel tool, small paintbrush, dark tempera or acrylic water based paint, Dremel wire wheel, Dremel buffing wheel, Dremel (or other) polishing compound, thumbtack or needle

 

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Dremel fiberglas reinforced cut-off wheel, emery board

 

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1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper

 

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and finally glue. This stuff works the best out of anything I have used so far. It's almost jelly in consistency and bonds harder than Jason Statham and R. Lee Ermey's love child.

 

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OK now that we have our assorted rakes, shovels and other implements of destruction lined up it's time to get started.

 

Grab your tack or needle and scrape the bejeezus out of the gaping hole where your marker popped off. Make sure to get every last scrap of the cheap Chinese glue out of the recess, otherwise your marker will pop off again.

 

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Next put some polishing compound on your Dremel wheel and buff a section of the underwire to a decent shine. You only need to do one side if you can manage to remember which side you did to start off with. This is important as you want the marker to be polished!

 

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Next grab your paintbrush and get a tiny bit of the paint on the tip. You are going to use this to paint the top of one of your remaining bezel squares. If you have none left- go buy a new bezel ya cheapskate!

 

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Here you can see how close the underwire is in thickness to the existing bezel marker. This is where you press the underwire (polished side down) onto the damp paint, allowing the transfer onto the underwire. See how slick this is????

 

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When you're done you should wind up with something that looks like this:

 

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Chances are you're going to eff it up the first time, just keep at it until you get a solid discernable transfer.

 

Now it's time for power tools and cutting wheels. PLEASE make sure you wear a set of goggles or at least a set of clear glasses! Dremel wheels can and do come apart and the pieces can cause SERIOUS injury!!!

 

Take your cutting wheel and cut the underwire close to but NOT on the line in the paint.

 

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This is the result you're looking for

 

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In these photos you can see the new bezel marker starting to take shape and how close it really is to factory stock....

 

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Next step is to trim the width using the cutoff wheel. Be VERY careful at this point. It is best to err on the side of caution! Metal can be removed easily- putting it back on not so easy :Whistle:

 

You should wind up with this:

 

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Check fit and if necessary remove more metal but always leave it slightly larger than the existing markers.

 

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Once it's close repeat the longitudinal cut on the other side. Cut VERY slowly as these small pieces have a tendency to be tossed great lengths at high velocity by the Dremel. By creeping through the underwire you reduce the cahnces of spending two hours doing a magnet sweep and exposing your wife and children to language that would make a sailor blush.

 

You will have this at this point:

 

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Test fit your new bezel marker now. It will not fit but not to worry- we'll address that as time goes by....

 

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Use the emery board to very gently begin removing metal from all 4 sides. For every pass on one side- ensure you make a pass on the opposite side.

 

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You can see here that it is coming along nicely. This will take a good bit of time. I'd suggest some nice modern rock music to help pass time time. While hummers are a GREAT idea I find them to be rather distracting and concentration is definitely needed here!

 

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An hour or so later you've got the marker shaped perfectly and it drops right into the recess in the bezel. We're done!

 

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PSYCHE!!!!

 

We're not done! The new marker is still a tad too thick. How do we address this?

 

Remember when I said remember which side you polished and to pay attention to that throughout? Here is why you needed to remember it......

 

Press the square into your fingertip, unpolished side facing out like so....

 

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Rub it back and forth across the emery board checking fit against the existing markers and empty bezel recess as you go.

 

Now I know a few of you have forgotten which side was polished or your managed to bollocks it up somehow. No worries- this is why we had 1500 grit wet/dry paper handy.

 

Repeat the above step using the sandpaper to give the marker a pretty nice shine :D

 

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So now we have a bezel marker and we need to affix it to the bezel. Squeeze out a tiny bit of the glue onto a clean surface and use the thumbtack to pick up a small bit on the tip.

 

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Place the glue into the bezel recess like so:

 

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Use another thumbtack to slide the bezel marker into place. Do NOT use your fingers to set the marker into place. You will glue the marker to your finger and your finger to the bezel. Don't ask how I know this but accept it as fact.

 

Your Arktos will now look like this:

 

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Now install the wire wheel onto your Dremel thusly..

 

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And use it to buff off remaining glue that might have spread out from under your marker and to even out the brushed finish on the bezel like so....

 

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And here is the final product:

 

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The one marker looks a tad cockeyed but it is a perfect fit- I just couldn't get the lighting right. Some of you saw my previous attempt at reapir on this one and believe me this repair is 10x nicer looking than the previous one.

 

Hope this helps all of you Arktos lovers out there!

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greg_r

awesome. I think the steak knife was more fun, but this is definitely the way to do it right :rolleyes:

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P_Diddy

nice repair job :Monkey:

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sconehead

Ingenious repair sfa...now man up...that support wire was from YOUR moob retention unit...go on, admit it...:Monkey:

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AustinTech

I think that is the exact same way the Chinese make the markers! Well, except the bra size is smaller....

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onzenuub

Did you do this before or after the women? ;)

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Luthier

You forgot 34D picture...

You know the rule...

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