As promised in another thread I have put together a photo essay on the process of fitting Wenger scissors into the 84mm size Victorinox knives.
As a bonus, while I was at it, I decided to see if the Wenger saw can be fitted in a similar manner. (yes it can)
On the subject of the Wenger parts, if you pick up an eBay Handyman or Forester you can get both scissors and saw in one hit. As these tools are generally used less than the blade they are normally in good condition, even on tired looking knives.
For this demonstration I will use a Victorinox Tinker small as the Base knife, a Recruit for the two backsprings, Wenger scissors and saw from a Traveller and a Backpacker and a pair of my own Carbon fibre frames/scales. When we get to the end, we will have an Artisan clone (Carbon).
I much prefer the name Artisan to Fieldmaster-small. That sounds too much like a vertically challenged DJ to me.
If we started with a Tourist (corkscrew) we would get a Huntsman-small.
So, without further ado, let us begin...
I won’t show breaking down the donor knives, I think anyone can figure that out, and it’s covered in other threads.
After the strip, the parts are cleaned and then have an appointment with my buffing wheel. Hey... we want this thing to look pretty.
This ends us up with a pile of parts.
And here is the secret to this mod... grab a couple of tools from your junk box or use parts from the donor Recruit (actually, check to see if they are better condition than your base knife first.) and make the two parts seen here. Mine were made from a 91mm opener and a borked main blade. These go on the "short" end of the recruit backsprings and allow a double end spring to be used for a single tool layer. They also act as the rest that the tool sits on in the closed position. The one for the saw needs to be angled so the saw sits on its end and not on the points of the teeth
Carbon fibre frames which I started making for a recruit but drilled the 4th hole in one so I had them “spare” and they are perfect for this job.
Here are the parts from the Tinker-small
The Wenger parts I’ll be using. This is the older style saw with a nail nick, later ones are a tooth longer and protrude past the end of the rest similar to Vic’ saws. The later Wenger saws are also slightly lower in profile at the tip and may look slightly tidier in the Vic frame. Not that the one I’ve used here sticks out excessively anyway. In fact after tuning the height of the rest it sits with the nail nick just comfortably above the scissors but the overall profile is still lower than the main blade, just like it should be.
The Recruit backsprings. These drop straight in with the pin positions of the Tinker, so no hassles there. Use the blade layer spring (the thicker one) for the scissors and the opener layer spring (thinner) for the saw.
For the knife I’m building here I need three liners. Luckily I have plenty of recruit liners in my junk box so I was able to find three to use. I know they’re not pristine, but I like reusing old parts, giving old knives new lives, you could say. If I was doing this mod to a new Cadet or Bantam I would probably make new brass or titanium liners.
Peen one end of a set of pins to get started. If you are working with a Celidor scaled knife you will thread a bushing onto each pin too... you did save them when you broke the donor knives down right?
Thread the front scale onto the pins, I prefer working in this direction for a couple of reasons. Firstly you have a flat side to build up from without the corkscrew or driver sitting out past the frame and secondly your nice pre peened heads on the pins will end up on the front of the knife and the peened in-situ tails will be round the back. Notice the Mylar washers around the pins, I find the carbon frames can be a bit draggy if I don’t fit these. Shim brass would work just as well.
Opener layer built up
First liner fitted
Saw layer built up including close-ups. Note: There was no grinding or cutting work performed to get the saw and backspring to mate up like this, it just fits.
Scissors layer, again no work to the tool or backspring, they just fit.
Blades layer going together
The assembled knife... it’s peening time.
I use an old liner and a pair of flush cutting side-cutters to get the length “just right” and consistent.
A quick touch with a fine file
and...
A good thing about the carbon fibre is that it is very resistant to marks, with a steady hand and a bit of care I can get away without needing to protect the scales. I’d NEVER try that with Alox.
All peened up, and a light touch on the riveted tails with the buff and everything is smooth and shiny.
A few close-ups of the technical parts.
The finished article...
All the layers have good snap open and closed and as you can see from the photo's the Wenger tools fit in nicely and don't look obviously out of place.
I'm happy enough with it that it will feature prominently in the EDC rotation.
If I was doing this again I would probably look for a sportsman to get the nail-file, but I also prefer the Phillips to the corkscrew, so that would mean three donor knives. but you can always build something up out of the leftovers.
Thanks for looking. I hope I have inspired some of you to give the Wenger scissors mod a try.
It's certainly easier than finding genuine 84mm Vic scissors (I have a pair but they're probably going in my Cadet.) and I'd say it's a bit easier than hacking 91mm scissors and spring into the 84mm chassis.
Just realised I didn't take closed tools pics of each layer to show how they sit..
next time, I'm not pulling it apart again now.
cheers
Peter