Birthday Explorer

[magentus]

My lovely daughter bought me a Vic Explorer from our local antique shop for my birthday. She knocked them down to £7.50 after checking out the condition.

The blades were a bit grubby and the scissor spring was broken but apart from that (and the blades being slightly bent) it was in quite good nick;



Farmman very kindly supplied me with a replacement spring, and so I spent a little bit of time sprucing her (Mary I called her after Mary Malone from 'His Dark Materials') up.

Here's the finished result;




I'm really pleased with it - I love the magnifying glass, and I like the older materials too - solid scales, slightly thicker tang on the main blade, I definitely prefer the old style Mag, and the corkscrew has the fluting. Also the scissors have the screw pivot rather than the rivet er.... pivot. The in line screwdriver is great.

Anyhoo, a big thanks to Farmman for his generosity, and of course my lovely daughter.

The Explorer has replaced my Huntsman as EDC for now while I'm trying it out, but so far I'm very impressed.

[Farmman]

Looking good mate. Pleasure to help.

[Ross]

That's really nice and cleaned up well. That was good hunting by your Daughter she has done you proud .

[sawman]

I love reading stories like this of preservation of SAKs.  I gotta say it looks terrific and should offer you years of good service.  Out of all my spare parts I have big and small scissor springs but I hope to never have to use them (I hear they're a pain to replace). 

Anyhow, thanks for sharing - excellent work!!   

[magentus]

That's really nice and cleaned up well. That was good hunting by your Daughter she has done you proud .

She has! She checked out the blade play and condition of all the tools (including the snap) before making a low ball offer and then worked out a fair price. I was very proud.

I love reading stories like this of preservation of SAKs.  I gotta say it looks terrific and should offer you years of good service.  Out of all my spare parts I have big and small scissor springs but I hope to never have to use them (I hear they're a pain to replace). 

Anyhow, thanks for sharing - excellent work!!   

Cheers - the scissor spring wasn't that difficult to replace - I read a thread here somewhere and just followed that.

I love the idea of putting life back into old tools - I don't think I've ever had a brand new SAK - all second hand with the scuffs and scrapes and stories that come with age and use.

[macabee]

My lovely daughter bought me a Vic Explorer from our local antique shop for my birthday. She knocked them down to £7.50 after checking out the condition.

The blades were a bit grubby and the scissor spring was broken but apart from that (and the blades being slightly bent) it was in quite good nick;



Farmman very kindly supplied me with a replacement spring, and so I spent a little bit of time sprucing her (Mary I called her after Mary Malone from 'His Dark Materials') up.

Here's the finished result;




I'm really pleased with it - I love the magnifying glass, and I like the older materials too - solid scales, slightly thicker tang on the main blade, I definitely prefer the old style Mag, and the corkscrew has the fluting. Also the scissors have the screw pivot rather than the rivet er.... pivot. The in line screwdriver is great.

Anyhoo, a big thanks to Farmman for his generosity, and of course my lovely daughter.

The Explorer has replaced my Huntsman as EDC for now while I'm trying it out, but so far I'm very impressed.

Nice one