Help me date this old Tinker Small

[GoatDragon]

I just won a Tinker small on eBay. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it appears much older than I expected. It is in good condition, with no real damage to any of the tools, and only a few minor cosmetic scratches. All the springs retain a nice snap, and the knives sharpened up to a razor finish with no significant nicks in them. I am happy with the SAK, but I want to know around when it was made. How much can you tell me from the following pictures?

Here it is in all it's glory:


The most obvious feature that tells me it is older is the can opener slot on the Phillips:


I also noticed the awl looked different from my current model SAKs:


Here are the markings on the blade, front and back:



Btw, what is that symbol engraved on the back of the blade over the words "officer suisse"?

[jazzbass]

circa 1984-1985.

Btw, what is that symbol engraved on the back of the blade over the words "officer suisse"?

It's a crossbow - long time symbol of Swiss quality.

[GoatDragon]

circa 1984-1985.

Btw, what is that symbol engraved on the back of the blade over the words "officer suisse"?

It's a crossbow - long time symbol of Swiss quality.

I wasn't expecting that specific of a date range. What tells you it is from those two years?

[Huntsman]

Hi Goatie

This table may help you with future dating challenges....
Look for the last version/post

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,51872.msg881641.html#msg881641

JB will always give you a better/more accurate estimate as his knowledge is in another league to mine
However the table tells you  > 1980 (round Phillips) - < 1985 (awl with no hole)

Note I do need to do a version 6 as the date the pin appeared is wrong in version 5!

H

[zoidberg]

You really don't need to post pics that big. Half that would be more than ample. Cheers.

[J Mackrel Jones]

The Swiss Army Knife Owner's Manual (Michael Young, 2007) also has a decent chronology for the dates of Victorinox and Wenger tool changes - along with a lot of other stuff.  Mike (a pseudonymous MT member) says he has sent copies to buyers in 48 states !

[gene stoner]

http://victorinox.metodi.me/91mmtools.php


Try this site .

[AlephZero]

What you really need to know is, if JazzBass says its that date, it is that date

[GoatDragon]

You really don't need to post pics that big. Half that would be more than ample. Cheers.

Hmm, I thought I didn't need to resize them because the forum seems to do that automagically. 

[jazzbass]

circa 1984-1985.

Btw, what is that symbol engraved on the back of the blade over the words "officer suisse"?

It's a crossbow - long time symbol of Swiss quality.

I wasn't expecting that specific of a date range. What tells you it is from those two years?

Tang stamp with a large "V" starts in 1986. The awl looks to be tapered, not straight with a bevel in the end which would place it post 1983+.

With any date estimate, you should always expect that there is a year +/- on either end of that estimate to account for left over part inventory, inaccuracy of records for tool changes, etc. For this knife I took the middle of the range based on the above factors.

I will say that the awl picture doesn't really show me 100% that it's tapered or beveled. a good picture of the bottom of the knife with the tools closed would help there.

[zoidberg]

You really don't need to post pics that big. Half that would be more than ample. Cheers.

Hmm, I thought I didn't need to resize them because the forum seems to do that automagically. 

It isn't exactly browser friendly or particularly useful when you post multiple massive pictures like that.

[GoatDragon]

It isn't exactly browser friendly or particularly useful when you post multiple massive pictures like that.

All right, I'll size down the photos. 

Tang stamp with a large "V" starts in 1986. The awl looks to be tapered, not straight with a bevel in the end which would place it post 1983+.

With any date estimate, you should always expect that there is a year +/- on either end of that estimate to account for left over part inventory, inaccuracy of records for tool changes, etc. For this knife I took the middle of the range based on the above factors.

I will say that the awl picture doesn't really show me 100% that it's tapered or beveled. a good picture of the bottom of the knife with the tools closed would help there.

Knife booty shot:

[zoidberg]

 

[jazzbass]

Tapered, not beveled awl. I'd say 83-85 (updating my previous; I was going on memory for the tapered awl starting in 84).

[strmliner]

Great tidbit of dating info JB...thanks!

               

[Huntsman]

Wow JB - You are amazing
Thanks very much for the photo too - I was struggling to understand what this change was (bevelled vs tapered)  prior to the photo!!
Some of these tool changes are so subtle.

So the taper came in two years before the hole - Great stuff.

Off to update my table now (Hope that is OK with you? - Thanks  ) and also check out my collection to see the difference in the flesh  metal !!   

I never even knew about that one - Note: - Nor does the SAAMS website in Gene's post above.

BTW Gene and MTo SAK colleagues - The main source of info in my table (see my post above) was/is the SAAMS website.