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Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland

TwistyRoads · 20 · 1802
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Offline TwistyRoads

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Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
on: September 13, 2016, 04:26:25 PM
I'm new here, so sorry if I'm breaking any forum rules... please correct me (or this post) if I am.  But I found this forum recently, and it seemed like a community that would enjoy hearing about my experience...
About an hour south of Zurich is the little resort town of Brunnen, sitting right on the edge of Lake Lucerne.   It’s breathtakingly beautiful.  I was told Winston Churchill spent part of his honeymoon there.  In Brunnen, Victorinox manages the Swiss Knife Valley Visitor Center, which includes a Victorinox Brand Store and Victorinox Museum.





At the Museum, you can make an appointment to assemble your own knife, a Victorinox Spartan. They have a jig and assembly table, all the parts, and a guide to walk you through the process. 



The jig has pedals you operate to put some pressure on the backspring to get the blades and tools onto the pivot.



Once assembled you flatten the rivets to achieve the right stiffness in blade travel.  The guide shows you how to test for a good “snap” and how to adjust it for the right blade movement.



Then you attach the scales, and you can have each side engraved.  The guide operates the engraving machine and applies the white paint, but everything else you do with your own two hands.   



The guide was very good, and knew when to be hands-off.  I’m pretty decent with mechanical stuff, and I watched one assembly, had the guide walk me through my first build, but then he left me alone to go through my second build.  There is a instruction sheet for reference, you can see it to the upper left of the assembly table.

I’ve seen other Victorinox assembly stations at fairs and festivals in Switzerland, and of course most Victorinox stores will engrave the handle.  But building a knife in Brunnen is the only way to get the blade with “self-assembled in Brunnen” etched on it.



When you are done, you can enjoy a nice Feldschlossen beer at the lake!



TwistyRoads

us Offline gene stoner

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #1 on: September 13, 2016, 04:47:52 PM
That would be so fun! Thank for sharing.
Jeep the SAK of the auto world or is it SAK the Jeep of the Knife world?
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us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #2 on: September 13, 2016, 04:52:42 PM
That is awesome :ahhh :ahhh :ahhh thanks for sharing and welcome to :MTO: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

We love pics here and encourage stories as this one so don't worry about breaking rules in this manner as you didn't  :like:
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us Offline sLaughterMed

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #3 on: September 13, 2016, 04:57:54 PM
Very cool, I didn't know that was an option. I wonder how much that jig cost.

Maybe I should get my Hungry Ranger engraved with "self assembled in Texas, Y'all"
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us Offline Halberdier

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #4 on: September 13, 2016, 08:26:31 PM
I complained that I had no hat, until I met a man who had no head.

nl Offline glenfiddich1983

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #5 on: September 13, 2016, 08:31:03 PM
 :like:
[--- arms length ---] (-.-) 

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us Offline SteveC

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #6 on: September 13, 2016, 09:00:58 PM
Great first post and welcome to the forum   :cheers:
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Offline TwistyRoads

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #7 on: September 13, 2016, 09:28:09 PM
Quote from: Halberdier on September 13, 2016, 08:26:31 PM
Here's a video..

http://www.youtube.com/embed/MGaopFIKkYE

Many thanks for the video link, I had not seen that before.  My guide was a different guy, but that is essentially how it went... lots of context, history, and slightly techinal explanations.  Super knife geeky, and right up my alley!   I assembled a knife for my father, and this video will give him a better idea of the process than my pictures, which he will greatly appreciate!

Offline TwistyRoads

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #8 on: September 13, 2016, 09:33:17 PM
Quote from: sLaughterMed on September 13, 2016, 04:57:54 PM
Very cool, I didn't know that was an option. I wonder how much that jig cost.

Maybe I should get my Hungry Ranger engraved with "self assembled in Texas, Y'all"

As quickly mentioned in the video posted by Halberdier, which jogged my memory as a point my guide made, the jig is actually preserved from the production line from 100+ years ago.  He said they don't make knives this way anymore... but they could.  It's the same final result.

us Offline Barry Rowland

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #9 on: September 13, 2016, 10:07:11 PM
+1!!!!   :like:
Quote from: Poncho65 on September 13, 2016, 04:52:42 PM
That is awesome :ahhh :ahhh :ahhh thanks for sharing and welcome to :MTO: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

We love pics here and encourage stories as this one so don't worry about breaking rules in this manner as you didn't  :like:
Barry
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00 Offline undertaker99

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #10 on: September 14, 2016, 01:00:34 AM
I wonder if the small blade rubs when assembled this way

us Offline SAK Guy

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #11 on: September 14, 2016, 05:22:23 AM
Awesome and welcome!!!! :cheers:
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us Offline JamesJ

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #12 on: September 14, 2016, 05:40:29 PM
Just saw a pic on the Victorinox Instagram about this. Really cool. Although my first 2 thoughts:

1.) I wish they'd let you choose layers for a custom build of your choice.

2.) Where can I buy that jig?

Great pics!
-JJL
instagram: jamesjlarue (warning, lots of cat pics along with the SAKs)

england Offline Guardian

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #13 on: September 14, 2016, 08:00:51 PM
Welcome, and some beautiful pics :) Wish they did that in London....
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gb Offline Little Tinker

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #14 on: September 14, 2016, 09:22:02 PM
Quote from: Guardian on September 14, 2016, 08:00:51 PM
Wish they did that in London....

You can buy the boxed Spartan assembly kit (see http://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=47874.0) in the New Bond Street flagship shop for £39 (or maybe £35...) and assemble it there using the hand jig.

It's interesting to see how many failed builds there are next to the jig.  Presumably they let you try again  :P.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2016, 10:03:48 PM by Little Tinker »

us Offline Smaug

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #15 on: September 15, 2016, 07:52:02 PM
I would LOVE to do that one day, but not with a Spartan, I'm afraid. Would it be too much trouble for them to allow a choice?

Tinker at a minimum; maybe an Explorer Plus too?
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pt Offline pfrsantos

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #16 on: September 15, 2016, 08:04:17 PM
Quote from: TwistyRoads on September 13, 2016, 04:26:25 PM
I'm new here, so sorry if I'm breaking any forum rules... please correct me (or this post) if I am.  But I found this forum recently, and it seemed like a community that would enjoy hearing about my experience...
About an hour south of Zurich is the little resort town of Brunnen, sitting right on the edge of Lake Lucerne.   It’s breathtakingly beautiful.  I was told Winston Churchill spent part of his honeymoon there.  In Brunnen, Victorinox manages the Swiss Knife Valley Visitor Center, which includes a Victorinox Brand Store and Victorinox Museum.

(...)

When you are done, you can enjoy a nice Feldschlossen beer at the lake!



TwistyRoads

Just a thought...

I'm a little indecisive.

Don't know if I should go "Hey, you got the date wrong!" or "Hey, what took you so long to post this?"

 :think: :think: :think: :think:



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gb Offline Skyman

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #17 on: September 16, 2016, 03:10:12 PM
Great write-up,i was there last month lots of very interesting old items, saw them engraving a couple of Swiss champs. We also went to the other shop,they had a 10% discount on which was nice. Wish I'd left my champ there for wooden scales to be fitted was only 20chf and that was delivered back to the Uk.

Offline TwistyRoads

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #18 on: September 17, 2016, 06:18:12 PM
Just a thought...

I'm a little indecisive.

Don't know if I should go "Hey, you got the date wrong!" or "Hey, what took you so long to post this?"

 :think: :think: :think: :think:
[/quote]

LOL, the date is right!  It's probably the date that really started my Viictorinox habit, so I guess it took this long to develop enough of an interest to find the Swiss Army Knights forum.  Since 2014, I've been back to Brunnen two other times to bring relatives there and let them assemble knives.

gr Offline kkokkolis

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Re: Assemble Your Own SAK in Switzerland
Reply #19 on: September 17, 2016, 07:49:02 PM
I've seen the bench and the procedure in the Geneva store. I would have built my own if they permitted a Climber, Mountaineer or Ranger. So, I just bought an accessory for my Victorinox briefcase and engraved the name of my wife on my XLT.

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,40202.0/nowap.html

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