SAK modding

ChopperCharles · **on:** June 01, 2018, 06:16:11 PM

Some Wenger knives, as you all know, have a blade lock. Blade lock knives are available with plain spear point, fully serrated spear point (rarer), or partially serrated spear point (L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer editions, mostly). Also in the round-tip plain safety blade. However, the somewhat rare clip-point blade was never, to my knowledge, made as a locking blade. The clip point was used in the Buck-branded "Swissbuck" line of knives, as well as the soft-touch evo models. So it's uncommon, but not a rare blade. I'd like to make it a locking blade.

I can weld. I have a wire-feed welder that I use regularly for motorcycle projects. I bought some stainless steel flux cored wire for my welder, but I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. I'm thinking of welding a blob onto the tang of a clip point blade, and then filing it down to be a locker. I'm wondering if anyone has done this kind of thing before.

For those that aren't familiar with the Wenger locking mechanism, I've attached images of a locking plain blade and a non-locking partially serrated blade. You can see that the locker has an extra piece of metal on the tang that sticks out and into the special locking backspring.

It wouldn't take much of a weld to do this, but I'm wondering if I need to worry about integrity of the heat treating or anything. It's the tang, not the blade, and while it might get hot I'd only need a quick zap to get a blob of metal on there. Thoughts?

Charles.

RF52 · **Reply #1 on:** June 01, 2018, 07:30:21 PM

I've never done anything like this, but if you wrap the knife blade in a wet towel or something and leave the tang open for welding I think the blade should stay cool enough to save the heat treat. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will stop by and give you some more/better info

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tattoosteve99 · **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2018, 03:27:16 AM

Yes it can be done but it will need to be tig welded

ChopperCharles · **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2018, 03:53:18 AM

Why TIG? I have welding wire specifically for welding stainless with a MIG. It's called Blue Demon, and it's supposed to be the bomb. I am going to practice with it a bit on some 304 stainless scrap, and then practice some more on some crappy condition tools from a dead SAK, before attempting the tang.

Charles.

Spork, Lord of Lime Jello! · **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2018, 07:17:58 AM

I'm not sure if you are aware of this...the Wengers of the LL Bean/Eddie Bauer Buck era seemed to be plagued by soft backsprings. I sent two Packlocks in for warranty and encountered probably another five (TSA knives) which would slip the lock. I think this was caused by fanning out the blades and possibly pressing the lock lever farther than necessary to unlock.

I avoid fanning the blades on Wengers now. If I have to clean the interior, I will open each blade fully before moving the opposite one. Since I used the TSA knives for modding, I was able to fix them by tweaking the backsprings.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2018, 09:11:48 AM

Yeah, I'm aware. Why would you bring this up here? I have a fix for the issue that's unrelated.

Charles.

tattoosteve99 · **Reply #6 on:** June 02, 2018, 05:05:22 PM

Quote from: ChopperCharles on June 02, 2018, 09:11:48 AM

Yeah, I'm aware. Why would you bring this up here? I have a fix for the issue that's unrelated.

Charles.

Because some do not know about the issue.
Tig keeps more heat out of the surrounding metal is why I suggested it. You can use welding wire as well.

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ChopperCharles · **Reply #7 on:** June 02, 2018, 07:28:50 PM

Thanks for the info anyhow. I've looked at several locking knives that were weak. The backspring is just part of the issue. Another part is grime build-up. All of the knives I've disassembled had gunk in the space where the lock tang sits. That's got to effect it as well. Finally, a couple had rounded corners, showing that the weak lock issue had been around for a while. I found the ultimate fix is to put a small backwards taper in with a file, to both the blade and the backspring. It's very slight. I don't take any material off from the top surfaces where they initially meet, but I make a slight taper from that with a dremel and a small file. It's a very small taper, barely noticeable. But, what it does is when you're pressing the blade backwards to close, it pulls the spring and the blade together more strongly, keeping it locked more strongly.

Charles.