Fish Scaler to Serrated Blade?

[BradSAK]

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone has already done this or not but i am thinking of getting a round jewellers file and turning the fish scaler into a serrated blade. The roughing out has already been done and i think it could prove more useful as a serrated blade.

Has anyone else tried this?
What are your uses for the fish scaler?
Is this something you would consider?

Cheers,

Brad

[Farmer X]

I don't have much use for either the scaler or a serrated blade. So that project sounds like way too much work for too little benefit for me. Yet I'd be interested to see the results.

[gustophersmob]

I believe the non-blade tools are hardened to a lesser hardness. Something like 52ish RH vs 55 or 56. May make it dull more quickly if used as a blade.

[nate j]

Well, I hate to be a downer, but my initial thought is that this won’t work out as well as intended.

For one thing, good cutting performance requires more than just a sharp edge.  The whole blade profile impacts this, i.e. blades that are too thick, have primary bevels at too wide of an angle, etc. don’t cut well.  Unless you’re planning to reprofile the whole tool?  (Which might also cost you the ruler.)

For another, (as GM mentions) the fish scaler isn’t hardened to the same HRC as the knife blades, i.e. it is too soft to make a good knife blade.

If you decide to continue with this project, though, I hope you’ll let us know how it turns out.


I believe I have exactly one SAK with a fish scaler:  a Swisschamp, and I find it too heavy to carry around and awkwardly bulky in hand.  So I would have to say that I really don’t have much of any use for the fish scaler.

[BPRoberts]

The fishscaler is IMO the most undervalued tool on an SAK. Besides the obvious use as a tiny ruler and fishscaler:

1. Fork. I don't know how many times I've been at an office party or something and no one brought forks. I always have a knife to cut, but I don't usually have a fork, unless I have the scaler. Best for medium firmness things like fruit.

2. All purpose poker/wriggler/grabber. We all know you're not supposed to use a knife blade for this, but there's also not a lot of other options on most SAKs. Mine has picked up weird stuff from the floor, unjammed a paper towel dispenser, and a million other things. Obviously, clean before using as a fork.

3. Styrofoam saw. For certain soft materials, those big dull teeth are great. They saw through fine, don't get gummed up, won't cut whatever's inside. . I had to order a bunch of home office furniture a couple years ago, and it got a real workout that day.

For an urban/office type EDC, I honestly think the old school Angler AKA Drunken Fisherman is the ideal SAK. I don't need a wood saw on a Huntsman, and the ILP on the Explorer is nice, but I'll use it once or twice a week (and have the CO driver anyway), vs the scaler once every day or two.

[Enginears]

I kind of was thinking what everyone else is saying. I would like to see it if someone were so inclined, but due to the softness of the tool it may not hold an edge  well enough to be useful.

Also what BPRoberts said, it is quite a useful tool for various things. I have used it for rough cutting boxes, foam, etc. as it does not create a lot of saw dust.

Try it and see, and definitely post pictures and a review once you get it done!

[Tuisto]

The fishscaler is IMO the most undervalued tool on an SAK. Besides the obvious use as a tiny ruler and fishscaler:

1. Fork. I don't know how many times I've been at an office party or something and no one brought forks. I always have a knife to cut, but I don't usually have a fork, unless I have the scaler. Best for medium firmness things like fruit.

2. All purpose poker/wriggler/grabber. We all know you're not supposed to use a knife blade for this, but there's also not a lot of other options on most SAKs. Mine has picked up weird stuff from the floor, unjammed a paper towel dispenser, and a million other things. Obviously, clean before using as a fork.

3. Styrofoam saw. For certain soft materials, those big dull teeth are great. They saw through fine, don't get gummed up, won't cut whatever's inside. . I had to order a bunch of home office furniture a couple years ago, and it got a real workout that day.

For an urban/office type EDC, I honestly think the old school Angler AKA Drunken Fisherman is the ideal SAK. I don't need a wood saw on a Huntsman, and the ILP on the Explorer is nice, but I'll use it once or twice a week (and have the CO driver anyway), vs the scaler once every day or two.

I completely agree with this. I posted a photo of my new Angler in the "What's your newest SAK" thread and I was lamenting how I didn't realise that a SAK with that toolset existed (scaler/hook disgorger and pliers) in such a compact SAK. I think I use the scaler more than any other tool -- whether for poking things or using as a fork or poking things or as an itch-scratcher or for poking things, etc. But it really is, in my opinion, the most under-appreciated, -valued, and -rated tool on any SAK. If only I could find the version of the angler with scissors(/parcel hook), I think that would probably be my perfect SAK...

[BradSAK]

Thankyou all for the responses!

To be honest this was all the information i was looking for with regards to the dis advantages and HRC of the tool.

I was already thinking of re grinding the whole tool and filing up the edge but the hardness of the tool i was unsure about.

I wont be going ahead with the project for the sake of a soft knife.

Thankyou all, i knew i asked the right people before aimlessly ruining my tool!

Brad

[Alan K.]

I use it as a back scratcher when there's nothing else handy and of course for its primary function as an olive fork.  Nothing else works as well for getting olives out of the jar.

[Helvetica Bold]

I have used the scaler for many things over the years ….except as a scaler/hook remover 

[DavZell]

In line with other comments, you could deepen the fork valley to improve its forkiness.

[psyjohn]

I tried to do that once with a scaler I had left over from a custom I was building. As others have said the steel is too soft. Also the teeth on the scaler are too wide. As you file it into a blade you wind up with more of a weird looking saw than a serrated blade.