Wenger Safari mod for whittling

[mfturner]

I am mid way through converting an old Safari into a dedicated whittling tool, removing the non working scissors.   I’m looking for opinions on three topics.   Details and clarification further down, but first the questions:

1.  Would you choose:
A.  two layer,  2 blades, saw and awl or
B.  three layer, 2 blades, saw, openers, awl and Phillips.

2.  I will be left with a spare liner or two anyway, would you add them into the build to make the body a little more robust?  Boy, they are flimsy…

3.   I cannot think of a use for the Phillips for   whittling, has anyone converted the Phillips into a something else, a mini gouge or chisel?

Details

I have a mid 1990’s Wenger Safari whose scissors never worked and has sat in a drawer for twenty years.  Aside from the scissors, it also taught me that I don’t like the thickness of a four layer knife, and the locking lever for the main blade catches in your pocket terribly.  So I disliked it for every day, and bought a LM Micra and didn’t look back.

YouTube and forum entries like this emboldened me to try and disassemble it recently, worst case I would throw it in the trash.  It was a good practice knife for disassembly and despite my heavy handiness I think I can reuse the pins and liners for reassembly.  In my test assemblies I am converging on one of these two builds:

1.  As a three layer, blades + saw + opener build, 68 grams.  The scales would work as is with no modification.    This not only has the locking main blade, but also has the self locking bottle opener/flat head screwdriver.   So it’s like a small Vic Hiker with some locking tools.   That means I could sharpen it to use as a chisel relatively safely, that’s cool.  About 68 grams for this three layer build, that’s great.  Not sure what I’d use the Phillips or the can opener for, maybe I could sharpen the can opener to use as a spoon knife?

2.  As a  two layer, blades + saw build, swapping the awl awkwardly for the Phillips, 46 grams.  Maybe like a small Vic Walker .  The awl is really impossible to open if the nail nick faces the liner, and is super tight to open if you flip it to expose the nail nick, because the pivot hole is offset.  That in turn also makes the two blades very stiff to open, not really a bad thing.  The scales are cut awkwardly for this configuration, and I would shave a bit off of the end of the scale where it used to conform with the Phillips.

So 2 layer minimalist or 3 layer with extra tools I may not use.  Either feels great in the hand, I think those are my sweet spot.  Neither would be fast access in the pocket because of the lock lever.

Hopefully a photo of the disassembled layers will upload below.

 

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[Vidar]

I'm not a whittler so I don't think I can say anything sensible about tooling for that.

I would drop the spare liner and trust that Wenger over time had found the right balance between weight, stiffness, toughness and strength. It is the robustness of the final assembly that counts, and the sum of the parts is a lot stiffer. (If you do decide to go with a double liner it might be a good idea to glue them together as two layers that can move between them will be less stiff).

The springs are likely dimensioned to maintain their stiffness based on a long life in relaxed postion when the tool is either fully open or closed. Thus for stiff springs I've sometimes left a SAK with the tools in half opened position for some time. They seem less springy afterwards and easier to open. Your vary might milage.

[mfturner]

Interesting thoughts, thanks. 

 Your thoughts on the liners makes sense to me.  I was wondering how the original assembled knife was so robust and the liners so flimsy, and  I think it’s because the aluminum liners are only stretched in tension.  The springs and pins take the forces in other directions.

 If I go with the three layer build, all of the parts will be using their original springs and orientations, so I avoid any spring tension issues.  That’s an argument for going with the three layer over the two layer build I suppose.

[Ron Who]

About sharpening the can opener to make a chisel: I´ve done it and found the metal too soft. It will not stay sharp very long.

[mfturner]

Oooh, ok, it makes sense that the tool layer may be softer than the blade layer.  That’s a vote for a two layer build in my mind.  Thanks!

[mfturner]

I decided to go through with the two layer build, since I didn’t have much purpose in an opener layer in a dedicated whittling knife.  This being my first real attempt at a modification of a SAK (not counting tool exchanges in a Micra with screws), I would say this is worth doing as a learning experience even if you throw it away and never try again.  I’m happy to now have a serviceable knife, I’m much more into function than aesthetics as you’ll see from the photos.  And I like this better than my starting point with non functioning scissors and the opener layer and Phillips screwdriver that I wouldn’t use for whittling.

Wenger knives (at least of late 90’s vintage like this) have solid pins without bushings, very soft aluminum liners, and solid plastic scales (I am pondering making my own scales out of wood).   I was able to reuse all of those even if they are all a little beat up.   The locking main blade, clip point small blade, and some of the tools are different enough from Vic options that if anyone wants to build an 84-85-ish mm knife, old Wenger parts may be a good starting point.  This being the first time I’ve tried to disassemble and reassemble a pinned knife, my peening is ugly but serviceable, and all the tools open and close well enough without being loose.  I’ll eventually reshape the short clip blade into a bit of a sheep’s foot detail blade. 

Here are a few photos once they upload, including a few with my beat up Vic Waiter edc knife for scale.  The resulting knife is ever so slightly bigger that the Waiter in all dimensions, 13g heavier, a little nicer in the hand without being irritating in the pocket (except the lock release lever, that’s like a fish hook in your pants pocket lol).  I’d probably love a Vic Recruit for whittling, but the education here was worth it.

 

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Mark