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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Thank you! That adapter is a trick to find for some reason.
Is that a bodhi seed mala wrapped around your wrist?
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