EDC a Spartan with hardwood scales?

[Grathr]

I just got a Vic Spartan with the hardwood scales.(original one, not custom)
  I really like the way it looks and the way it feels in the hand. I like it so much I want to EDC it, but Im worried it will ruin the scales.
  The collector in me tells me to keep it in its box in the shelf so it will never be damaged and always look like new. (You can alwaysss take it out every now and then and fondle those smooth preciousssss scalesesss in the dark basement...  )
 The SAK user in me on the other hand,  tells me that this tool is too good to stow away in its box.
 I am however worried about ruining the scales by putting it in my pocket with my keys. The celidor scales on my old spartan did not "age" well in my pocket.

Do any of you have any experinece with the hardwood scales? Do they age well? Are there any problems with them I should watch out for?

[dks]

The choise is yours.
Surprisingly wood used for handles is very robust. Just look at all those opinels people use. The wood gets dirty but not that damaged.
I have some old wooden handled knives with worn blades that must have been carried a lot and the wood looks fine.

Wood will not crack like bone and will be more resistant to scratching, compared to Celidor, I think.

[HankSolon]

It's a decission, you'll have to make by your own. If you handle them with care, there still will be marks and spots. Fluids like water aren't the best choice too, but you can follow some rules.
Oil it!
Wax it!
Transport it save (I have a Jeans Pocket solely for my spartan, no key, no cell phone)

I have chinese camellia oil and old furniture wax. The oil keeps away bad fluids (but don't overestimate it) the wax is good against fluids and little scratches.

[IoNForce]

It's a decission, you'll have to make by your own. If you handle them with care, there still will be marks and spots. Fluids like water aren't the best choice too, but you can follow some rules.
Oil it!
Wax it!
Transport it save (I have a Jeans Pocket solely for my spartan, no key, no cell phone)

I have chinese camellia oil and old furniture wax. The oil keeps away bad fluids (but don't overestimate it) the wax is good against fluids and little scratches.

This is some really good advice, from what I've read about wooden scales it's good to use beeswax, or if you cant get any - furniture wax or some kind of paste wax. I would recommend Renaissance wax ( I'm talking about it all the time, I know  ), but it's not recommended for things in use, rather for things that will sit for a long time. Apply, buff and you're set. As for the oil, people use lemon/orange oil or as HankSolon said, camellia oil. Don't expose the wooden scales to water too much (don't let them soak). If you need to wash them use soap only when it is really necessary. If you use soap you're getting the oils and wax off the scales and you will have to re-oil/re-wax it all over again.

[colt 1911]

Make one of these, sew some bandanna together

[Grathr]

Thanx for the tips guys. 
I have decided to do a little experiment and EDC the  Hardwood Spartan for a few months to see how the scales handle it.
I have no need for a SAK I can not use.
Here are some pictures of it now. I'll try to remember to post some pics every now and then to show the progress. 

Make one of these, sew some bandanna together

I actually have a knitted SAK sock wich I got from Neil with a SAK i bought from him. However, having to pack and unpack my SAK every time I use it will really bug me.

[16VGTIDave]

How about attaching a clip of some sort to the key ring and letting it dangle in the top of your pocket? Maybe with a short lanyard?

And wax those scales! I'm sure that they will look great when buffed up.

Dave


Sent from my iPad2

[colt 1911]

Ya it bugs me, I just made a evo 10 my edc, just going to let it get hammered.

[ColoSwiss]

Buy another one (they're not that rare). One to keep and one to carry.

[Steinar]

Buy another one (they're not that rare). One to keep and one to carry.

Yet another variation of "Get both"?

(Oh, and post pictures here to let us see how the scales stand up to wear and tear.)

[ColoSwiss]

Buy another one (they're not that rare). One to keep and one to carry.

Yet another variation of "Get both"?

Actually it should be "Get everything, plus duplicates". 

[Landrew]

I can't imagine the woodworking skills required to make scales out of wood.

[Outback in Idaho]

Saw the hardwood version last night too. Tempting... but the Climber beckons.    If there was only a hardwood handled Climber too.

Say, read a review somewhere that said the toothpick slides out easily with the hardwood handles, as opposed to the plastic scales. Have any of you had that issue?



Edit: Added the toothpick question.

[HankSolon]

Regarding the toothpick. It's a problem you may have with custom hardwood scales too. Pen, tweezers, needle and toothpick eventually slipping out quite easy. I found a simple solution:

Cut of a very thin piece of a match or bamboo wood, etc and put it into the hole. If you still can manage to put your toothpick in quite easy but it doesn't slip out very easy, you got the right size.

[Grathr]

Say, read a review somewhere that said the toothpick slides out easily with the hardwood handles, as opposed to the plastic scales.

Both toothpick and tweezers fit just right in the scales of my Hardwood Spartan.

Buy another one (they're not that rare). One to keep and one to carry.

I might just do that. 

And I will post some pictures as time passes. 

[Marius]

Mine says Hi! Here along with his Huntsman brother.

I'd EDC mine w/o worries if I'd were you. The scales look to be, well, hard

It is very good advice to get another but note that there is no assurance that the second one would be perfect. The fit and finish on the recent wooden handled 91mm SAKs, including the current Hardwood variants (Spartan, Huntsman, SwissChamp) tends to vary slightly from SAK to SAK, or at least this is what I personally saw.

 

[Northern Geek]

I like those hardwood scales.. there's something about a knife with wood handles.. 

[Grathr]

I like those hardwood scales.. there's something about a knife with wood handles.. 

[Outback in Idaho]

Those are some handsome looking photos, sir.

Curious as to how the scales are attached since there are no rivets. Are they epoxied in then?
Seen someplace where a fella was selling custom scales online for around $45. He did not list any Australian Silky Oak though which would make for a sexy finish.

Have a Lorin Hawes boomerang made from this sexy Australian wood, and another from coachwood for a small collectable set.


Edit: Added sample via attachment, was too large otherwise.

[Marius]

Curious as to how the scales are attached since there are no rivets. Are they epoxied in then?

I once removed one of these 91 mm Victorinox Hardwood scales. Was not hard at all. They are not glued solidly to thicker than usual liners all over like for example the Rosewood and Ebony versions are (SwissChamp and LE Climber). They are pressure fitted over the rivet ends, over regular (thin) liners, similar to Cellidor, maybe with a tiny amount of light glue in each hole. On the inside these scales look exactly like the older style Cellidor scales, the ones that weren't hollow. You can see the channels for the T&T and the mounting holes and the rest is solid (albeit thin) wood.

[Donald]

Saw the hardwood version last night too. Tempting... but the Climber beckons.    If there was only a hardwood handled Climber too.

Say, read a review somewhere that said the toothpick slides out easily with the hardwood handles, as opposed to the plastic scales. Have any of you had that issue?
Edit: Added the toothpick question.

IcanFixThat mentioned the tweezers and toothpick might be the improper size for the wood scaled Huntsman, and then mentioned that his toothpick was loose.

Here was my response:
It really does help! First, I pulled out a standard Huntsman to compare the tools. My tweezers are the correct size approximately 45mm versus the shorter 36mm tweezers. My toothpick however was wrong, being the small 45mm versus the correct 50mm. (Note I rounded up a few tenths of a mm from the reading on my General 147 0-6" 3-Mode Digital Caliper. That could be an artifact of compression or angle.) The difference in the length of the toothpicks is not as noticeable and I missed this. I had just thought it was the thickness of the wood, shape of the groove, or that the wood scale rises a bit from the underlying aluminum sideplate. What makes the big difference though is the height of the catch or end. The height of the small catch or handle on the toothpick is 2.72mm versus the large which is 3.64mm.

Once I inserted the proper size toothpick for the Huntsman, I had no problem extracting it with my fingernail. Thank you for the tip. I am surprised that Victorinox made this mistake, since they are usually so precise.
-------------------

Here was my knife, that I was posting about.

Huntsman Beli wood scales (Julbernardia pellegriniana)  V-3.37 SE02 Kunzi Spa

Once the correct implements are inserted, they fit fine on my knife. I am using the latest style toothpick that has the little protrusion on the side of it, to prevent it from falling out. I think that has been common for years, but I do have some that do not have it. I almost lost one of the old style. I had pulled it out part way for a picture and it fell out the rest of the way. Luckily I found it. That may be the same toothpick that instead of being straight at the end, has a little hook on it. It is in my Vic Rucksack model knife.

I have been EDC the beli wood scaled or covered Huntsman, but it is in its own cargo pocket.

[Landrew]

I would definitely like to try hardwood scales on my huntsman.

[Marius]

IcanFixThat mentioned[/url] the tweezers and toothpick might be the improper size for the wood scaled Huntsman, and then mentioned that his toothpick was loose.

Here was my response:

I think you did not see my post: http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,21658.msg663143.html#msg663143

As I wrote there, 3 out of 4 T&T on mine were the wrong ones, 1 was good. But there were far worse fit and finish problems with them than just wrong T&T and I decided to return them.

If you got luckier that I did with a better done one, great!

Congrats and enjoy!