The time my SAK failed me

[firiki]

I thought that a thread about SAK failures could be useful. The idea is to list the times a SAK couldn't get the job done in order to chart SAK limits and also help discern them from  the results of inappropriate use. This way perhaps we could ponder over our EDC from another point of view, which I think is good in this case. I'll make a start:

Generally my SAKs have been very handy so far. I use them for small, simple tasks around the house, not big projects really as my technical skills are pretty basic.

The greatest failures I can think of concerned the wood saw and the metal saw.

The wood saw failed me twice. The first time was on 2011 New Year's eve, I was challenged to cut a log for the fireplace. After struggling for ten minutes I gave up; the Vic Farmer's saw was still protruding from the log's surface, having sawed just about the depth of it's teeth. The other time was this March. A wooden chair's foot rest had broken in half and leaving it that way was dangerous, someone was bound to get stabbed by its pointed remainings. I tried to remove it with the saw on my Vic Ranger. The wood was so dry it shrieked that awful sound and the saw kept bouncing off to no avail. I had to use an old hacksaw in the end.

Now the metal saw. This past July I needed a disposable bucket so I tried to cut open an old, empty motor oil plastic container. I couldn't even get started with this job with my Vic Ranger's metal saw. I resorted to using one of my wife's wickedly serrated kitchen knifes I normally abhor. It worked.

Maybe these failures were the result of my poor efforts, maybe not, I wouldn't know. I'll keep updating this thread should there be any more failures to list in here. Hopefully there won't be any. Please feel free to share your experience. Cheers

[J Mackrel Jones]

You must have some really weird wood and plastic in Greece !
A blade cuts thin plastic like a container better than the metal file tho.  I have made improvised buckets from water jugs this way, and gotten aluminum sheet pieces from beer cans (like for a heat shield when soldering near wood) with the blade.
An interesting theme:  when has my SAK failed me? 
I shouldn't have tried to jimmy open that window with the can opener but breaking it was my own fault -- miscalculation of strength of materials.  Snapping the corkscrew closed onto my fingers was due to improper technique.  Sawing into the end of my thumb?  User error. 
My own experience is that the organic component fails more than the metallic.
So --  When has my Swiss Knife let me down? ...

[kkokkolis]

That's what I thought. What kind of plastic, wood and metal can survive under Victorinox saws?
Are you sure your knife is Swiss and not Chinese?
Never embarrassed until now with any of my SAKs. Didn't try on Titanium yet though.


Ἄφοβον ὁ θεός, ἀνύποπτον ὁ θάνατος· καὶ τ’ ἀγαθὸν μὲν εὔκτητον, τὸ δὲ δεινὸν εὐκαρτέρητον.
Φιλόδημος Γαδαρεύς

[AimlessWanderer]

I have had problems with the organic interface before, and I have found myself not having the right SAK for the job ... but fail ...  I had an occurance recently where a SAK saw wasn't suitable to a plywood trimming job because of how it was supported (the cutting action was pulling against the pins it was fastened on with), but again that's more an issue of suitability 

I think the only times they've "failed me" is when I needed a toothpick or tweezers, and it's done a runner 

[Monrogue]

I don't think any of my SAKs have failed me yet, but I don't exactly put them through the ringer so to speak.  Most of anything I encounter is fairly easy game for my SAKs. 

[theonew]

I was helping my friend take apart his automated baby rocker that his child had outgrown. I used the 91mm Vic combo tool on one of the flat heads and the tip of the driver started to twist as I applied more force. I stopped and he found a real screwdriver. When I got home I was able to untwist the tip by applying the same force in the opposite direction. I'm pretty sure that the regular Vic screwdriver/cap lifter would have handled the screw without problems. While I like the combo tool very much, it's too thin for more serious work.

[nate j]

Obviously there are some jobs for which a SAK is simply not the right tool, and or your particular model lacks the right tool.  That aside...

How many SAKs have I broken?
None yet, though of course anything can be broken with sufficient (mis-)application of force.

When have I failed to accomplish, with a SAK, something which that SAK should have been capable of handling?
Never, thus far.

P.S. I agree with JMJ - I would have gone at the plastic container with the main blade rather than the metal file.

[firiki]

P.S. I agree with JMJ - I would have gone at the plastic container with the main blade rather than the metal file.

I reckon I probably didn’t work the metal saw as hard as I should have. That was an old 20lt container, thick enough for me to use the main blade on it only in despair and this wasn’t the case.

You must have some really weird wood and plastic in Greece !

Well, both woods were dry and fibrous. The log might have been above the saw's punch, I tried to show the opposite. My stroking technique needs adjusting, it's true.

While I like the combo tool very much, it's too thin for more serious work.

I think that's true too. The combo tool is a great can/bottle opener but a poor substitute for the utility provided by the dedicated opener layer.

Are you sure your knife is Swiss and not Chinese?
 

*Sigh*  Yes, sure and certain. The sound these things make is practically inmistakable I think. 

So we all agree on what was already the consensus: SAKs are flawless representations of perfection that can pretend to fail at a task when misused though they do so just for fun. Damn, I thought this could be a good topic  . OK, back to my cave I go now. 

[ironraven]

Obviously there are some jobs for which a SAK is simply not the right tool, and or your particular model lacks the right tool.

That is why they should all have a partner or two.

I've never had a SAK fail on me, except for the toothpick- they pick up too much crud for me to put in my mouth. That said, I've bought a bunch of them that are a little screwed up over the years for when I can have the space to start modding, and they are cases of someone forgetting that they have a pocket knife held together with 1/10" pins, not a prybar.

[nate j]

So we all agree on what was already the consensus: SAKs are flawless representations of perfection that can pretend to fail at a task when misused though they do so just for fun. Damn, I thought this could be a good topic  . OK, back to my cave I go now. 

It is an excellent topic, particularly as it addresses the practical limits of SAKs, the fact that we haven't identified many actual failures yet notwithstanding.

Obviously there are some jobs for which a SAK is simply not the right tool, and or your particular model lacks the right tool.

That is why they should all have a partner or two.

I've never had a SAK fail on me, except for the toothpick- they pick up too much crud for me to put in my mouth. That said, I've bought a bunch of them that are a little screwed up over the years for when I can have the space to start modding, and they are cases of someone forgetting that they have a pocket knife held together with 1/10" pins, not a prybar.

With the exception that I do use the toothpick, I agree with your observations, which is why my SAKs always travel in the company of my Pocketwrench II (and sometimes other "friends" as well).  Another little trick I employ when I know I'm about to push my luck is to choke my grip up off of the handle and onto the specific tool in question, so that I avoid applying excessive force to the pivot/pin areas of the SAK.

[sawman]

These are pocket tools.  I'm not going to attempt to cut down a tree with my Huntsman or Farmer.  I apply reasonable expectations to my tools and I'm not disappointed. 

[comis]

These are pocket tools.  I'm not going to attempt to cut down a tree with my Huntsman or Farmer.  I apply reasonable expectations to my tools and I'm not disappointed. 

Yes, you can!(sort of)


Although the tree is only limb thick, it really demo how skill is just as important as the tool. 

[sawman]

These are pocket tools.  I'm not going to attempt to cut down a tree with my Huntsman or Farmer.  I apply reasonable expectations to my tools and I'm not disappointed. 

Yes, you can!(sort of)


Although the tree is only limb thick, it really demo how skill is just as important as the tool. 

Impressive    I love my Farmer 

[kkokkolis]

Are you sure your knife is Swiss and not Chinese?
 

*Sigh*  Yes, sure and certain. The sound these things make is practically inmistakable I think. 

So we all agree on what was already the consensus: SAKs are flawless representations of perfection that can pretend to fail at a task when misused though they do so just for fun. Damn, I thought this could be a good topic  . OK, back to my cave I go now. 

I was just kidding. I hope that you won't hit me with that block of wood that's made from kryptonite. 

[theonew]

Yes, you can!(sort of)


Although the tree is only limb thick, it really demo how skill is just as important as the tool. 

That works. But I think I would have used a slightly different technique. After going around the circumference once I would have put downward pressure with my foot as I sawed up from below. Even a slight bend puts pressure on the wood and makes the saw rip through it faster.

Using the saw on my Farmer, I once harvested a large limb from a downed tree that must have been 4 - 4.5 inches in diameter and quite long, with lots of smaller limbs attached.  First I cut around the circumference a bit and then just started cutting from the top and sides and it seemed to take no time before the weight of the limb cracked it apart. I dragged it to my camp fire and made a few more smaller cuts with the saw and then let the fire do the rest of the cutting

[Singh]

The greatest failures I can think of concerned the wood saw and the metal saw.

The other time was this March. A wooden chair's foot rest had broken in half and leaving it that way was dangerous, someone was bound to get stabbed by its pointed remainings. I tried to remove it with the saw on my Vic Ranger. The wood was so dry it shrieked that awful sound and the saw kept bouncing off to no avail. I had to use an old hacksaw in the end.

The problem here is woodworking technique and the tool you chose. The hacksaw worked because the smaller teeth wouldn't skip on the grain (I assume the hacksaw blade had a metal cutting blade on it, as most do). The woodsaw has deep, aggressive teeth and using them for fine work, such as trimming broken ends, will cause the wood to splinter and/or the teeth will skip. Next time: start with the metal saw first in order to get a kerf, and then switch to the  woodsaw. That should work better.


Also, that shrieking sound you heard was the saw binding up. Any saw will bind if your technique is off.

[Steinar]

Ruining the knife by applying too much force on the back-mounted Philips seems to be a recurring problem. Also breaking the tip of the Vic combo tool and the Vic can opener (using it as a screwdriver). I have done neither myself, but a friend of mine ruined the can opener of his 84 mm Vic exactly that way.

Having trouble sawing through hard, dry, fibrous wood with a rather "un-ergonomic" saw doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

[Cupboard]

My first Vic failed me slightly when someone borrowed it and tried to use the knife as a pry bar (despite there being a far more functional opener layer). It didn't fail very much though, it did the job and the tip of the blade bent back

[firiki]

The problem here is woodworking technique and the tool you chose. The hacksaw worked because the smaller teeth wouldn't skip on the grain (I assume the hacksaw blade had a metal cutting blade on it, as most do). The woodsaw has deep, aggressive teeth and using them for fine work, such as trimming broken ends, will cause the wood to splinter and/or the teeth will skip. Next time: start with the metal saw first in order to get a kerf, and then switch to the  woodsaw. That should work better.


Also, that shrieking sound you heard was the saw binding up. Any saw will bind if your technique is off.

You're right, I guess. Thank you for the word of advice 

My first Vic failed me slightly when someone borrowed it and tried to use the knife as a pry bar (despite there being a far more functional opener layer).

Who! What!      You just don't do that with a knife (especially if it comes with other, more adequate implements, no?).

Ruining the knife by applying too much force on the back-mounted Philips seems to be a recurring problem. Also breaking the tip of the Vic combo tool and the Vic can opener (using it as a screwdriver). I have done neither myself, but a friend of mine ruined the can opener of his 84 mm Vic exactly that way.

Having trouble sawing through hard, dry, fibrous wood with a rather "un-ergonomic" saw doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

Good points! I think that the T-handled Philips is a mistake (no CS?  ) . The combo tool is fragile by nature. However, ruining the can opener's tip is primarilly the result of misuse IMO. As for dry woods, I agree, it's not the saw's fault that I was asking it for too much. Still, I felt kinda disappointed. Ow, well...

Cheers fellas.

[Dtrain]

So far I have I guess for a lack of a better term sprung a Screwdriver/bottle opener trying to bust loose a screw that was too tight, and broken a couple of handles when dropped. I do not blame the tool but myself. There have been a few times when I could not make "What I had" work but in the grand scheme of things I had enough tools close at hand to correct the problem

Dtrain

[ducttapetech]

About the only problem I ever had is the drivers are to slick and shiny, causing the tool to slip out of a slot. Broke the pliers once, but that was on something I should have used set of regular pliers on.

sent from my mobile

[Jothra]

I found out the hard way that the Victorinox combo tool cannot be used as dangerously as the large or small screwdrivers in a normal opener layer. The curvy twist I put in it looked like Nessie's Revenge at World Water Park. That might be the only Swiss Army tool I've ever actually wrecked.