Show off your Sak mod's!

[Neil]

Its a swine to get those off-white scales to show the right colour in photos isn't it

Your little Pygmy Huntsman or 84mm Huntsman Small'n'Slim Huntsman Golfer looks good for its change of clothing 

[Gareth]

Its a swine to get those off-white scales to show the right colour in photos isn't it

Your little Pygmy Huntsman or 84mm Huntsman Small'n'Slim Huntsman Golfer looks good for its change of clothing 

Yup. I did a side-by-side shot and it barely shows.   They are just a shade more creamy though.

[Neil]

I quite like the fact that the old stock ones are solid as well.  I'm sure it makes no real difference practically

[Gareth]

I quite like the fact that the old stock ones are solid as well.  I'm sure it makes no real difference practically

Perhaps the only advantage is that they sound more solid when you tap them with you fingernail, no bad thing IMO .  I don't know about you though but i find the solid ones slightly harder to fit, need a lot more pressing I feel.

[Neil]

Indeed.  They're also a tad trickier to remove. 

[HawkeyX]

First post, but been watching inspired for a while and have done a few of my own. Here's my Classic Fatboy;

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Not seen one like that before

[Neil]

That is a chunky fella   Does it float?

I think Def did one similar a few years back on a 91mm SAK

[Gareth]

Cool idea mate, and welcome to the forum.

[HawkeyX]

Cheers.
I'll have to try the float thing - didnt think of that!

[Neil]

Something a bit silly...



... but for a good cause.

[Gareth]

LOL.    You should send a picture of that to the organisers, I'm certain they'd get a kick out of it.

[Neil]

Up for auction on EDCS to support the Movember Foundation.

Place your bids.. http://www.edcsource.com/Team-Multimoe-2010-MultiTool,name,105816,auction_id,auction_details

It started life as this fine moustache comb ..



It was then chopped, filed and thinned slightly so that it would ride on a couple of saw backsprings..



More rummaging in the old bits box produced some scissors and an old worn out hotstamp shield scale that most importantly had no cutout.  This was modified so that it could be put on the back..



Some bashing and tweaking and sanding and much polishing then ensued.  Finally the scales were glued and everything left a day to set..



More polishing and a final wash finished the job nicely ..



From a practical point of view its not something you'd ever put into production, the resin the comb is made from is far too soft and you can actually see a ridge formed where it rides over the two backspings.  Also you'd be best having the option to use the comb and scissors at the same time but making it a removable tool would have created an even weaker comb that would probably have failed after just a few removal/insertions.  So yes,  its bonkers but that is somewhat in the spirit

[frugalscotty]

First rate work as usual Neil. I think something like this could be produced at factory. It would take a metal shank with the pivot and then a nylon comb could be molded around the shank. Not economical but very COOL.

I want it and I don't even have a 'stache. 

[SlackOne]

Just wanted to note that the knife in this thread appears to have a mo' comb as a factory blade.  Always thought it was a pretty neat knife just for that

It's not as adorable as the SwissMo, though!

[emb876]

I am new to this forum but probably love SAK's as much as you guys do. I have never made my own mod but am very curious about it. Do you guys have your own presses? I looked up how they are made and found a few bad guides on how to do your own. Another random question I had was if anyone knew someone that did custom work for private orders. Any help would be awesome, thanks.

[ari6126]

Do you guys have your own presses?

Generally, no. Some guys have jigs, but I haven't seen anybody with a Victorinox style press. Most, if not all, peen by hand. Even Victorinox does sometimes.

Another random question I had was if anyone knew someone that did custom work for private orders.

Neil might, PM him. I'm not sure though. A guy named Scriber used to, but he retired. There might be others.

Check out this excellent thread to do it yourself.

[Gareth]

Do you guys have your own presses?

Generally, no. Some guys have jigs, but I haven't seen anybody with a Victorinox style press. Most, if not all, peen by hand. Even Victorinox does sometimes.

Another random question I had was if anyone knew someone that did custom work for private orders.

Neil might, PM him. I'm not sure though. A guy named Scriber used to, but he retired. There might be others.

Check out this excellent thread to do it yourself.

Ari has pretty much hit it on the head I think.  As you can see from the link Ari put up I don't use a press or jig of any kind.  The tools you see in the thread are pretty much the minimum you'd need IMO.

I can also vouch for Neil's work.  I've played with some, even own a piece myself, and his fit and finish is just as good, if not better, than anything you'd buy straight from Victorinox.

PS welcome to the forum emb876.

[Neil]

  That was slightly embarrassing Gareth but thanks

I'm not aware of anyone modding SAKs who has a press.  I have various jigs made up for the different sized frames but its nothing fancy.  Final assembly is accomplished by the age old art of peening.  In the factory Victorinox obviously have nice big automated rivet spinners but as Ari mentions even they have been known to hand peen.  I've had brand new knives where I suspect something didn't go quite right and one of the pins has obviously been hand finished.  Not to say I wouldn't love a powered spinner but even second hand they are incredibly expensive.

I would encourage anyone to grab a few old SAKs and have a go at modding themselves.  Some folks are naturals and take to it easily, others find they can never quite get it right.  But its not like you need much in the way of tools to get started so its worth a crack

If you find modding isn't for you then send me a PM and we can discuss requirements and prices.

[Benner]

Neil that mod was awesome! 

[Gareth]

(Image removed from quote.)  That was slightly embarrassing Gareth but thanks

I'm not aware of anyone modding SAKs who has a press.  I have various jigs made up for the different sized frames but its nothing fancy.  Final assembly is accomplished by the age old art of peening.  In the factory Victorinox obviously have nice big automated rivet spinners but as Ari mentions even they have been known to hand peen.  I've had brand new knives where I suspect something didn't go quite right and one of the pins has obviously been hand finished.  Not to say I wouldn't love a powered spinner but even second hand they are incredibly expensive.

I would encourage anyone to grab a few old SAKs and have a go at modding themselves.  Some folks are naturals and take to it easily, others find they can never quite get it right.  But its not like you need much in the way of tools to get started so its worth a crack

If you find modding isn't for you then send me a PM and we can discuss requirements and prices.

To save your blushes I'll point out that it takes you an awful lot longer to make a SAK than it does Vic.  How's that?

In seriousness I do believe (despite what others have said  ) that a hand built SAK is almost always going to be just that touch better than a factory made one, we've got the time to get everything 'just so'. 

I'm not knocking Vic quality, far from it, I'm just saying that 100% is better than 99%.

[Neil]

LoL. fair enough 

True though, and it fits the law of diminishing returns well.   I once went to town on the action of an inline phillips as I wasn't quite happy with it; I became a bit obsessed and probably spent a couple of days on it.  Was it worth it for perhaps a 15% improvement ... nope

[emb876]

Thanks a lot ari, Gareth, and Neil. You gave me a lot of good information. I've heard you can buy some airport confiscated Victorinox Knives in big lots for cheap. Maybe I'll check out ebay and buy some and just start messing around and getting a feel for it.

[Neil]

Sad for American air travellers but a bonus for you

Hint, we would like to see pics of your creations

Another good source of second hand SAKs is FelineVet.

[defaultuser]

Hi all!

First post on this Forum; I actually joined this morning only

I'd like to say I enjoyed all the mods showed on this thread; A wealth of ideas and eye candies!

Here's my modest contribution to this legendary thread: my first attempt ever at modding a SAK. I read the excellent tuturial by Gareth (thanks man; you made it sound so simple  you actually convinced me to give it a try )

I was looking for the "perfect" backpacking/hiking SAK and couldn't really get what I wanted in a tight package.
The Huntsman was close but was four layers (on the big side for my tastes) and has some "not so useful" tools in a wilderness environment (corkscrew, can/bottle opener, hook). Don't get me wrong; I find all of those very handy when "car camping", on a casual short hike, or at home, but not on extended hikes.

Basically, I wanted the scissors, the saw, the awl/reamer, at least one blade, and the tweezers into the smallest package possible.

I got myself a used Camper (just for the saw) and a great shape Climber, and here's the result:











Specs: 91mm, three layers: Blades (big and small), Saw, Scissors. Reamer (only) on the back, and tweezers in one of the scales. Epoxied black paper micarta scales. 2.7oz, 16mm thick.

My climber is 17mm thick; I agree it doesn't sound like a big difference, but for some reason, it looks and feel considerably thinner:


(with Climber for comparison)

Because there's no lanyard ring and no corkscrew, the knife is very comfortable in hand when whittling for an extended period.

All in all, I'm very happy with the result. I learned quite a few tricks doing this mod and I'm sure my next one will be better. I can't believe the amount of work that went into this little bugger...SAKs modding is not that easy!
It is a lot of fun, though, and very addictive I'm already looking for used SAKs to mod!

[Reinier]

That's great! I love the sleek looks and the tool configuration seems great for camping/hiking The scales are awesome as well

And welcome to the forums

[nuphoria]

Excellent work

It's extremely satisfying to make the SAK you need - I think you might be inclined to do another one though!

Welcome to MTO

[Gareth]

What a great first mod.   You went above and beyond the scope of my "how-too", so hats off to you. 

Welcome to the forum. 

[Sparky415]

Nice job! I especially like the black Micarta 

[Threeme2189]

Very nice mod, and welcome to the forums!