Pink 84mm Grand Prix-ish Build

[chewbacca]

Here is a custom 84mm Victorinox I just put together for my wife.  I wanted to make something like a Grand Prix with pink scales.
If I could have found a Mountaineer small or a Grand Prix small, or even some pink 91mm scales, life would have been easy, but as we all know these are hard to come by…so here is what I came up with:

     •   Use translucent pink scales from a My First Victorinox H – the saw will be used in a later build.
     •   Since the pink scales do not have a cut out for a Phillips/corkscrew, modify a 58mm combo tool to provide a Phillips head driver on the blade layer
     •   Since 84mm scissors are very hard to acquire these days, modify and install a 91mm file on a blade layer spring and add 84mm scissors as a back tool.

[chewbacca]

I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this, so I took apart the following donors:
     •   Waiter
     •   Small Tinker
     •   Sportsman
     •   My First Victorinox H

Oh and a Rambler...not shown.

[chewbacca]

Drilling out the 58mm tools went pretty well, and I am planning to incorporate the 58mm combo tool on future builds.  As this picture shows, you lose the bottle opener option to allow the tip to be recessed in the closed position.  The end of the tang needs to be ground flat to set the 90° stop and to reduce tension on the spring when opening.

The photo also shows the .020” washer I used to bring the file to .090” thickness to match the blade layer back spring, as well as the tang of a small blade that was cut off and shaped to fill in the end opposite the file.

The pointed file end was removed to make the tool 84mm.  This placed the nail nick at the very end of the file, which give sort of a humped back appearance when closed.

[chewbacca]

Initially I copied the tang from the large blade but found it did not give any solid lockup in either the opened or closed position.  On my second try, the tang was shortened to reduce spring tension when opening, but the width was left original.  I was able to get good snap when in the open position, but it is still lazy when closing.  It does however have enough tension to stay in position once closed.  If I do another 84mm build like this, I may skip the back tool and try the saw spring from a Walker.

[chewbacca]

Similar to the combination tool, the 58mm scissor tang had to be ground a bit shorter and squared off to give a positive stop at 90°.  I did some small grinding on the scissor arm to allow it to close more fully.  It still sits just a bit proud but is shielded by the split ring attachment.

[chewbacca]

In the end, it went pretty well.  I wish I could have gotten the file snap perfect, but I am learning as I go.  The awl is also kind of hard to reach, so maybe I should have added a saw in between the file and opener layer with no back tool…but I was trying to keep it small so it wouldn’t take up too much room in my wife’s purse.  Maybe on the next one…

[Sos24]

Interesting Mod.

[kottskrapa]

Nice one! How is the scissors to use?

[It's not failure if you learn something from it]

[chewbacca]

I sort of gripped the knife with my middle, ring and pinkie fingers and operated the scissors with my index finger and thumb.  They are definitely small, but I was able to trim my nails just fine with that grip.  I wouldn't want to be cutting paper or fabric with them all day, but they are definitely usable.

[kottskrapa]

Sounds good! Seen it before but never tested it my self

[It's not failure if you learn something from it]