Sad SAK Saturday

[Farmer X]

  Do you have plans for scale replacement? New old stock Wenger scales, unfortunately, are quite hard to find.

[IMR4198]

   I will likely make a replacement for the missing scale.  Not a high priority at the moment.  I planned on carrying the thing during the Delemont Challenge but have since reconsidered.  I will go with a different Wenger, I think.  Best wishes.  G
 

[AzteCypher]

I'll readily admit, that this one isn't as sad as the others I've posted.  However, being that it's an executive (and they are in short supply) I find it extremely saddening to see it in this condition.  Though it does look like the previous owner tried to rectify the travesty by reshaping the orange peeler.  The complete specimen is above and the atrocity is below.





Yes, I understand I may be nitpicking...

[IMR4198]

   Someone gotched it up.  A little.  Still qualifies as a Sad SAK in my book.  Incidentally quite high in the desirable carry index.  It finally rained a few weaselly dribbles.  Not even enough to get the grass wet.  I noticed that all of NC was taken off the drought designation, due to heavy tropical downpours.  There wasn't as much as a dark cloud here. 
   Let's see..... I did the Delemont, See-through, and some other odds and ends.  Time to post a 108 entry and then fix some breakfast.  Best wishes.  G

[Farmer X]

I find it extremely saddening to see it in this condition.

It could be worse. Maybe Victorinox USA has a few replacement orange peeler on hand?

I noticed that all of NC was taken off the drought designation.

That's a good thing!

[Juan el Boricua]

A F/U to posts #21-22

Two down, and one to go. The "sacrificial Spartan" gave way to a new can opener to the std. Climber, and the corkscrew to my Deluxe Climber clone; still pending the small blade into the Explorer.
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[IMR4198]

   I picked up this Wenger to carry during the Delemont challenge, but decided to EDC a Wenger Esquire instead.  It has various issues.  No scale tools, no scale on one side, etc.  Still makes a perfectly usable pocky knife.  Just a little sad.  Best wishes.  G
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[Swisster]

Got this early 80’s Sexplorer Hoffritz edition today for $26. Not in love with it because it’s too thick to carry. Probably going to sell it

[IMR4198]

Sad SAK at the laundromat.  I think this was the grittiest knife that I have ever owned.  I did a full body wash on it twice, and it was still gritty.  Then I scraped the liners with wooden splints that were whittled from toothpicks and brushed the tangs with a toothbrush.  Oh, I would say a couple of hundred times.  Finally the black grit is at least partially gone.  I thought about tumbling it wet in a rock tumbler, but there is abrasive embedded in the walls of the tumbler drum.  Might do it anyway at some point.  Best wishes.  G
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[Farmer X]

With the missing scale and all the grit and grime, that's definitely a project SAK!

[AzteCypher]

I humbly submit for your review this... specimen.  At one point in time, this was a Forester.  Now, it's just a sad SAK.

Not sure what did this to it but it's pretty bad.  Most of the tools are nail breakers, there's gunk inside, and the scales are melted.  I initially thought someone ran it through the dishwasher but there's too much gunk in between the tools.  I'm thinking it got to close to a heat source.

[IMR4198]

   Bravo, Aztec.  Now that's sad.  It makes me feel a little better about my sad Wenger.  I can still open the blades on mine.  You mentioned buying lots of old SAKs one time.  I suppose getting some clunkers is only part of a lot purchase. 
    I thought we Western Carolinonians would garner some hurricane rain and maybe some odd wind gusts now and then, but no.  Still dry as that high school history class.  The ground has opened up in deep cracks like some crazy puzzle.  I took a photo or two of the ground with a SAK lying on it.  Some of the cracks are pretty wide.  I started thinking.... what if my cute little knifey thing falls into a crack.  Can't tell how deep these things are.  Might have to dig it out or something.  There is always the chance that once you start digging, the ground may give away altogether like ice on a pond.  Small knife, IMR, and digging implement might be seen no more.  Death and burial all in one.  Brrr! 
    Best wishes.  G
 

[Farmer X]

@AzteCypher: I think you're right about that poot little Wenger getting a little too hot. Is there anything on it that's salvageable?

@IMR4198: if you buy enough knife lots, you'll wind up with stinkers. I bought a knife lot that contained a cheap lockback whose blade can be folded without depressing the lock.

[AzteCypher]

IMR, your ground looks like ours did during the summer, yikes!

This one did come from a large lot.  It's definitely salvageable.  We can either remove the scissors or replace them.  The do the usual cleaning, oiling, and sharpening before swapping in some donor scales.  There's still life in it for sure.

[SteveP]

Here’s my Sad SAK story. I wish I’d taken a before picture…

I picked up a pre-1991 Explorer (with gray-frame magnifier, no hook) for next to nothing at an estate sale about three years ago. The blades were very stiff, but I thought I could clean it. Nope. After removing the scales and soaking the rest in hot water and dish soap, then isopropyl alcohol, then mineral oil for two days, I still couldn’t open the blades without using something to pry them.

It looked like the liners had oxidized. My guess was that the previous owner had left it in water, face down. The back plate looked nearly new and the corkscrew worked great. But the front plate was corroded all around the edges and the cap lifter and can opener were two of the hardest blades to open.

Through one of my first posts on this forum I got some great restoration tips from some great members.

By the end of the project it was usable again. The blades didn’t have the "snap" of a new SAK, but more importantly I could open them without a crowbar and actually use them. So I considered it a win and am happy that this poor neglected SAK could have a useful second life.
 

[AzteCypher]

If you can have access to a sonic cleaner you could try cleaning it with that.  I was able to get some snap back on one SAK that was pretty bad.  Not as good as brand new, as it was a soft snap, but it was a snap none the less.

I alternated between oiling the tools, working them back and forth, and then putting it in a sonic bath in warm soapy water for two 10min cycles.  I'd let it dry out, re-oil, and run it through the sonic cleaner again.  I did this three times and I was able to get a soft snap back. 

[lazar]

I humbly submit for your review this... specimen.  At one point in time, this was a Forester.  Now, it's just a sad SAK.

Not sure what did this to it but it's pretty bad.  Most of the tools are nail breakers, there's gunk inside, and the scales are melted.  I initially thought someone ran it through the dishwasher but there's too much gunk in between the tools.  I'm thinking it got to close to a heat source.

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Impressive! 

[IMR4198]

   I lost the black Tinker that I posted a photo of last Tinker Tuesday.  Lost it on a hunting trip.  I retraced and tracked myself back until I finally found it.  Several days later.  There had been rain, and the SAK was on the ground.  The blades wouldn't open.  Oxidized liners.  The blades weren't rusted yet but looked mottled.  Oil and working the blades in and out freed it up again.  Maybe another color knife would have been easier to find, but then again there are orange, red, brown, and yellow leaves all around here in the fall. 
    The scales were looking sad again.  I will post a photo of them after a little polishing on Tinker Tuesday.  If I remember.  Best wishes.  G
 

[MTSAK]

   I lost the black Tinker that I posted a photo of last Tinker Tuesday.  Lost it on a hunting trip.  I retraced and tracked myself back until I finally found it.  Several days later.  There had been rain, and the SAK was on the ground.  The blades wouldn't open.  Oxidized liners.  The blades weren't rusted yet but looked mottled.  Oil and working the blades in and out freed it up again.  Maybe another color knife would have been easier to find, but then again there are orange, red, brown, and yellow leaves all around here in the fall. 
    The scales were looking sad again.  I will post a photo of them after a little polishing on Tinker Tuesday.  If I remember.  Best wishes.  G
 

Oh no! Not the black Tinker! I'm glad you found it. What were ya hunting? Squirrels? Rabbits? Sasquatch? I hope you found some success. I'm going to try to get my little boy out in the woods in search of a black bear next weekend. 

I've only got one that will qualify as a Sad SAK right now. It's actually an old Wenger that lived on my keychain forever. Now, it is living out its retirement as my desk knife.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[IMR4198]

  That was several years ago.  The black Tinker that doesn't have a key ring nub is my late Dad's knife.  My sister bought both of us identical black Tinkers in Switzerland.  No deer that day.  Best wishes.  G
 

[MTSAK]

Oh whoops! I read it as you lost it last Tuesday.

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[IMR4198]

   I am not known for my clarity.  Best wishes.  G
 

[IMR4198]

Wenger Handyman and some Red Rose tea.  I remember the fragrance of tea brewing from years ago.  Red Rose doesn't have much scent for some reason.  I still have some Numi Honeybush (good), and some chamomile, I think.  Somewhere.  Haven't had chamomile in a long time.  When the weather cools, I feel more like hot drinks.  Best wishes.  G
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[Farmer X]

I'm more inclined to drink hot coffee as the temperature outside drops to that of my freezer. And if I have to shovel snow, having some soup afterwards is a real morale booster.

[AzteCypher]

Going to post a few minutes early.

This Basic 63 led a rough life before it came to me.  One end looks like they used it as a blunt instrument.  I managed to get the tools loose with most of their snap back.  The blade is nice and sharp again but there is some pitting close to the front of the blade.

[IMR4198]

   I think I used this photo to finish off my Delemont challenge already.  Anyway it is appropriate.  And sad.  Best wishes.  Gary
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[IMR4198]

   A Tale of Two Multis..... One sad, one glad.  The Wenger came out of the Surprise Box.  I kept it to have a beater to carry during the Belemont deal.  The pretty alox is a Bantam.  A gift from a friend.  And my only alox.  Best wishes.  G
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[Farmer X]

  And I'm thinking one of my Sad SAKs will soon be headed to Connecticut so it can be happy again.

[ThundahBeagle]

May not compete with m that...specimen...from Aztec, and I've told this story here several times before, but here is my first Swiss Arny Knife.  A Victorinox Super Tinker.  Carried many years and places from the late 80's until about 2012 when it went off a 3 story roof, landed in the parking lot of this industrial building and was run over by a truck.

See the old, solid scales, where they are scratched up by the aggregate in the pavement, and where the metal Vic inlay was peeled back a bit.  The layers were squished closed at each end and I could not open any tools at all.

I put it away in a drawer after receiving a Tinker Deluxe as a gift later that year.  It sat, and got rusty, even.

After coming here I learned to repair it.  I had to pry the layers back open as they were completely hammered and closed.  Learned that replacement scales were a thing.  But even the replacement scales, one end of one scale can not snap over the worn down brass pin.

 But it's still much better now and I still carry it sometimes.

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[ThundahBeagle]

Poorly sharpened mid 1990's (?) Black-scaled Tinker with Boy Scouts of America inlay.  Got it at a flea market, guessing some kid tried to sharpen it in a circular fashion.  I couldn't polish it out by hand but cleaned it up a little.  It would be a perfect "user" if the BSA symbol were not metal inlay.

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