Hello everybody. My name is Andreas and I would like to say from the very beginning that I am NOT a sak moderator. I am a sak collector and I love doing so, even if my wife blames me for talking to my saks more than I do to her.
Recently I made a new friend who lives to the other side of the globe and I purchased from him a few vic aloxes. Among them there was a fantastic red vic alox with the old style scales that had a broken tip. The knifes belonged to the guys father and this made me want them even more since I felt they were about to change a new generation. ( I hope the link paste staff works, I am totally new to this!!)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i3noov4m05r70g1/IMG_7150.jpg
So here is the solo with the broken tip. The minute I got it to my hands I lost my sleep. I put it in my collection, then I removed it cause it didn't fit there, then I put it with some old ones, still not fit...
I was aware that people were modding saks but I never paid too much attention to that, I am usually too busy and never crossed my mind to disassemble a vic and put it back again. But this time I knew the time had come.
I spend hours reading the forums about modding, I made a list of all the necessary material and equipment, I printed a thousand pages showing how to put a knife back together, I downloaded from youtube tons of videos and rush to the local stores to get what I needed. At this point, I want to make clear that I have nothing to do with hardware, tools, screws and drills, besides what we all usually use for home fixings.
The first thing to do was to get a hand drill, a few cobalt bits, some pushers, a table holder for the drill, some metal files and a new alox farmer to disassemble. I would say this cost about $250USD. Then I got into a US website and I ordered all sort of pins, rivets, screws, more bits, some pocket clips bushings etc, ( I never heart the word bushing before in my life), with another $160USD, shipping and taxes included, I thought I was ready to go for it. My first attempt to drill the alox farmer was a total disaster!!! For those that plan to do it or those who think its a walk at the park I want to say BEWARE. The 3mm carbide bit was never at the correct place, I drilled the scales, almost drill my fingers and realized that the hand drill on the stand was not stable enough. So I rushed back to the hardware store and I bought a huge professional column drilling machine, some 2mm and 2.5mm cobalt bits and two pairs of protective gloves with a pair of glasses. I spent $390USD but I felt I could do this now. On my way back I grabbed a new farmer to practice more and here I was drilling pivots all day long. I eventually drilled the red scale solo only to realize its rivets were harder and more difficult to drill than the newer ones, so some damage to the scales did occur but this was far less compared to what it was about to happen.
By the time the knife making material arrived, I had a nice setup with all the tools I thought I needed, I even got a fancy vise installed underneath my drill.
The technical part.
I agree that punching a pilot hole prior to the drilling of the rivets is crucial. But doing so at a plastic scale vic sak is easy as the rivets are flat and in my eyes, much softer. For the aloxes, the pilot holes are the beginning of the problem. I used a punch tool bought from ebay, really cheap, from China and it worked much better compared to the other hand punchers I have that require a hummer ( i will show you a pic later on). So you need to make a pilot hole BUT you need to do it in the middle. Its hard! If you plan to drill an alox vic drill as many as possible before that for practice. The cobalt burs work really nice on the rivets and I started drilling with a 1.5 mm bit then a 2 mm and finally 3 mm, only one side and I punched the rivets out eventually.
Before the knife parts are separated, take pictures of how they are connected or get another sak close by to have an idea how to put the thing back. Meanwhile a brief reading of the forums regarding sak modding makes it clear that THERE IS A HOLE ISSUE. Blade holes by victorinox are 2.42mm at the outside and 2.2 at the inside, while there are no available rivets at that size. Anyhow, if you plan to modd a sak, in my opinion there i no reason to remove a rivet and put back another rivet. I would like to see something unique, a screw maybe, a pocket clip, maybe some colors, etc.
Drilling to enlarge the 2.4 mm to 3.2 mm in order to fit a 3.2 mm rivet was a nightmare. I still wonder how others made it, there is guy who says that cobalt bits drill ss like a butter.Well, I put a piece of wood on my vise, hold the blades firmly on the wood and started to drill. The first thing I saw was smoke. Then the bit was getting red from the heat and the wood was on fire in no time. I broke 4 cobalt bits at the first attempt and got frustrated!! he heat was so much that every time I had a piece on wood underneath, this was set on fire. So I got rid of the wood, I put aluminium and all the burs were melting instead of opening the hole. Obviously the melting temp of the cobalt bur was lower than that of the blade. I tried to get help from people at the hardware stores and they suggested me to use Titanium bits. I spent another 50 bucks (or 60 I don't remember) and I got a set of titanium bosch drill bits. These staff dont burn easily, they break like crackers though, don't use them on saks blades... The problem was eventually solved by having my wife dropping drops of my expensive gun oil on the drill point every time the bit was turning red. I have used 3 different types of gun oil and the only on good for cooling down the bit was the most expensive I had, which is the thickest one. So I would suggest you to drill the hole gradually, use 3 mm and then 3.2 mm bits (1/8 inch) if you plan to use 1/8 rivet or screw. I am telling you, its a hard job to do , it needs precision and the correct method. There are some springs that ave one hole and one embrasure so they take one rivet and embrace another, it is tempting not to drill them at the embrasure but u must do so. Te dimensions of every part that touches a rivet should be altered. When ever you finish the drilling, take some time to polish the holes. I used metal files to clean the holes inside and my dremmel to polish the outer part, there are always some residuals around the hole that if you try putting the knife together the blades will never sit properly. Again pay attention to the drilling. High temperatures cause dimensional distortion to the metal and if you plan to fit a 3.2 mm rivet in a 3.2 mm hole, and have 3 of those in a row, you need precision otherwise you will end up with a brick.
Tight or not tight. I tighten my knife a lot. I thought I need to screw those screws as much as possible and then... the blades lost their snap. I could see the springs working but there was no snap. If you plan to use the knife rather than putting it for a display, you should not tight it too much. That's a problem if you put a rivet with a bushing but an easy job if you have screws.
I tried to show you my first experience regarding modding , cause I think most of the "how to" posts in all sort of forums show the beautiful picture. I do not discourage anyone from modding, on the other hand go for it, but be prepared.
The end result is a space farmer!! I wanted something wit imagination, not for use but rather for display, here it is.
I hope I gave you another piece of information regarding an armature's first try and I am willing to answer what ever to those who think they will do the same with me.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yeswbl2cbwyg8w1/photo%201.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pw18uav06gwi2ej/photo%203.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mr6uzvqwf6afkqo/photo%202.JPG
Regards A.
Recently I made a new friend who lives to the other side of the globe and I purchased from him a few vic aloxes. Among them there was a fantastic red vic alox with the old style scales that had a broken tip. The knifes belonged to the guys father and this made me want them even more since I felt they were about to change a new generation. ( I hope the link paste staff works, I am totally new to this!!)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i3noov4m05r70g1/IMG_7150.jpg
So here is the solo with the broken tip. The minute I got it to my hands I lost my sleep. I put it in my collection, then I removed it cause it didn't fit there, then I put it with some old ones, still not fit...
I was aware that people were modding saks but I never paid too much attention to that, I am usually too busy and never crossed my mind to disassemble a vic and put it back again. But this time I knew the time had come.
I spend hours reading the forums about modding, I made a list of all the necessary material and equipment, I printed a thousand pages showing how to put a knife back together, I downloaded from youtube tons of videos and rush to the local stores to get what I needed. At this point, I want to make clear that I have nothing to do with hardware, tools, screws and drills, besides what we all usually use for home fixings.
The first thing to do was to get a hand drill, a few cobalt bits, some pushers, a table holder for the drill, some metal files and a new alox farmer to disassemble. I would say this cost about $250USD. Then I got into a US website and I ordered all sort of pins, rivets, screws, more bits, some pocket clips bushings etc, ( I never heart the word bushing before in my life), with another $160USD, shipping and taxes included, I thought I was ready to go for it. My first attempt to drill the alox farmer was a total disaster!!! For those that plan to do it or those who think its a walk at the park I want to say BEWARE. The 3mm carbide bit was never at the correct place, I drilled the scales, almost drill my fingers and realized that the hand drill on the stand was not stable enough. So I rushed back to the hardware store and I bought a huge professional column drilling machine, some 2mm and 2.5mm cobalt bits and two pairs of protective gloves with a pair of glasses. I spent $390USD but I felt I could do this now. On my way back I grabbed a new farmer to practice more and here I was drilling pivots all day long. I eventually drilled the red scale solo only to realize its rivets were harder and more difficult to drill than the newer ones, so some damage to the scales did occur but this was far less compared to what it was about to happen.
By the time the knife making material arrived, I had a nice setup with all the tools I thought I needed, I even got a fancy vise installed underneath my drill.
The technical part.
I agree that punching a pilot hole prior to the drilling of the rivets is crucial. But doing so at a plastic scale vic sak is easy as the rivets are flat and in my eyes, much softer. For the aloxes, the pilot holes are the beginning of the problem. I used a punch tool bought from ebay, really cheap, from China and it worked much better compared to the other hand punchers I have that require a hummer ( i will show you a pic later on). So you need to make a pilot hole BUT you need to do it in the middle. Its hard! If you plan to drill an alox vic drill as many as possible before that for practice. The cobalt burs work really nice on the rivets and I started drilling with a 1.5 mm bit then a 2 mm and finally 3 mm, only one side and I punched the rivets out eventually.
Before the knife parts are separated, take pictures of how they are connected or get another sak close by to have an idea how to put the thing back. Meanwhile a brief reading of the forums regarding sak modding makes it clear that THERE IS A HOLE ISSUE. Blade holes by victorinox are 2.42mm at the outside and 2.2 at the inside, while there are no available rivets at that size. Anyhow, if you plan to modd a sak, in my opinion there i no reason to remove a rivet and put back another rivet. I would like to see something unique, a screw maybe, a pocket clip, maybe some colors, etc.
Drilling to enlarge the 2.4 mm to 3.2 mm in order to fit a 3.2 mm rivet was a nightmare. I still wonder how others made it, there is guy who says that cobalt bits drill ss like a butter.Well, I put a piece of wood on my vise, hold the blades firmly on the wood and started to drill. The first thing I saw was smoke. Then the bit was getting red from the heat and the wood was on fire in no time. I broke 4 cobalt bits at the first attempt and got frustrated!! he heat was so much that every time I had a piece on wood underneath, this was set on fire. So I got rid of the wood, I put aluminium and all the burs were melting instead of opening the hole. Obviously the melting temp of the cobalt bur was lower than that of the blade. I tried to get help from people at the hardware stores and they suggested me to use Titanium bits. I spent another 50 bucks (or 60 I don't remember) and I got a set of titanium bosch drill bits. These staff dont burn easily, they break like crackers though, don't use them on saks blades... The problem was eventually solved by having my wife dropping drops of my expensive gun oil on the drill point every time the bit was turning red. I have used 3 different types of gun oil and the only on good for cooling down the bit was the most expensive I had, which is the thickest one. So I would suggest you to drill the hole gradually, use 3 mm and then 3.2 mm bits (1/8 inch) if you plan to use 1/8 rivet or screw. I am telling you, its a hard job to do , it needs precision and the correct method. There are some springs that ave one hole and one embrasure so they take one rivet and embrace another, it is tempting not to drill them at the embrasure but u must do so. Te dimensions of every part that touches a rivet should be altered. When ever you finish the drilling, take some time to polish the holes. I used metal files to clean the holes inside and my dremmel to polish the outer part, there are always some residuals around the hole that if you try putting the knife together the blades will never sit properly. Again pay attention to the drilling. High temperatures cause dimensional distortion to the metal and if you plan to fit a 3.2 mm rivet in a 3.2 mm hole, and have 3 of those in a row, you need precision otherwise you will end up with a brick.
Tight or not tight. I tighten my knife a lot. I thought I need to screw those screws as much as possible and then... the blades lost their snap. I could see the springs working but there was no snap. If you plan to use the knife rather than putting it for a display, you should not tight it too much. That's a problem if you put a rivet with a bushing but an easy job if you have screws.
I tried to show you my first experience regarding modding , cause I think most of the "how to" posts in all sort of forums show the beautiful picture. I do not discourage anyone from modding, on the other hand go for it, but be prepared.
The end result is a space farmer!! I wanted something wit imagination, not for use but rather for display, here it is.
I hope I gave you another piece of information regarding an armature's first try and I am willing to answer what ever to those who think they will do the same with me.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yeswbl2cbwyg8w1/photo%201.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pw18uav06gwi2ej/photo%203.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mr6uzvqwf6afkqo/photo%202.JPG
Regards A.
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