Nothing like a good hard point.

gajinoz

gajinoz

Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Messages
11,650
I had one of those situations yesterday where a bit of minor knife abuse was necessary and got a nice surprise.

While out and about I noticed that one of the driving lights on the car was loose on the bracket and in danger of getting broken. It's tightend by a nut on a bolt. The bolt has a phillips head on it rather than a hex head. I had a small adjustable spanner in the car but no screwdriver to hold the other end. What to do? I thought, well, this is one of those times and this SnG I have on my belt here is supposed to be tough so lets see how good it is. I jammed the point of the SnG blade in the top of the bolt and tightened it up with the spanner. I expected to see some damage to the point, twisted or chipped or at least badly blunted or whatever. Nothing! Not a scratch. No damage detectable by the naked eye.

I guess properly heat treated S30V can be used as a screwdriver. :)



(Then again, maybe I just got lucky.)
 
gajinoz said:
The bolt has a phillips head on it rather than a hex head. I had a small adjustable spanner in the car but no screwdriver to hold the other end. What to do?
Click to expand...

"Why, I pulled out my trusty Swiss Army Knife, of course! Nothing quite like using the right tool for the right job, nosiree! What'd ya think, I'd turn a screw with my knife?!"

;) :D
 
Well i have used the very edge for screwing and a small part of it broke out. The edge is the weakest part if it comes to lateral stress.

As long as you where holding the knife without twisting it and keep the edge of the way, i say every two and a half $ knife with a blade, 3mm thick, would have handled this.

Every.
 
Grover_Cephas said:
"Why, I pulled out my trusty Swiss Army Knife, of course! Nothing quite like using the right tool for the right job, nosiree! What'd ya think, I'd turn a screw with my knife?!"

;) :D
Click to expand...

+1 :D

(4 10 characters)
 
Heh, the preview from General Knive Discussion only says "Nothing like a good hard..."

I thought I was looking at W&C or the Cove for a second! :D
 
gajinoz said:
I guess properly heat treated S30V can be used as a screwdriver. Then again, maybe I just got lucky.
Click to expand...

In a parallel but almost identical universe, Gajinoz lies - curled up in a foetal position - by his car. A Strider SnG with the tip snapped off lies in the dust beside him. Hear his howls of, "Why? Why?" as he rocks back and forth, inconsolable.

;)

maximus otter
 
Blop said:
As long as you where holding the knife without twisting it and keep the edge of the way...
Click to expand...
Yes, watch the lateral strain across the edge, try to get it focused on some part of the blade that has decent thickness.

-Cliff
 
Anyone notice this story had a HAPPY ending?
gajinoz needed to fix his light. He only had his SnG which fortunely is backed by a warrenty that from what I hear covers little emergencys like this. Worst case, he would have to send the knife back for repairs and be out something like $12 shipping cost.
I personally would consider using my teeth. But then I would probably break down and use the knife. ;)
 
gajinoz,
You dodged the bullet this time bud. Glad to hear the knife held up! Take this opportunity to get a good multitool. I carry an original Leatherman. It's sleek and hardly noticable on the belt or in the pocket.
 
Notice that Gajinoz did it the right way, he stabilized the screw with the knife and torqued the nut with a wrench. This puts significantly less stress on the blade tip. As the screw head starts to bind on the periphery of the hole the stress on the static blade tip goes down. If he had held the nut still and twisted the knife the tension on the blade tip would have been fighting the friction of the screw head and stress would go up at the end of torquing. Sometimes you can get away with just using finger presure on the screw head in this circumstance, you just kind of tap the wrench around to take maximum benefit from the screw trying to bind.
 
dino said:
gajinoz,
You dodged the bullet this time bud. Glad to hear the knife held up! Take this opportunity to get a good multitool. I carry an original Leatherman. It's sleek and hardly noticable on the belt or in the pocket.
Click to expand...
Believe it or not I actually do have several multitools, including a Swisstool Plus. It was just one of those rare occasions when I didn't happen to have it with me. You will be pleased to know I have thrown one in the glove box where it will now live permanently for use in just such occasions. :)
 
dino said:
Anyone notice this story had a HAPPY ending?
Click to expand...

Anyone noticed that there was no great thing done with the knife? Any other could have done it same way, exept it was a razor blade.
 
I was using my CRKT Polkowski Kasper fixed, and pushed it into the ground. Now, the ground is mostly made up of rocks and worms where I hang my hat, but you have to dig deeper than the knife is long to hit the big rocks. Well, I pulled the knife back out, and found that the point had curved back on one side, about a half inch. I shook my head and just put it back in its sheath. If that was excessive use...
 
It was obviously excessive for that blade, soft stainless can bend really easy, they take a set at low angles and thus it is easy to overload them. That sounds really weak though unless you have an adversion to kryptonite.

-Cliff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top