Rebuilding a Swiss Army Knife?

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kanuist

Joined
Jun 2, 2007
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The other day my friend hands me a squished swiss army knife. I think it is a Tinker or Super Tinker. He said a co-worker dropped it and it got run over by one or more fully loaded truck (semi's). It is now missing both scales, tweezers and pen. The knife had racked and none of the blades/tools would open.

I'm sure that it isn't worth saving, but I have a hard time just tossing it. Thought it might make a nice winter project, but maybe not.

Has anyone attempted anything like this before? Any suggestions as to how to go about it? I can make new scales, but The spacers between the individual blades/tools is another story.

Thanks for your input.
 
dont know the condition of it but did u try to pry the steel liners to correct them?maybe u can start from there:D
 
It sounds like the frame is too far gone to be of any use but it's easy enough to pop the scales off and drill out the pins to take the knife down to all it's parts. Rebuilding this one would likely require another knife as a doner.

You can buy a brand new tinker for less than $20. Throw the other one away and you're good as new :D
 
there's a member here who completely rebuilt a couple of saks with TI liners, scales etc. don't remember is username but if you can make a search i'm pretty sure he could explain you the whole process.

on a side note he did a stunning job, if you find the post please link it back here, it's worth it.
 
that's exactly this thread. thank you very much i guess searching was fast i should have tried .... :rolleyes:

he should be able to tell you the complete process and exact tools you need to repair your knife. that could be a great learning experience even if you don't consider the knife worth the labor price wise.
 
The process isn't that difficult. you just need to get some sheet stock for the frame, the pin stock (plus drill bits most likely), and whatever you want to use for the scales. solid brass or Al scales would be pretty simple as you only have to redo one of the frame pieces. disassembly is easy if you have a dremel w/ cutoff wheel. then flatten one of the original frame pieces & use it as a template. Sheet stock that thin cuts pretty easily. As was pointed out earlier, sosak-online has some great info & will tell you the drill bits & pin stock sizes you will need. If it is a tinker, the center pin is a different diameter than the outer 2. Also, you will need to shim (i used a phosphor-bronze washer from from another project) the small blade as it is thinner than the main blade.
 
Sounds like it could be a really fun project! Oftentimes on something like this, it's the project that makes the difference, not the cost. You'll NEVER recoup the time you put into it, but there's something awesome and fun about a real refurbish job. :)
 
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