SAK design flaw?

T

tapedeck74

Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
475
Hi folks,

I have a few Vic SAKs and I've noticed something peculiar. I recently bought a Soldier model and did some work on the edge. I sharpened it up to shaving sharp and upon inspection (10x loupe) the edge was flawless. I put it away and a couple of days later I took it out to have another look at my new toy. I was perplexed, as the edge showed imperfections (reflection, like it was flattened) about 1/4" from the tip, and about 1/4" long. I had a look at my other SAKs, also freshly sharpened, and noticed the same thing. I thought I must have missed this area when sharpening, so I resharpened one of them to a perfect edge. I closed the blade and let it snap shut. I reopened it to find the previously mentioned edge damage. Upon closer inspection, it seems like this part of the blade makes contact with part of the liner when closed...
Also, the small blade on some of the knives shows none of this damage.
Is this a common thing with SAK?

thanks, Steve
 
Could be. It's always a good idea to close a slipjoint gently. Does the SAK blade in question have a kick (the projection at the ricasso that's supposed to hit the inside of the backspring first)?

It is certainly a common feature with many Laguioles, a traditional French knife, that they require a strip of some soft material inside, or careful closing, to prevent this kind of dulling.
 
Pretty much happened to all my 84 and 91mm vic saks if I let the blade snap shut. Now I just close it by pinching it with index and thumb and guiding it closed.
Adam
 
Esav is right in that you should not snap any folder closed! Always close it gently.
 
Thanks for the responses. Good to know it's not my imagination.:)

Yes, the blades have "kicks". Perhaps I could put a sliver of felt against the backspring.
 
You mean your blades aren't sharp enough to cut through a bit of felt?
Try closing the knife softly and see if it still marks the blade. If it does then you need to do something. A couple of good sharpenings is usually enough.
Greg
 
Please look at my thread from yesterday in the Toolshed on this site.
It's about a new product to protect the edge of Laguioles and other knives with the same problem. Like Esav said, it is always wise to close a slipjoint
gently.

Cor.
 
I think it is indeed a matter of snaping the blade to hard. The blade of the
Soldier does not touch the inside of the frame when closed. You can push
the blade a bit more downwards in this position, so there is space between the edge and the metal of the frame, that's not the case with Laguioles,
a part of their blades rest on the back inside of the frame. I have looked
at the edge of my soldier but I see no 'damage' to the edge.
I am familiar with French knives, so I allways close the blades of all my knives with care.

Cor
 
One of the things I check on slipjoints is the approximate amount of space when they are closed. As you probably know, when closed you can depress them a bit further into the handles.
Slipjoints that have a good amount of space usually won't hit the spacer unless they are snap closed aggressively. I've had others that take virtually no pressure to hit the spacer. This to me means that the blade edge may not be ground high enough. If you look at slipjoint blades they almost always less in width than the ricasso. By design I would assume this is done to avoid the edge hitting the spacer.
 
Greg said:
You mean your blades aren't sharp enough to cut through a bit of felt?
Try closing the knife softly and see if it still marks the blade. If it does then you need to do something. A couple of good sharpenings is usually enough.
Greg
Click to expand...

:) I thought that maybe the blade was resting on the backspring when closed, and the felt would cushion this contact somewhat. I see now that, as others have said, contact is made on upon snap closing, which would slice right through felt.
I'll just have to rehabituate myself to the "gentle close".
 
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but some people use cork for that purpose. You just slice up a little strip of cork, then wedge it down between the liners. The cork is easy to cut into different shapes and it won't hurt the edge, but it should be strong enough to keep the blade from hitting the backsping or spacer.
 
Some of my slipjoints do this too. In particular my Wenger Standard Issue and my Douk-Douk. I don't let it bother me, when I find a folder that has this issue I just make a mental note to be gentle and keep a Lansky croc stik handy.
 
I have an Officer and it is extremely close to the point and it wont on the snap (really hard). I'd use a file or dremel on the spacer.
 
cerulean said:
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but some people use cork for that purpose. You just slice up a little strip of cork, then wedge it down between the liners. The cork is easy to cut into different shapes and it won't hurt the edge, but it should be strong enough to keep the blade from hitting the backsping or spacer.
Click to expand...

Cork will get moisty and will rot. DURAFIL does not.
See my earlyer reply.
 
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