Recommendation? SAK Huntsman Mod- questions

[J. Doyle]

I think I'm going to dive in and mod a SAK to meet my wishes.

The victorinox Huntsman already has everything I need but it's too thick for my tastes and I don't think I need the can/bottle opener layer.

Tools needed: Blade(s), saw, scissors, tweezers.

Tools preferred: Corkscrew, awl.

Questions:

1. It appears I may have to sacrifice the awl for the parcel hook as the hook appears to be always paired with the scissors. Does anyone know if the tang of the awl can be modified to work with the scissors and spring?

2. I plan on reassembling with the original brass pins/bushings. How much pin stock do I leave sticking up above the bushing/cup to peen over?

3. Is some sort of shim stick needed during peening to get correct tension on the blades/Tools? I'm assuming if you went nuts you could lock the blades up. Or not enough and you could have blade play.

Perhaps I can document the build in thus thread.

 

[Guy McVer]

There's already a dedicated topic for these kinds of questions. Maybe a moderator will merge this thread into it?

Does anyone know if the tang of the awl can be modified to work with the scissors and spring?

I would strongly advise against it.

Here's a picture of the scissors backspring next to the parcel hook, awl, and corkscrew:

See that little nub on the spring? The parcel hook sits in the small section next to it. The base of the parcel hook is round so it can freely rotate in that spot.

If you put the awl there, it won't be stable enough to use. It has to be able to stand up rigidly so that it doesn't collapse while you are drilling with it.

 

[kamakiri.knives]

To make this work…the part to modify is the scissor spring. Bending and cutting a new seat and clearance for the awl edge and a shim are needed to accommodate the awl.

I don’t recommend this course of action, but it’s what I’d do if I were motivated to do it.

Saving enough rivet material to re-peen after removing only 2mm layer and a liner would be tough if you’re going to drill the heads for disassembly. I suggest buying the pin stock or starting with a thicker knife like a Ranger. And use care drilling the bushings either way or plan on another donor knife for the parts.

 

[EngrSorenson]

It appears I may have to sacrifice the awl for the parcel hook as the hook appears to be always paired with the scissors. Does anyone know if the tang of the awl can be modified to work with the scissors and spring?

I know the parcel hook isn’t as glorious as the awl, but it gets a bum rap. If I’m honest, I think I’ve used the parcel hook more.

Go for it- remove the can/bottle openers and awl. Get new pin stock though, I think the hoops you’d jump through to save the original hardware wouldn’t be worth it.

(Of course I’m a guy who’s planned a dozen mods and decided I couldn’t do better than Victorinox.)

 

[Guy McVer]

The saw layers (metal saw, wood saw) have two different spring versions. One version of the saw backspring has a place for a back side tool. The other version of the saw backspring has no place to fit a back side tool.

Unfortunately the Huntsman's saw layer has the no-tool version of the saw spring.