SAK Mods! Post your pics, questions and ideas

Wild Willie said:
What are your initial thoughts on them?
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I can’t comment on how grippy they’re going to be when wet, but they have a canvas micarta texture…the scales on my Junglas is the best comparison. I did try a little axe wax on them and they didn’t darken at all. The first pic is them in the plastic bag they arrived in so the dull look is misleading.
 
Lee D said:
I can’t comment on how grippy they’re going to be when wet, but they have a canvas micarta texture…the scales on my Junglas is the best comparison. I did try a little axe wax on them and they didn’t darken at all. The first pic is them in the plastic bag they arrived in so the dull look is misleading.
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Thanks, something I'll have to keep in mind for future projects.
 
I made a pocketclip in 1mm brass. It looks cool and does its job keeping the knife in the pocket. For the latest knife, I was initially thinking of doing the same clip in brass. Then I remembered that I had some Kydex lying around, so I decided to try and make one in the same design but in that lightweight material instead.
https://imgur.com/vwoCL0b
It turned out really good. Since Kydex comes in a variety of colours and pattern, the designs are endless.
https://imgur.com/H1dmJuC
So instead of just having a string/paracord/beads in the lanyard, why not make a keeper instead?
 
kamakiri.knives said:
A pic would help! Too late to ask before buying! 🙃
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Too late then! Work has already begun.

I assembled a two layer 91mm Lumberjack setup with back tools. The 2nd layer has the knife, combo tool, and corkscrew. The 1st layer is the wood saw and an unmodified awl. Basically it's a Compact Camper. Everything seems to function just fine (at first glance), but I haven't peened it yet.

It appears to have one major flaw. When the knife layer is under tension, the wood saw wants to pull towards the center. This causes the wood saw to hit the liner when it closes, but only when the tools on the knife layer are open. Otherwise the saw closes just fine without hitting the liner. It's the oddest thing.

If my guess is correct, then this problem could actually go away once the SAK is peened. I'm not willing to take that risk. Instead what I'm doing is customizing a liner to be a kind of hybrid between the knife layer's liner and a normal saw layer's liner.

The customized liner will provide the knife blade with its usual safe landing cutout on one side, and also have the low/no profile landing area for the saw on the other side. That should basically fix the problem by eliminating the liner from the saw's altered closure path. This will also have a side effect of allowing the tip of the saw to wiggle back and forth more freely while the saw is closed, which might cause a distracting sensation on your palm while you're using the knife blade. Everything has pros and cons.

What do you think? Comments/advice/suggestions? Do you think the awl will stop working so well when it is peened? (too tight from the extra 0.25mm thickness)
 
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Guy McVer said:
What do you think? Comments/advice/suggestions? Do you think the awl will stop working so well when it is peened? (too tight from the extra 0.25mm thickness)
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I think the modified liner is a good idea. Victorinox does similarly with models like the Huntsman lite and I think the modern Campers. As for the alignment issue, I would tryy to test operation while squeezing the liners near the pins where possible to figure out the awl thickness issue. it might be contributing to the saw alignment issue. Modifying the front liner might be another way to accommodate the extra thickness. Use the awl like an automotive dolly and go to town like a dented fender with your ball peen hammer.
 
kamakiri.knives said:
I think the modified liner is a good idea. Victorinox does similarly with models like the Huntsman lite and I think the modern Campers.
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Oh yeah! Now that I think about it, a Camper would have almost the same exact liner that I'm making right now. The only difference would be the lack of a cutout on the back side for the awl, because the Camper's awl sits farther back behind the backspring for the saw layer. My awl is directly behind the liner, so my liner will have the cutout for the awl's nail nick. So basically I could've just taken apart a Camper and used that liner instead. All I would've needed to do is make the back side nail nick cutout for it. Cool.

kamakiri.knives said:
As for the alignment issue, I would tryy to test operation while squeezing the liners near the pins where possible to figure out the awl thickness issue
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I've been doing that already. The tools keep wanting to pop out... especially the combo tool, so I'm squeezing the pivots every time I open or close something. If I'm honest I can't really tell anything from this. I think this is normal for an unpeened SAK.

kamakiri.knives said:
Modifying the front liner might be another way to accommodate the extra thickness. Use the awl like an automotive dolly and go to town like a dented fender with your ball peen hammer.
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If it comes to it, I would rather file the side of the awl just to play it safe. Yeah...
 
Guy McVer said:
So basically I could've just taken apart a Camper and used that liner instead. All I would've needed to do is make the back side nail nick cutout for it. Cool.
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Yes, modern/recent ones have that liner. It is possible that a modern Mountaineer could be perfect with a cutout for the chisel too. I think I have one somewhere…I’ll try to find it and check. I don’t think you’d need the cutout, but I see how it helps access a bit.
 
kamakiri.knives said:
I don’t think you’d need the cutout, but I see how it helps access a bit.
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I helps a lot, actually... at least if you have super short fingernails. The way the awl sits on this SAK makes the nail nick just barely peek out above the edge of the liner. It doesn't look right without a cutout and I don't know whether or not it is positioned that way because of the different spring it's sitting on.

The liner customization is finished and the outside face of the awl has been filed down, sanded, and polished. This was gauged with the awl and a small flat dolphin screwdriver laying side by side on a flat surface and running a finger over them from one to the other to feel the differences in thicknesses. I would file, check the difference at the pivot holes, file some more, check again, move them around each other to compare at different spots, etc. It's obviously not going to be a perfect match. Using digital calipers would be better, but I think it should be close enough now to not cause any problems. This might not have been a necessary step but I didn't want to discover that it was a requirement after it has already been peened.

So yeah, it's pretty much ready for final assembly at this point.
 
Guy McVer said:
So yeah, it's pretty much ready for final assembly at this point.
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It's done. I finished peening it this afternoon, but the scales have not been added yet.. All tools function with good snap and no side play.

The awl work great. No issues.

I used different style sideplates for the final assembly and this threw the saw out of alignment in the opposite direction, causing the saw to hit the aluminum sideplate when closing. This problem was resolved simply by peening the pivot tight enough to remove any side play (wiggle) in the tools. So if anybody wants to replicate this build and they run into that issue, now you know that it will probably go away on its own once you've finished peening.

For a two layer knife this was a little more work than expected, but it's definitely worth the effort to have a compact SAK with the same exact toolset as the old 108mm GAKs had.

🎉🥳
 
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Has anyone experimented with modifying the backspring for the inline Phillips driver to make the tip of the driver sit slightly higher?

There is an issue with some of the more recent inline Phillips drivers striking the aluminum sideplate next to it while closing. I think it should be possible to fix this by changing the angle that the tool sits at while it is closed. This could maybe be accomplished by some strategic reshaping of the backspring with a file or dremel.

Has anyone tried this?
 
Guy McVer said:
Has anyone experimented with modifying the backspring for the inline Phillips driver to make the tip of the driver sit slightly higher?

There is an issue with some of the more recent inline Phillips drivers striking the aluminum sideplate next to it while closing. I think it should be possible to fix this by changing the angle that the tool sits at while it is closed. This could maybe be accomplished by some strategic reshaping of the backspring with a file or dremel.

Has anyone tried this?
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So you thing it will be solved if it sinks deeper? Back in the day they shaped the tools to slide by each other, even if touching when closed. Maybe you could file a bevel on the liner, or sand the philips down a little? How mych is scraping on the liner?
 
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