Fryed to a really dark colour Pear wood
And some lighter fryed Olive wood
And some lighter fryed Olive wood
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SAK Mods! Post your pics, questions and ideas
- Thread starter Spikediesel
- Start date
This is a mock-up of how to build a SAK with a back Phillips and a corkscrew at the same time. It has to be at least 3 layers because the Phillips driver protrudes into the layer next to it. With this configuration, the Phillips is able to sit all the way down so it's nice and flat with the profile of the SAK.
The center layer has no back tool. The missing back tool makes extra room for the Phillips driver to fit. The back tool is what tensions the spring for that layer, so you have to put something there to use as a spacer. I've used a squished brass bushing as a temporary stand-in for this mock-up. For a final build, you could use the pivot side of a back tool and cut the rest of the tool off.
Here's a shot of the layers I used for this example. They are a corkscrew/blade/combo tool layer, a metal file layer without a back tool, and my scissors/Phillips layer which I've already posted about a while ago. If anyone is curious about how to build the scissor/Phillips layer, it's pretty simple and I'd be happy to describe it.
I think what I'm going to do with this is use it to make a 5 layer Ranger where the dolphin screwdriver and the parcel hook are replaced by the Phillips driver, so that it's a Ranger with a corkscrew and a back Phillips together at the same time. A Ranger with a Phillips instead of the corkscrew is called a Master Craftsman, so I think it would make sense to combine the two names by calling it a Master Ranger if it has both a corkscrew and a Phillips on the back side at the same time.
This is a finished version of a Scientist with a fish scaler instead of the knife blade. I call it the Ichthyologist. Obviously I haven't put the scales on it yet.
This was created as a TSA compliant SAK. I would've preferred to use a metal file instead of the fish scaler, but I could totally foresee some overzealous TSA agent trying to confiscate it because of the file. I also considered replacing the knife and combo tool with the cap lifter and can opener, but the can opener has a sharp edge which may also lead to the SAK being confiscated. The fish scaler seemed to be the safest choice because it has no sharp or pointy edges. The fish scaler is completely smooth and rounded and non-threatening. Even the teeth are round and smooth, so there can be no possible excuse for a TSA agent to take it away from you. I also feel like the fish scaler is an extremely underrated and underappreciated tool which has a lot more uses than people think it does.
One of the two prongs of the fish scaler pokes out when it is closed, which makes the fish scaler nice and easy to open with the tip of a finger. As you can see from this picture, it doesn't stick out any higher than any of the other tools do.
Here's a shot of how the layers fit together. It's a tight fit. Getting the fish scaler to close properly was fiddly work and it may require a bit of patience if you're going to try to make one of these for yourself.
edit: just to be 100% clear and in case anyone is wondering: yes. The fish scaler closes all by itself, under its own spring tension, fully seated and in the correct position, without any assistance or guidance, consistently every single time, smoothly and without sticking, and with a nice solid satisfying snap. If you want to build one of these yourself, then rest assured that it is completely possible to get the fish scaler to behave the way that it should behave.
...eventually.
So don't give up.
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Natural Oak Spartan & Coaled Oak Sportsman
*85mm with file vs 91mm with small blade *84mm of course
About the same thickness
*85mm with file vs 91mm with small blade *84mm of course
About the same thickness
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Huntsman with a back Phillips driver replacing the parcel hook. All I've done is to take the mock-up from my previous post and added the opener layer to it. I also swapped the combo tool out for a secondary knife blade, and replaced the metal file with a wood saw.
Once again, this is only a mock-up for the purpose of showing you that it is possible to build.
Here's a shot of the back with the Phillips driver fully open. With 4 layers, the Phillips is almost centered because of the way it is offset. This is probably the closest to being perfectly centered that you could make the back Phillips.
This last shot is only for showing that the Phillips isn't poking out. You can't even see the Phillips from this angle with the awl in the way. I've seen examples of how other people have tried to add a back Phillips alongside a corkscrew, and their method caused the Phillips to poke out a bit. If I recall correctly, what they did was try to add the Phillips to the bottle/can opener layer in place of the awl, which caused the Phillips driver to stick up a little bit when it was closed.
Victorinox makes a version of the Huntsman with a Phillips instead of a corkscrew and they call it the Fieldmaster. Sticking with the naming convention from my previous post, I think it makes sense to call a Huntsman with both a corkscrew and a Phillips a Master Huntsman. Coincidentally, one of my favorite drinks is Jagermeister, which I believe translates literally as "hunter master" in English.
I really like how that looks.
It’s basically artificially produced Bog OakI really like how that looks.
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Beautiful work as always my friend!
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Another Micarta/Ti Compact Tinker
315
Gold Member
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I have a sneaking suspicion that we will be seeing that one from time to time on the forumAnother Micarta/Ti Compact Tinker
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Titanium Harvester Deluxe with toothpick and firesteel scale tools!
Question 1: What do you find more useful; the back side chisel or the back side dolphin shaped flat screwdriver?
I can only include one of them. I was initially planning to use the chisel but now I'm leaning towards the screwdriver. Whichever one I choose will end up on the back of the metal file layer next to the corkscrew.
Question 2: Should I make this a 4 layer build instead of a 5 layer build?
A Ranger has 5 layers:
5) a knife layer with a secondary blade,
4) a file layer,
3) a wood saw layer,
2) a scissors layer, and...
1) a bottle/can opener layer with an awl on the back side of it.
I can slim this down to 4 layers if I replace the secondary knife blade with a combination bottle and can opening tool, and then remove the bottle/can opener layer. I would then move the file layer over to the place where the bottle/can opener layer used to be, and then I would put the awl from that layer on the back side of the file layer instead. This would mean losing either the chisel or the dolphin shaped screwdriver, because the awl would be taking its place on the back of the file layer. What I'd be left with at that point is a 4 layer SAK with only 3 back tools (the awl, the Phillips, and the corkscrew).
So it would be:
4) a knife layer with a combo opener tool,
3) a saw layer,
2) a scissors layer, and...
1) a file layer with an awl on the back side of it.
Should I do that? It would make the SAK slimmer and lighter, but it would also mean sacrificing the secondary blade and one additional back tool (the chisel or the dolphin shaped screwdriver). The combo tool is also less robust than the individual bottle opener an can opener tools, so it's a bit of a downgrade in that respect.
I'm kinda torn on this. I don't know what to do.
Any opinions on these two questions would be appreciated.
edit: Never mind!
I think I'm going in a completely different direction with this...
The corkscrew is going to be in the middle, and the Phillips driver is going on the outside edge with the knife layer. I think this arrangement makes the most sense. Having the Phillips on the outside will maximize its reach while making the SAK feel more comfortable in the hand. The corkscrew being in the middle doesn't negatively affect its usability in any way. It might even make it a little better.
Unfortunately because the corkscrew is wider than the Phillips, another back side tool must be sacrificed to free up the extra room which is required to make the corkscrew fit in the middle. This means that both the chisel and the dolphin shaped screwdriver are gone! There will be no more agonizing about which one to keep. It also means that another spacer has to be made, and that it has to match the spacer that was already made.
Anyway, I tested this arrangement and it seems to work, so
fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong. I just need to make the second spacer, re-do one custom liner to accommodate the extra thickness of the corkscrew, and then I should be ready to peen the SAK together.
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So here's where we are right now:
It's not peened yet. You can see the pins still sticking out the side.
It has 2 custom spacers, 4 customized liners, and of course there is the extra work needed to properly modify the scissors layer. The corkscrew sits nice and flat, and there's two different ways to open it. You can open the Phillips and access the corkscrew from the side, or you can just lift it straight up by the tip. Surprisingly, the awl is still accessible while the corkscrew is closed... even if you have short fingernails like me.
As you can clearly see, there is a double liner situation going on with the knife layer. I'm okay with that. Normally I don't like the idea of doubling up liners, but I don't think it looks bad in this case, and Victorinox has also done it on a few of their models, so it's not like it's too unusual.
Even so, I think there may be another way to do this without the doubled liners. It might not work, and even if it does work it might not look good, but I'm going to try it anyway and see how it turns out.
It's not peened yet. You can see the pins still sticking out the side.
It has 2 custom spacers, 4 customized liners, and of course there is the extra work needed to properly modify the scissors layer. The corkscrew sits nice and flat, and there's two different ways to open it. You can open the Phillips and access the corkscrew from the side, or you can just lift it straight up by the tip. Surprisingly, the awl is still accessible while the corkscrew is closed... even if you have short fingernails like me.
As you can clearly see, there is a double liner situation going on with the knife layer. I'm okay with that. Normally I don't like the idea of doubling up liners, but I don't think it looks bad in this case, and Victorinox has also done it on a few of their models, so it's not like it's too unusual.
Even so, I think there may be another way to do this without the doubled liners. It might not work, and even if it does work it might not look good, but I'm going to try it anyway and see how it turns out.
I finally got around to finishing this build of the Master Ranger. 
No scales haven been added yet because I want to have a few days to test all the tools first. I find that it's just good practice because sometimes you'll discover that you need to make a pivot tighter, and you definitely don't want to find that out after you've already put the scales on.
Here you can see all the tools. The tool configuration is exactly the same as a Ranger model or a discontinued Master Craftsman model, except that it has been modified to have both a corkscrew and Phillips on the back side instead of having just one or the other. If the Master Craftsman is the version with a Phillips, and the Ranger is the corkscrew version, then a version with a Phillips and corkscrew together = Master Ranger.
Here's a shot of what the corkscrew looks like while closed. It sits nice and flat. You can see there's a large cutout so you can open the corkscrew from the side once the Phillips has been moved out of the way. You don't actually need this; the corkscrew can still be opened without opening the Phillips driver first. You can simply lift the corkscrew open by placing the tip of your finger on the end of the corkscrew, and then you pull it straight back. Accessing the corkscrew from the side is just a bit little easier, so it's nice to have the option to do it both ways.
The awl is also easily accessible. I have very short fingernails and I can still open the awl without needing to move the corkscrew out of the way first.
And here's a shot of the landing zone for the corkscrew. It's got a nice flat rectangular box to sit in. As you can see, the corkscrew is so large that it takes up three whole layers! This means that in order to make room for the corkscrew, you have to sacrifice the parcel hook, the chisel, and the small flat dolphin screwdriver.
There is another way to do this. You could put the corkscrew on the outside and move the Phillips to the middle. The Phillips will only take up two layers, which allows you to have room to add either a chisel or a flat screwdriver to the remaining slot. The problem with this is that the Phillips loses some of its reach if it's in the center. To maximize its reach, the Phillips needs to be on the outside.
This was definitely a crazy (for me) project! I have never spent so much time on a single custom SAK. Most of that time was probably spent just thinking about how I was going to do it. I made multiple sets of customized liners before settling on the three that were used in the final build. I also made a set of matching custom spacers for the empty back slots. I think they turned out okay, but I also think maybe I could've done them a little differently and they might have looked nicer.
No scales haven been added yet because I want to have a few days to test all the tools first. I find that it's just good practice because sometimes you'll discover that you need to make a pivot tighter, and you definitely don't want to find that out after you've already put the scales on.
Here you can see all the tools. The tool configuration is exactly the same as a Ranger model or a discontinued Master Craftsman model, except that it has been modified to have both a corkscrew and Phillips on the back side instead of having just one or the other. If the Master Craftsman is the version with a Phillips, and the Ranger is the corkscrew version, then a version with a Phillips and corkscrew together = Master Ranger.
Here's a shot of what the corkscrew looks like while closed. It sits nice and flat. You can see there's a large cutout so you can open the corkscrew from the side once the Phillips has been moved out of the way. You don't actually need this; the corkscrew can still be opened without opening the Phillips driver first. You can simply lift the corkscrew open by placing the tip of your finger on the end of the corkscrew, and then you pull it straight back. Accessing the corkscrew from the side is just a bit little easier, so it's nice to have the option to do it both ways.
The awl is also easily accessible. I have very short fingernails and I can still open the awl without needing to move the corkscrew out of the way first.
And here's a shot of the landing zone for the corkscrew. It's got a nice flat rectangular box to sit in. As you can see, the corkscrew is so large that it takes up three whole layers! This means that in order to make room for the corkscrew, you have to sacrifice the parcel hook, the chisel, and the small flat dolphin screwdriver.
There is another way to do this. You could put the corkscrew on the outside and move the Phillips to the middle. The Phillips will only take up two layers, which allows you to have room to add either a chisel or a flat screwdriver to the remaining slot. The problem with this is that the Phillips loses some of its reach if it's in the center. To maximize its reach, the Phillips needs to be on the outside.
This was definitely a crazy (for me) project! I have never spent so much time on a single custom SAK. Most of that time was probably spent just thinking about how I was going to do it. I made multiple sets of customized liners before settling on the three that were used in the final build. I also made a set of matching custom spacers for the empty back slots. I think they turned out okay, but I also think maybe I could've done them a little differently and they might have looked nicer.
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I think I might treat myself and pimp my SwissChamp with something more robust than the stock scales.
Does anyone have any opinion on the glue because I once reglued rubber scales on non-sak and the damn glue worked itself through the pivots and almost jammed up the entire knife. I managed to get it loose again working it for a good time before the glue set. I thought I'd ask before I go and destroy my champ..
Does anyone have any opinion on the glue because I once reglued rubber scales on non-sak and the damn glue worked itself through the pivots and almost jammed up the entire knife. I managed to get it loose again working it for a good time before the glue set. I thought I'd ask before I go and destroy my champ..
I think the key is in the application. I would advise to simply avoid applying glue around the bushings/pivots or anywhere too close to them, especially if the glue is capable of bonding metal. It should be more than enough to selectively put glue on the surface of the sideplates where it can make contact with the underside of the scales. That should work just fine unless the scales are hollow underneath. Most 3rd party aftermarket SAK scales aren't hollow.
You also don't need to spread the glue. Try making little dots or small lines with the glue, and give it plenty of room to spread by itself when it gets squished by the scale.
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Thanks, makes complete sense! I have seen vids where they instruct putting glue to the pin holes but that always seemed weird to me. Now I have to see if I can justify spending on scales that cost more than the knife itself…
Yeah I definitely wouldn't do that!
If you are going to do it then you should use a VERY small amount.Now, with superglue it's a different story. Superglue doesn't bond with metal and it generally won't make its way down into the pivots. Even if it does, it won't go far, and even if it did then it's still not going to be a problem. It will flake right off the metal when it dries. So when you have a set of stock celidor scales that you're reusing after they've already been removed a couple times, they'll fit too loosely. In that case what you do is put a few dots of superglue directly around the outside edges of the brass bushings before putting the plastic scales on, and then you clamp it down while it dries. That's perfectly safe. The superglue expands as it dries, which helps the old scales grip onto the bushings tighter.
Superglue works well for celidor scales, but for anything else I would look at what the seller advises you to use.
3rd party aftermarket scales generally don't friction fit around the bushings the same way that the stock Victorinox scales do. That's why you have to glue them on. Even the ones that do friction fit still kinda don't do it very well. It can be hit or miss, which is why a lot of the time they'll tell you to use an adhesive anyway, just in case.
SwissBianco sells 91mm anodized custom alox scales for around 30 bucks a set, I think? That's way less expensive than a lot of the other options out there.
edit: yup. Textured g10 scales for 20 bucks, glow in the dark g10 scales for 25, and anodized alox for 33. Not bad at all, and you have a choice of colors. Not many colors, but eh. I would go with the black alox ones or the blue g10 glow dot ones. Orange is cool too. Orange is pretty uncommon for a SAK but it makes it easier to spot if you drop or misplace it.
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There's the Master Ranger with a set of scales on it, finally. Phillips, corkscrew, awl. Yup.
Next to it is a blue Leatherman Style PS with the scissors replaced by a small knife blade. That's an easy customization. The pivots are T6 screws so you can take them apart very easily whenever you want to. The knife blade can be from a Style CS, a Squirt PS4, or an older Squirt model. No additional modification is required to make it fit. It's a simple drop-in replacement.
I recieved som very nice liners from Ukrane yesterday. One set in carbon, one in brass and one in titanium. They are all made to fit a Spartan or any similar 91mm two spring combination. I have started with the titanium liners, Desert ironwood are glued, drilled and roughly shaped. Tomorrow I will give the tools a acid wash and start turning some brass pins before I start the first assembly to see how it looks.
I am thinking that the carbon liners will have natural micarta scales and the brass liners might get a front bolster in brass or nickel silver along with some Mahogany red dyed Desert ironwood. Still not sure... I would like to try to make bolsters in damast at some point, but I think it would look best if at least the main blade were in damst to. Does any one know of someone making damast blades for SAK?
I am thinking that the carbon liners will have natural micarta scales and the brass liners might get a front bolster in brass or nickel silver along with some Mahogany red dyed Desert ironwood. Still not sure... I would like to try to make bolsters in damast at some point, but I think it would look best if at least the main blade were in damst to. Does any one know of someone making damast blades for SAK?
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