- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Messages
- 322
I read recently that those plastic handle scales on Victorinox Officer Suisse Swiss Army Knives can be replaced....but you have to send away to Switzerland. So I made a pair of wooden ones.
This is a knife I found on a beach, all crusted up with saltwater corrosion. I cleaned it up, and used WD 40 to free up the tools. The tools are still a bit hard to open and close, but I wasn't about to take all the rivets out! I got it so it was "okay", but one of the white plastic scales had a couple of chunks missing.
I bought a small piece of cocobolo wood, and shaped it into a pair of new scales. I managed to make a slot in the back of one for the tweezers, but not the toothpick or the pen: that would have left very tiny walls of wood between the slots and the corkscrew cut-out, which would have broken off for sure. Plastic worked with this, but wood won't. Tweezers are the main thing; heck, I have a blade to make my own toothpick anytime!
Finishing the cocobolo was an education. After sanding down to 400 grit, I coated it with varathane, but this stayed gummy. So...onto the internet. I found that this wood is so oily, that varathane will take forever to harden, if ever. The wood needs to be first sealed with old-fashioned shellac, and then coated with natural-resin varnish, not varathane. I spent several evenings doing all these coats, with sanding down between. In the end, I didn't like the look at all. It was like the beautiful, natural woodgrain was behind glass. And it also looked "shiny and cheap".
So, I stripped it all off, and left it natural. I found out that cocobolo needs no finish at all, because it's so hard and oily, it can be just buffed up as is.
I was advised to wash the back with acetone, to remove the oils so the epoxy glue would hold, so I did that.
Finally, I applied just a little wax and buffed it with a cloth.
I quite like it now! The wood just FEELS so much nicer than plastic, and it reminds me of an old gunstock with that smooth patina.
I only wish I knew what model of Swiss Army knife it is. I did find a reference to a "Vintage Golfer Waiter", that matches all the tools, but that one has a toothpick and tweezers, and mine had toothpick, tweezers, and pen. Anyone know?
This is a knife I found on a beach, all crusted up with saltwater corrosion. I cleaned it up, and used WD 40 to free up the tools. The tools are still a bit hard to open and close, but I wasn't about to take all the rivets out! I got it so it was "okay", but one of the white plastic scales had a couple of chunks missing.
I bought a small piece of cocobolo wood, and shaped it into a pair of new scales. I managed to make a slot in the back of one for the tweezers, but not the toothpick or the pen: that would have left very tiny walls of wood between the slots and the corkscrew cut-out, which would have broken off for sure. Plastic worked with this, but wood won't. Tweezers are the main thing; heck, I have a blade to make my own toothpick anytime!
Finishing the cocobolo was an education. After sanding down to 400 grit, I coated it with varathane, but this stayed gummy. So...onto the internet. I found that this wood is so oily, that varathane will take forever to harden, if ever. The wood needs to be first sealed with old-fashioned shellac, and then coated with natural-resin varnish, not varathane. I spent several evenings doing all these coats, with sanding down between. In the end, I didn't like the look at all. It was like the beautiful, natural woodgrain was behind glass. And it also looked "shiny and cheap".
So, I stripped it all off, and left it natural. I found out that cocobolo needs no finish at all, because it's so hard and oily, it can be just buffed up as is.
I was advised to wash the back with acetone, to remove the oils so the epoxy glue would hold, so I did that.
Finally, I applied just a little wax and buffed it with a cloth.
I quite like it now! The wood just FEELS so much nicer than plastic, and it reminds me of an old gunstock with that smooth patina.
I only wish I knew what model of Swiss Army knife it is. I did find a reference to a "Vintage Golfer Waiter", that matches all the tools, but that one has a toothpick and tweezers, and mine had toothpick, tweezers, and pen. Anyone know?
