Victorinox Barn sale find

[Bo T]

Just picked up a very good Sportsman. The gent said that he didn't think it had ever been used. It may have been stored in a tackle box though as the blades were almost impossible to open and the liners were corroded. It took me an hour + but I loosened up the tools from nail breaker to the high side of just right and took the blade from butter knife to rough shave sharp
For those of you who are in the know I have a couple of questions; the liners on one end of the knife were pressing against the tools so hard that I had to pry them open a bit-do they occasionally come from the factory this way?, the liners look to be a chrome plated steel (I thought they were also stainless)?

Thanks in advance, As an 'edc', the only thing this Sportsman gives up to my 35 + YO Huntsman is the scissors. And it is about a third of the weight and size

 

[SAK Guy]

The cellidor (plastic handle) SAKs have aluminum liners and with moisture and neglect can react/corrode to almost weld the blades to the liners. In my experience, it is very hard to return the knife to smooth operation when this happens. The ALOX models with nickel silver or brass liners can usually be returned to normal operation but the aluminum liner ones are very difficult. I have several used ones that can't be opened at all.

And no, SAKs are never hard to open from the factory...they are 99.9999% perfect right out of the box.

 

[Bo T]

Thanks for the info. The corrosion does look like aluminum oxide now that you let me know about the liners. I feel lucky that the bottle opener is the only one giving me trouble now. I could run some chromium oxide/3 in one between the liner and opener, do you think that would help??

 

[SAK Guy]

Thanks for the info. The corrosion does look like aluminum oxide now that you let me know about the liners. I feel lucky that the bottle opener is the only one giving me trouble now. I could run some chromium oxide/3 in one between the liner and opener, do you think that would help??

Gosh Bo, I have no idea but on other forums that are populated with guys that mod/work on SAKs, it is said sometimes the only way to fix heavily affected liners is to replace them. A modder could do this but Victorinox would probably do it for $5.00. NOTE, you absolutely need to tell them that your knife has sentimental value or they might want to replace it with the same or a similar model.


Victorinox service has an excellent reputation!!!!


Hope this helps some!!! :thumbup:

 

[Alnamvet68]

And no, SAKs are never hard to open from the factory...they are 99.9999% perfect right out of the box.

...and I will add that only Victorinox/Wenger have perfected the art of "crinking". SAK's don't have or develop blade rub! I know of no other production manufacturer that has perfected this...even high dollar semi-customs have blade rub.

 

[jackknife]

...and I will add that only Victorinox/Wenger have perfected the art of "crinking". SAK's don't have or develop blade rub! I know of no other production manufacturer that has perfected this...even high dollar semi-customs have blade rub.

:thumbup::thumbup:

That's because Victorinox has the most state of the art knife factory in the world. When Leatherman sales started to cut into the SAK territory, Victorinox took an unprecedented amount of money and invested in the latest computer controlled high speed machinery for fabrication. That plus planning of the production line to streamline things and produce the biggest amount of products at the highest speed possible, with the strictest QA around.

The Victorinox business model should be studied my more companies.

 

[Alnamvet68]

:thumbup::thumbup:

That's because Victorinox has the most state of the art knife factory in the world. When Leatherman sales started to cut into the SAK territory, Victorinox took an unprecedented amount of money and invested in the latest computer controlled high speed machinery for fabrication. That plus planning of the production line to streamline things and produce the biggest amount of products at the highest speed possible, with the strictest QA around.

The Victorinox business model should be studied my more companies.

Agreed!!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Capt. Spaulding]

I found great success in removing the scales off a heavily affected/locked up SAK and soaking it in WD-40 (completely submerged) for 48 hours. Then cleaned and it is back in action. It does not have the snap it once had, but I use it as my tackle box SAK and its perfectly usable.

 

[Bo T]

Thanks. The judicious use of force and several drops of 3 in 1 oil seems to have done the trick. The steel seems to sharpen up better and holds an edge well compared to my Huntsman. It is a more recent knife though as it has an eye through the awl. There may have been slight improvements in the steel over the last 3 or 4 decades. I think this will become my new work knife, using the Huntsman for camping trips and use around the yard.