What is this 'blade' for

More formally called a Reamer or an Awl. It can be used for leather work along with repairing gear, drilling pilot holes and much more.
 
They've been around since the 1800's. I suppose they made more sense back when people used horses more than cars for transportation. There is always one on the 4 blade utility knife, sometimes called a scout pattern. The Harness Jack is fairly popular with quite a few traditional collectors around here. I've found having a punch available pretty handy, but not very often. I'd take one over a spey blade.

The pilot hole is a good idea for wood... :thumbup:
 
Works on cigars as well....

ALOXAdvantage_zpsdea44bc1.jpg
 
Besides the obvious use, works great making holes in wood, as a scribe, it always seems up on a ladder your drill bit looses its magnet so I've used to start a hole to hold a long screw in place, I've made stuff camping with it ( start a spoon, fishing hooks, bobbers, cedar pipe ) scraping PVC , untying knots ( like a marlin spike), I've used to retro fit things like grommets, core out, make a existing hole bigger, I'm sure the list goes on and on at least for me. I will say the Swiss Army farmer has the best one(IMHO). I find it saves a knife blade for its intended use. I also want to add splinter extracting and blisters.

Pete
 
thawk said:
They've been around since the 1800's. I suppose they made more sense back when people used horses more than cars for transportation. There is always one on the 4 blade utility knife, sometimes called a scout pattern. The Harness Jack is fairly popular with quite a few traditional collectors around here. I've found having a punch available pretty handy, but not very often. I'd take one over a spey blade.

The pilot hole is a good idea for wood... :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Thanks. I actually find the reamer vary useful still. I suppose it just depends on what you do in your day to day life. Different strokes.

Stich2442 said:
Besides the obvious use, works great making holes in wood, as a scribe, it always seems up on a ladder your drill bit looses its magnet so I've used to start a hole to hold a long screw in place, I've made stuff camping with it ( start a spoon, fishing hooks, bobbers, cedar pipe ) scraping PVC , untying knots ( like a marlin spike), I've used to retro fit things like grommets, core out, make a existing hole bigger, I'm sure the list goes on and on at least for me. I will say the Swiss Army farmer has the best one(IMHO). I find it saves a knife blade for its intended use. I also want to add splinter extracting and blisters.

Pete
Click to expand...

OMG, that reminds me. The reamer off of Victoinox's throw some great sparks from a ferrocerium rod! Don't believe me? Try it! It's like a shower!
 
VictorLouis said:
Seriously? Can you still get a decent draw when you've punched a side-hole like that?
Click to expand...

You bet! As long as you don't remove it, The the "L" cross section and taper makes for a tight fit and it works great as other here can attest to. I use it regularly on 48-60 ring cigars. You need a fairly decent hand rolled cigar though.

SwissMobileCigarTool_zpsf5737ee9.jpg
 
SAK Guy said:
You bet! As long as you don't remove it, The the "L" cross section and taper makes for a tight fit ..
Click to expand...
Oh, hello...that makes sense. Lets you get an extra inch of enjoyment w/o risk to fingers. I just had a Hoyo de Monterey Excalibur maduro yesterday....yum.
 
If you browse Duncan's harness jack thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1092542-LETS-SEE-THOSE-MAGNIFICENT-HJ-s

you will learn more about these tools on slipjoints. Personally, I find it very interesting to see the differences in the design of the awl, which can also have effects on the use of it in "modern" tasks. A short, sturdy, pointy tool, possibly with a short sharp edge, can work great on "dirty" tasks (such as opening boxes and such) and "save" your main blade for "clean" cuts.

Fausto
:cool:
 
VictorLouis said:
Oh, hello...that makes sense. Lets you get an extra inch of enjoyment w/o risk to fingers. I just had a Hoyo de Monterey Excalibur maduro yesterday....yum.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: I love Hoyo de Montereys...never had one in maduro! I will have to look for a 5 pack to try my awl on. :)
 
Wow, folks I learned a lot from these posts and links! I wonder what is a decent modern day use for the awl, for those of us who don't work with leather? Or smoke cigars...I am a pipe smoker, so perhaps they would do a fair job of bowl reaming?

Thanks for all the info everyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top