Question: SAK -a question for knife buffs and tinkerers

[Marcus Hunt]

A couple of weeks back I got a smoker (been catching a lot of trout lately) and I decided a nice thing to try would be beer can chicken. I got it all set up; nice heat from the charcoal, wood chips smoking nicely and a precariously balanced chicken with a beer can up its backside.

Ho hum, the lid looked a bit scewed so I tried to put it right and in the process knocked the chicken over. Panic stations! It was red hot so I couldn't think what to do to rescue the chuck so a bright spark went off in my head and the trusty Swiss Army Knife came to the rescue. In my haste however, I managed to drop it on the BBQ coals......AAARRGGHHH!

I managed to rescue it but the scales were a bit of a sorry state. So I started to research replacing the scales. In the end, the nice folks who distribute SAK in the UK gave me a new set for free.

BUT, I'd seen the light! Other guys out there had already made mods and there are some nice wood and bone handled examples. It doesn't look very hard to make a set of scales up but none of the examples I've seen have a facility for the toothpick and tweezers.

Has anyone on the forum modded an SAK? If so how difficult is it to add a channel for the tweezers/toothpick? Also, if I made them in bone, what is bone like to scrim as I've only worked on ivory before?

By the way, the chicken was excellent especially the next day when I reheated it with Jack Daniels BBQ sauce!!!

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Marcus,

Going back to the beer can chicken... Weber makes a really nice outfit that does the trick and doesn't tip over. I own one and recommend them.

 

[mitch]

all i want to know, Marcus, is if i can watch this incident on youtube?

 

[silverchip]

I'm with Mitch!!!! As for the knife, I would think about alligator jaw bone,not to scrim but it has a cool texture and very durable.Bet Sam could find you some!!!These folders are like a pinned together sandwich,hopefully you can just remove the outside scales and liners but you will have to use new pins throughout to get it back in one piece. Have fun and good luck!!!!

 

[Andrew Biggs]

No idea about the scales.........but if you want a nice trout recipe.

Fillet trout.
Pour a nip of rum over each fillet.
Spread 1 teaspoon of brown sugar over each fillet
Store in fridge for a few hours to marinate
Smoke

Delicious!!!

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Dave London]

Fairly simple, remove the damaged scales carefull to keep the pins attached to the knife. Use the old or replacement scale as a template ,mark the pin holes,drill. Rout out the cavity for the toothpick and tweezers . Apply good epoxy to the scales fit over pins. Press and clamp untill dry, cleanup. Good luck

 

[Jörmungandr]

Shouldn't be a problem. Depends on tools and how the slots looks like. Mill the slot or use maybe a micromotor with a suitable burr to do the slot. Never modded one myself but seems simple enough.

Just a curious question, why use bone? Is that something often used in Britain? It is not common to do scrimshaw or engravings on bone here, it's been done, but I haven't seen much of high enough quality to say much about it.

Guess the same rules apply though as with antler. Mostly be careful when grinding if using power tools. The heat makes the material harder and more brittle. Do not place the dots to close to each other and maybe you have to make them a bit bigger than in ivory.

//DQ

 

[monk]

omg ! why would one stick a beer can up a poor birds' bum ? has not the hapless creature suffered enough, already ?

 

[mtgraver]

Marcus
Chicken sounds great and yep I want to see the video also.
Bone can be OK to scrim depends on the piece. The different material I've worked went from very porous to quite smooth but I have no clue as to what type of bone. Cow horn is an alternative but there again the material can be diverse in density but good to scrim without the porosity, of course the best is ivory.
Best of luck
Mark

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Thanks for the tips. I'll definitely look into that BBQ gizmo and no, there is no video thank God!

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

I'll definitely look into that BBQ gizmo

Here it is on Amazon UK:
Weber Style Poultry Roaster

 

[Artemiss]

Hi Marcus,

I've modd'ed a couple of SAKs.

The wood on the first one is made from an old Wesley Richards stock, whilst the second is made from Buffalo Horn.

They're very 'do-able' to carve out for the various tweezers and toothpicks etc.
However, it's much more tricky to make them snap on and off.
The originals are obviously the red plastic, which has a certain amount of flex. Even then, take the scales off more than once and you run the risk of the round lugs breaking.
Bone would be very brittle in the same area, so you'd need to glue them on. I have used glue with mine.

You also need to make sure that the glue doesn't enter the tool channels you've carved out.









Cheers,
Jo

 

[mtgraver]

Joanne,
Very nice!
Mark

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Thanks for that Jo, just the sort of info I was after. Very nice mods by the way. Where did you get your chequering tool from?

 

[Artemiss]

I bought a set of checkering tools from Brownells. I then had a bit of evening tuition with a gunsmith friend, who showed me how to use them.

Gunline Tools - Priemer 22. (22 LPI is a good all rounder here in the UK)
$140 which I personally think is a very good price.
Personally, I wouldn't go the route of one handle and swap heads, it's a pain! Buy a set and save the headache. Just my thought.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...ing-sets/premier-checkering-set-prod6799.aspx

Cheers,
Jo