I was debating whether I should post in Tool Time or in General Talk. Since there are already several threads about knives here in the General Talk section there is precedence. If any mod would like to move the thread to the Tool Time or into oblivion that's fine by me.
Show me your SAK mods! I'll start. I added a thumb stud to one of my Swiss Champs. I can now open the blade one-handed with my left hand. Usually, you must use a nail nick on the blade or you have to pinch the back of the blade deftly between two fingers if you want to get the blade out.
Stainless steel parts:
1x M3 bolt with a countersunk 2mm Allen head trimmed to 7mm length
2x split washer for the M3 bolt
1x cap nut, sanded down to a stud with a conical tip
Tools used:
Hard metal punch for marking drill hole
cordless drill
Dremel
1/2 inch cutoff wheel to shorten the screw and grind out the scale and plate behind it
2.5mm tungsten drill bit for drilling the screw hole
4mm carbide countersink
diamond hone to grind down the screw head a little for a near-flush fit
A small rotary grinding stone bit to smoothen the reshaped scale
sandpaper (400,800, 2,000) to smoothen the scale
polishing compound and a rag to polish the scale
I am not worried about the structural integrity of the blade being critically compromised by the addition of the screw hole to the blade. I'm not fighting grizzlies with this knife.
First, I marked the screw hole location with my punch and rilled a 2.5mm hole with a tungsten bit.
Next, I countersank the screw hole. You can see all the modified hardware. The screw has been cut to length but needed more trimming and the cap nut has been shaped into a stud.
Hardware installed
Countersunk head. I didn't countersink it all the way to be flush as not to weaken the blade unnecessarily.
With the blade closed. You can see the area I had to cut out of the scale and underlying layer to accommodate the thumb stud.
The thumb stud has not been fully tightened. I still need to degrease the parts and add some threadlocker. In this picture, you can see another modification I made. I made an extra slot in the scale for a tension wrench and a rake and you can see both tools sticking out above the main blade joint.
Show me your SAK mods! I'll start. I added a thumb stud to one of my Swiss Champs. I can now open the blade one-handed with my left hand. Usually, you must use a nail nick on the blade or you have to pinch the back of the blade deftly between two fingers if you want to get the blade out.
Stainless steel parts:
1x M3 bolt with a countersunk 2mm Allen head trimmed to 7mm length
2x split washer for the M3 bolt
1x cap nut, sanded down to a stud with a conical tip
Tools used:
Hard metal punch for marking drill hole
cordless drill
Dremel
1/2 inch cutoff wheel to shorten the screw and grind out the scale and plate behind it
2.5mm tungsten drill bit for drilling the screw hole
4mm carbide countersink
diamond hone to grind down the screw head a little for a near-flush fit
A small rotary grinding stone bit to smoothen the reshaped scale
sandpaper (400,800, 2,000) to smoothen the scale
polishing compound and a rag to polish the scale
I am not worried about the structural integrity of the blade being critically compromised by the addition of the screw hole to the blade. I'm not fighting grizzlies with this knife.
First, I marked the screw hole location with my punch and rilled a 2.5mm hole with a tungsten bit.
Next, I countersank the screw hole. You can see all the modified hardware. The screw has been cut to length but needed more trimming and the cap nut has been shaped into a stud.
Hardware installed
Countersunk head. I didn't countersink it all the way to be flush as not to weaken the blade unnecessarily.
With the blade closed. You can see the area I had to cut out of the scale and underlying layer to accommodate the thumb stud.
The thumb stud has not been fully tightened. I still need to degrease the parts and add some threadlocker. In this picture, you can see another modification I made. I made an extra slot in the scale for a tension wrench and a rake and you can see both tools sticking out above the main blade joint.
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