SAK-engraving

Just bought a Dremel engraver and tried some drawings on my polished aluminum scales and I have to admit... looks nice... Doesn't come close to what the pro's make, but for an amateur... More info and pictures follow soon...

The workshop... I used a large isolation panel as a base for engraving. It absorbs the vibrations and gives me the necessary comfort and stability . The headphones are a real must, especially with an engraver as the Dremel. The 91mm-hole keeps the knives on one place when the engraver tries to push it away.

Cybertool 29/34

The Cybertool bitdriver is in my opinion one of the most valuable additions of the past 20 years. I know this is a bold opinion, but after using the CT29 for years in a IT-environment, I can say that this tool is what Victorinox needed to put their SAK in a new daylight. The bits are smaller then the standard ones you find in any shop, but that makes reaching small hidden screws an easy job. The 90 degree angle in the bit driver gives you that extra torque when the screws block and the fact that you can use the bits both ways, shows that the design department did once more a great job in saving space and weight. One small comment on the current design is that I sometimes loose some of the bits when the bitdriver stands open. The bits are a bit too loose in the bitholder, but hey, one small comment on a great item is nothing... I still love it! Recently I added the CT34 to my collection and I read on multitool.org that a lot of people love this model, thanks to the great tool combo-size ratio. I love the fact that it has the small pliers added on an already great tool. The CT bitdriver was first used in 2000 and contains 4 different bits with 3 of them useable on both ends. One exception on this is the XAVT with two bit drivers and the double amount of bits. There are four "basic" models in the Cybertool range... CT29-CT34-CT41 and the CT light. There are others like the XAVT with the bitdriver, but these are exceptions....

Zimtstern Camper

A new addition to my already full cabinets. I just couldn't resist! At first glance this knife looks chaotic with all the lines and colors, but when you see the name Zimtstern popping up, you know it has to be something special. It's a limited run, designed by Dieter Glauser in 2009. This camouflage design was used on the knife, jacket and pants from the Zimtstern wintercollection of 2009/2010. The nice etching on the main blade is the same line-design as on the scales and makes this knife a real eye-catcher...

Oak scaled MOD

The next one up was an Oak scaled one and here he is. After the varnish he had to dry for a while, but the end result looks nice, real nice! With this one I tried to give the scales some curves, like the Wenger evogrip series. Sanding the oak to this shape was fairly easy, certainly after the brass one. Wood is much easier, but has the disadvantage to leave scratchmarks. One thing went wrong.... I tightened the screws too much and now the main blade needs a lot of effort to close completely. All the other tools work fine and this little mistake can be resolved with some grinding...

Brass scaled MOD

Here's another mod, as usual made from parts of old, trashed Vics. The scales are polished over and over again to get to this mirror shine. A few weeks ago I received two fairly large pieces of brass from my uncle and started grinding, cutting and drilling... This mod was a challenge, because I never reused the original brass pins of Victorinox. Normally I use 2,5mm screws, but this time I wanted to see if it was possible to use the brass pins of a three layer Vic to make a two layered one. It was a succes and I noticed that when you use original parts, the knife opens up far better then with the srews. I used the large blade in combination with the woodsaw, just to keep it basic, but still usefull on a hiking trip. Adding the parcelhook on the back wasn't the smartest move, but I wanted to experiment with adjusting the original tools. To make it fit, I had to grind some metal of the hooks base. The spring works fine after the adjustment, but you can still feel that Victorinox makes these things with a lot of tought. Adjusting is mostly lowering the quality of a perfect product. The scales were a labour-intensive job. Brass is a hard material. Not as hard as steel, but it comes close to iron and to fine-tune this, it takes a lot of grinding-looking-grinding-looking-grinding, well, you know what I mean... The lanyard was made of 550 paracord in a knot I found on Instructables.com... I love doing this, and started my next one with oak scales... Don't see this ending soon... ;)

Today I tried to give this knife the display it deserves. My grandfather, who told me everything I needed to know about metal and wood, passed away a few years ago and the brass was a leftover we found in his workshop. This gives the knife, for me, a more spiritual meaning and I tried to show this on the box I made today. Don't get me wrong... I bought the box and made the inside from black cardboard. It may look easy, but it takes a lot of adjusting before the knife fits! I hope he's proud of what I've achieved...

After I bought a Dremel engraver, I just couldn't resist to make some changes on the scales and the main blade. There are some flaws, but for someone with zero engraving experience it looks.... ok... ;)