"I must be adopted" or "The story of a mishandled Spartan"

[VictaEder]

Adoption. That was my first thought when I found this SAK in a drawer in my dad's workshop. It is the only logical explanation. I don't understand people who use knives as a screwdriver. Especially not a knife that has a perfectly good screwdriver in the first place. And yet here we are. My dad is one of those people.

As you can see the corkscrew is damaged as well, the scales are messed up from probably paint cleaner and yes, you guessed right: There is so much gunk in between tools that they barely open anymore.

So I rescued this little Spartan and will give it a well deserved spa treatment. After that it will continue its life renewed in my service. It has to soak first though, so more to come later.

 

[CVamberbonehead]

Wow. The tipped pen blade on a Swiss army knife baffles me. Lol
It will be good after a little clean up though. Or a lot. Lol

 

[dogstar]

Can't wait to see the "after" photos.

 

[David Mary]

I don't understand people who use knives as a screwdriver. Especially not a knife that has a perfectly good screwdriver in the first place.

The knife is 17% easier to open than the screwdriver, and 35% faster. I would have thought this is a no brainer.

 

[Danny Linguini]

Adoption. That was my first thought when I found this SAK in a drawer in my dad's workshop. It is the only logical explanation. I don't understand people who use knives as a screwdriver. Especially not a knife that has a perfectly good screwdriver in the first place. And yet here we are. My dad is one of those people.

As you can see the corkscrew is damaged as well, the scales are messed up from probably paint cleaner and yes, you guessed right: There is so much gunk in between tools that they barely open anymore.

So I rescued this little Spartan and will give it a well deserved spa treatment. After that it will continue its life renewed in my service. It has to soak first though, so more to come later.

I did that to the small blade in my old Spartan, too, many years ago, pulling a heavy staple out of a stack of paper. Back before I knew anything about edge geometry or profiling or anything (actually I still don’t know anything about that stuff), I took it to the bench grinder, took a little off the top and a little off the bottom, ground something that looked like an edge, then finished it on a stone. Keep in mind this little guy is something in the neighborhood of 40 years old, and carried daily to work in my change pocket until the pandamndemic hit. Almost as good as new.

 

[Guy McVer]

I don't understand people who use knives as a screwdriver. Especially not a knife that has a perfectly good screwdriver in the first place.

It's possible this happened from trying to use it on a screw that was too small for the screwdriver tip on the can opener. I don't condone it, but I know some people use their knife tip for small Phillips head screws.

So I rescued this little Spartan and will give it a well deserved spa treatment. After that it will continue its life renewed in my service. It has to soak first though, so more to come later.

Yay! You could turn the secondary blade into a clip point.

 

[VictaEder]

I took the scales off and they are the solid ones! Guess i should have expected that given the age. Unfortunately i cannot reuse them due to the chemical damage. After soaking and cleaning with tooth brush and steel wool, stainless steel and aluminum shine again. Now to fix up the tools!

 

[VictaEder]

It's possible this happened from trying to use it on a screw that was too small for the screwdriver tip on the can opener. I don't condone it, but I know some people use their knife tip for small Phillips head screws.


Yay! You could turn the secondary blade into a clip point.

I figured i will turn the small blade into a sheepsfoot blade. Always wanted one on a SAK anyway, so here is my chance.

 

[VictaEder]

I did that to the small blade in my old Spartan, too, many years ago, pulling a heavy staple out of a stack of paper. Back before I knew anything about edge geometry or profiling or anything (actually I still don’t know anything about that stuff), I took it to the bench grinder, took a little off the top and a little off the bottom, ground something that looked like an edge, then finished it on a stone. Keep in mind this little guy is something in the neighborhood of 40 years old, and carried daily to work in my change pocket until the pandamndemic hit. Almost as good as new.

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Nice work! Love seeing a SAK with so many years in service!

 

[brj]

Yay! You could turn the secondary blade into a clip point.

+1, once you go clip point on the small blade, you can never go back

 

[VictaEder]

Managed to bend the corkscrew back to almost its original angle. Did not want to push my luck by bending it further, but i think it is just fine now.

Also cleaned up the split ring hole.

 

[Guy McVer]

I figured i will turn the small blade into a sheepsfoot blade. Always wanted one on a SAK anyway, so here is my chance.

Are you sure? The clip point route should be a lot easier. I think it will be more work to make it a wharncliffe or a sheepsfoot.

 

[Barbababa]

I figured i will turn the small blade into a sheepsfoot blade. Always wanted one on a SAK anyway, so here is my chance.

I have made both sheep/lambsfoot and wharcliffe of a few, just go for wich ever you think will get most use
And I do think you could save the scales if you really want to. Sand the damage areas with 600g paper and save the dust. Mix with CA-glue in small portions and build step by step.

 

[VictaEder]

Are you sure? The clip point route should be a lot easier. I think it will be more work to make it a wharncliffe or a sheepsfoot.

Absolutely. I am a big fan of sheepsfoot blades, and wish more manufacturers would offer them. It also seemed easier with the way the tip was broken and bent.

 

[VictaEder]

I have made both sheep/lambsfoot and wharcliffe of a few, just go for wich ever you think will get most use
And I do think you could save the scales if you really want to. Sand the damage areas with 600g paper and save the dust. Mix with CA-glue in small portions and build step by step.

Good idea, i had not thought of that. Will keep it in mind for the next one!

 

[VictaEder]

All done! Gotta admit it was a nice project for a sunday afternoon.

More things needed fixing: main blade was clipped too, so i reprofiled that. Liners had some dents that rubbed against the tools. File and sandpaper took care of that. After that more soaking and cleaning. WD40 removed leftover water in the joints.

I am happy to report that the snap is back! I am always so amazed how well these SAKs clean up. It is a joy to bring them back to life.
It is still a tool with lots of character, but it is ready for the next 40 years.

Can someone help me narrow down the year? It has no hole on the awl, fluted corkscrew and no half stop on the large flathead.

 

[YaArArYa]

wicked resto

makes me think of this song

 

[Guy McVer]

All done! Gotta admit it was a nice project for a sunday afternoon.

More things needed fixing: main blade was clipped too, so i reprofiled that. Liners had some dents that rubbed against the tools. File and sandpaper took care of that. After that more soaking and cleaning. WD40 removed leftover water in the joints.

I am happy to report that the snap is back! I am always so amazed how well these SAKs clean up. It is a joy to bring them back to life.
It is still a tool with lots of character, but it is ready for the next 40 years.

Can someone help me narrow down the year? It has no hole on the awl, fluted corkscrew and no half stop on the large flathead.

Yup, there's a sheepsfoot. Nicely done.

I could definitely see that there's something off about the main blade's shape from the picture before I read that you'd reworked it. It is what it is, but I doubt most people who aren't SAK obsessed would ever notice.

The reamer is pre-1985 according to sakwiki, so that's the upper limit of your date range. There were at least 2 previous versions of the awl before that which also had an angled tip, which yours doesn't have. Knowing what year they stopped making those and switched to the one you have would give you a lower limit for your age range. If I recall, that information exists on another forum, but I had some doubts about its accuracy. If you still have the old scales, it may also be helpful to note whether the shield is nickel silver.

 

[Barbababa]

Can someone help me narrow down the year? It has no hole on the awl, fluted corkscrew and no half stop on the large flathead.

Maybe K kamakiri.knives will help a brother out?

 

[Guy McVer]

After poking around a bit and skimming through some youtube videos, I'm going to throw out a guess of 1980 as the lower limit of the date range based on the awl. Adding that to my previous post would theoretically put your SAK somewhere between 1980 and 1985. I have to stress that I am not experienced in dating swiss army knives. I am just looking at what other people have said. That's all. I have encountered conflicting information on the subject of SAK dating before, so I also try to take it all with a grain of salt.