New Liners on Alox SAK Models

R

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Victorinox seems to have replaced the nickel silver liners with aluminum liners on their alox models. Does anyone know what year this change happened? Is there still old stock available from any sellers? (I’d like a Cadet with nickel silver, if anyone can suggest a seller). Edit: Might need an alox #7 (Harvester) as well!

Victorinox does a great job with their alox scales, but the aluminum liners always look dingy to me. The nickel silver liners have always been a reason for my alox preference.
 
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I thought the ALOX models always had aluminum liners, same as the Cellidor models do.
Wouldn't NS liners add even more weight to the knife than the aluminum scales do?

Yes, I have never owned an ALOX model. Can't say "I've handled one." either.
 
My first Alox SAK, a Pioneer, has beautiful brass colored liners and rivets. Just received a Farmer and while the rivets seem to be a very light brass color, the liners are silver. Is this normal?
 
There's a thread going about this topic:

New Liners on Alox SAK Models

Victorinox seems to have replaced the nickel silver liners with aluminum liners on their alox models. Does anyone know what year this change happened? Is there still old stock available from any sellers? (I’d like a Cadet with nickel silver, if anyone can suggest a seller). Edit: Might need...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

I did some Googling after reading it, and it looks like Victorinox used brass liners on (some?) older Alox models, then nickel silver liners on most (all?) Alox models, and now may have switched to aluminum liners on some (all?) Alox models. I'm no expert and the ambiguity kind of left me stumped.
 
How do you tell the difference between the Aluminum and the Nickel? My Pioneer (a couple years old) looks like it has brass liners. The Farmer I just received is silver.
 
Dadpool said:
There's a thread going about this topic:

New Liners on Alox SAK Models

Victorinox seems to have replaced the nickel silver liners with aluminum liners on their alox models. Does anyone know what year this change happened? Is there still old stock available from any sellers? (I’d like a Cadet with nickel silver, if anyone can suggest a seller). Edit: Might need...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

I did some Googling after reading it, and it looks like Victorinox used brass liners on (some?) older Alox models, then nickel silver liners on most (all?) Alox models, and now may have switched to aluminum liners on some (all?) Alox models. I'm no expert and the ambiguity kind of left me stumped.
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Your link redirected me back to this thread.

Brass was used on Vic civilian 93mm models at least until ‘85 (despite the common thinking to ‘84). Soldiers were always nickel silver until discontinued in ‘08. There may be other exceptions for knives contracted by other countries or NATO or Swiss railway, etc.

But I’d like to see a pic of an aluminum linered one. Just surprises me a bit since it would add a lot of width to the line…which has already gotten wider with newer models like the FX. Doesn’t make sense to me.
 
Vic's brass & nickel silver liners really do add class to the knives, as well as ensuring their longevity.

I wish the cellidor range still had nickel silver liners because unused knives seize after (a long) period of time, due to the aluminium liners corroding. I have a c. late 80's Climber that's all but immaculate except for the corroded liners, one at the point of disintegration.
 
I think maybe the 58mm models are still using nickel silver liners. They have a crisp smooth finish and appear to be a brassy kinda color. Or maybe they're just brass.

Victorinox doesn't seem to care about the finish on the outside edges of the aluminum liners. If you do care, they polish up nicely with fine grit sandpaper, giving them a much cleaner look. It's a shame about them corroding, but I wonder if maybe it could be mostly avoided with a little oil every once in a while. Is it the whole liner or just at the pivots? Also why have I never heard of this before, and why are there still so many SAKs from the same era which aren't "at the point of disintegration"?
 
Guy McVer said:
I think maybe the 58mm models are still using nickel silver liners. They have a crisp smooth finish and appear to be a brassy kinda color. Or maybe they're just brass.

Victorinox doesn't seem to care about the finish on the outside edges of the aluminum liners. If you do care, they polish up nicely with fine grit sandpaper, giving them a much cleaner look. It's a shame about them corroding, but I wonder if maybe it could be mostly avoided with a little oil every once in a while. Is it the whole liner or just at the pivots? Also why have I never heard of this before, and why are there still so many SAKs from the same era which aren't "at the point of disintegration"?
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I've just taken a close look at a Classic that has Al tipped tweezers, making it more than 40 years old, plus the much younger Rambler on my keyring, & I'm sure both have Al liners. I can see how they've been stamped from sheet metal.

I don't think corroded liners are especially common. A reason for this might be that the knives are so seized that the owners bin them instead of selling them. This particular Climber is the only second SAK I've acquired with corroded liners, the other being a Camper of similar age (1980s). Both knives appear to have seen very little use. Gifts perhaps, chucked in a drawer or somewhere with high humidity for 40-odd years. The back of the liners on the Climber is where the corrosion is most pronounced. Part of the back liner is as I described earlier. The Camper's tools were completely seized & took a lot of effort to open, with pliers. White spots of corrosion freckle the inside of the liners.

On arrival the Climber felt as if it had been soaked in 3-in-1! I could barely open or close the tools after I washed the oil out with a thorough clean, but a re-oiling had them working smoothly again. I'd say that oiling the pivots as required would certainly keep the pivots in good shape.
 
Rum Runner said:
Victorinox seems to have replaced the nickel silver liners with aluminum liners on their alox models. Does anyone know what year this change happened? Is there still old stock available from any sellers? (I’d like a Cadet with nickel silver, if anyone can suggest a seller). Edit: Might need an alox #7 (Harvester) as well!

Victorinox does a great job with their alox scales, but the aluminum liners always look dingy to me. The nickel silver liners have always been a reason for my alox preference.
Click to expand...
I've just received a Cadet I ordered last week. Looking closely, the liners are danged aluminium. ☹️ I didn't know Vic had changed the metal until I saw this thread.
 
Sawl Goodman said:
I've just taken a close look at a Classic that has Al tipped tweezers, making it more than 40 years old, plus the much younger Rambler on my keyring, & I'm sure both have Al liners. I can see how they've been stamped from sheet metal.
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That's weird. Looking at the liners on one of my ramblers and minichamps I can clearly see they're a yellow browm gold/brass color. Same with the scissors pivots. They're very distinctly different from the silver/gray color of stainless steel or aluminum.
 
A picture of one of these liners in Alex frame would be nice. I’ve seen some aluminum in misc frames like 58mm and 74mm, but usually with something like MoP scales.
 
Sawl Goodman said:
I've just received a Cadet I ordered last week. Looking closely, the liners are danged aluminium. ☹️ I didn't know Vic had changed the metal until I saw this thread.
Click to expand...
Another close look under different light reveals the liner to be nickel silver after all. Whew!

I wonder if reports of Vic changing the liner metal are mistaken?
 
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