sak - behind the scenes

[swissbianco]

hello,

in this tread i want share some background infos and pics of the swiss world of sak, the cultural, technical and historical side.

an swiss army knife, sak, is an swiss heritage and we are prowd of it as of ouer swiss chocolate and cheese or the famous mtns or watches.

sak are spl knives, the multitool charakter and usefulness is great, they help the people every day and many problems could. its to thank great swiss people like the elsener family and theyr employees for the hard work and ethics to make it possible for us to own an swiss made high quality tool for an economical price.

here are some pics of the technical side of sak:

typical carebox from ibach

rough sorted out

fine sorted out

 

[swissbianco]

the details are absolute important by sak, not only for collectors and users but for me on how to assemble it so it works and make sense and meet and exceed factory standarts, say with the hardanodising of alox scales etc.

difference orig and new one hand blade

bit and bitholder parts with its 2 pcs springs. these i soon will assy as an cyber yeoman test proto

of course its alot of testing too and why not eat an nice swiss meatplate

 

[swissbianco]

some parts are complete handmade like this damascus steel orig oht style blade

or this fischlin swiss made firesteel part

this 93mm alox sak was test assembled to check how it walks and talks

 

[swissbianco]

some of the raw, factory fresh never anodised, assembled etc aluminium scales get an unique splash multicolor handmade swissbianco anodising

the yearstamps show the year of manufacture, will explain more in an later post

the next couple pics show step by step how i do assemble an 108 - 3 safari sak

first layer

liner

second layer

liner

3. and last layer

liner and scales

my swiss handmade

 

[swissbianco]

so we started with this here:

and some more parts and end with this here:

 

[ron_m80]

WOW, so can you piece customs together? I always wanted some of the red handled models with ALOX slabs.

 

[swissbianco]

sorry, i do only small runs and no single pcs anymore, lack of time.

 

[ron_m80]

Thank you.

 

[burddogg]

Such detail, thanks for sharing those great pictures with us.

 

[bammann45]

Just wandered into this forum -- I *love* this photospread -- really interesting.

 

[swissbianco]

thanks, i find it important that its visual how much work it is and how the tolerances, system etc is. will bring some parts and will assembly at least one pcs this blade show.

 

[actionshooter38]

I just looked at all of your threads and newsletters. WOW!!!! Sir, you are incredible. I can clearly see a large portion of my knife funds heading your way.

 

[swissbianco]

money is not what i looking for in life but it makes more of my work possible - for all of us.

not that ya all think i get the sak and parts for free in swiss, but what i got is friendship with some people in ibach and that counts more than any money for me, it makes it possible that i can do this, in swiss and in usa, my new home.

the latest one i worked on is an cyber-yeoman proto, an yeoman with bit and bitholder, for an regional candlepower get 2 gether.

this friday i plan to make some onehander, dual pro etc with woodsaw and or metalfile, the parts are all in stock now and ready.

 

[swissbianco]

in switzerland we test out some new colors, we hope to get them brighter, like an bon bon color, really shiny:

for assemble the sak i use an factory hammer, victorinox manufacture them themself cause its so an spl tool we need for do that the swiss way, you cant buy it anywhere and it really make the difference as i used all kinds of hammers

as i can i study the anatomy or any knife or firearm around, like this old wartime sak, its long out of production and back then more handwork was involved:

if that blade only could speak. the 41 on the tangstamp tell its year of manufacture, 1941, in the ww2

here some pics of the factory in switzerland, an good houer away from my hometown, located inbetween wenger of delemont and victorinox of ibach

 

[swissbianco]

a good while ago we did test out some fileework on sak blades and springs and then got the ok for offer this on the blades, the springs got to weak and we do not want void the warranty or functionality, an sak is an tool first, whatever we do with it. an bit after the blade show we will have an good run of fileworked blade sak who are factory approved:

its not easy to show that nice work in an pic, its beautiful!

its alot of skilled work:

 

[molly's survival]

those file worked blades look amazing

 

[swissbianco]

an short time after the blade show we will have some sak with fileworked blades, the alox versions need longer time but all will be factory approved/warranted. currently only one sak like this is around, next to me here on the desk

 

[swissbianco]

i did tell regarding the yearstamps, this is important for many swiss collectors of sak, the first couple years the swiss army issued sak had no yearstamp on its blade and you can tell only the model who was made from that time until this time. but with the yearstamp you can tell the exact manufacturing year of the blade, sometimes they got/get assembled one or more years later, i still have some 07, 08 ones who will assembled this year. the year was always show in 2 digits, say 45 for 1945, the last year or ww2. here some examples:

 

[swissbianco]

the last of the red alox soldier:

 

[swissbianco]

latest sak: an 111mm dual pro, plain edge, philips, saw, file. step by step:

the sak needs to be rivetted, that will follow tomorrow plus more pics. its the first sak in that configuration. it works and all is roger.

+B