Swiss Army Knife Jigsaw Blade Holder Trick

[Guy McVer]

In what was either a stroke of pure genius or a moment of total stupidity, I figured out how a Compact or Climber model swiss army knife can be used as a handle for a t-shank saw blade.

The t-shank is trapped under the parcel hook. It's not exactly rock solid, but it seems to work well enough to easily saw through a pencil.

If anyone would care to try this out in the wild, then I would be interested in hearing about the results. If you do try this, BE CAREFUL! This is obviously not the way these tools are intended to be used.

I think this is a pretty cool discovery. It means you can add some limited wood and metal sawing capability to a thinner SAK without increasing its weight or thickness. Obviously you wouldn't want to depend on this trick for regular use, but it could work in a pinch and it allows you to increase the overall capability of your swiss army knife for only a small weight penalty.

 

[Rich S]

And where in/on the SAK do you keep the jig saw blade?

 

[Guy McVer]

I cut a small strip of gorilla tape, folded it over on itself a few times, and then jammed it in to the parcel hook slot next to the jigsaw blade. It makes a huge difference in the stability of the jigsaw blade. It makes it feel pretty solid.

With the tape in place as a shim, there's no more side-to-side wobble.

I'm really liking this. It's very simple and it seems to be pretty effective.

Now I wonder if there's some way to use the key ring attachment to further increase the stability...

 

[Guy McVer]

Another discovery:

The SAK tweezers can also be used as a shim to stabilize the jigsaw blade.

This should go without saying, but doing this will probably flatten your tweezers and make them less springy. It's very convenient though, because the tweezers are right there next to the place where you're putting the saw. It's probably best to resist the temptation to use your tweezers as a shim unless you have no other options.

I did also try using the toothpick, but I found that it was too fat to go all the way in.

 

[Jimmychangas]

Whoa. Cool idea. Thanks for sharing!

 

[StuntDouble]

I imagine if you took a zip-tie and cinched it down over the handle and the hook that would make things even sturdier.

 

[Guy McVer]

I imagine if you took a zip-tie and cinched it down over the handle and the hook that would make things even sturdier.

Interesting idea. Possibly a ziptie would cause an issue in fixing the alignment of the saw blade if it managed to slip past the hook. I've found so far that gripping the hook with your fingers is enough, but a ziptie could relieve strain on the fingers with extended use. Zipties can be bought with a release tab for easy on-the-fly adjustment. If you have a ziptie without one of those release tabs, you can loosen the ziptie by pushing a straight pin between its teeth.

By the way, Bosch blades (as seen in the previous pictures) and Lenox blades both seem to have the same thickness as the t-shank diamond coated file and wood saw set that come with the Leatherman Surge. If you have thinner blades than those, then they might not work too well with this parcel hook trick.

The Leatherman Surge's t-shank diamond coated file/metal saw and wood saw can be purchased as a set of 2 from Leatherman's website for 12 USD. They are also sold through many third party retailers. Prices can vary up or down. They come with a thin plastic sleeve for easy carry. You can slip the sleeve right into your pocket and forget about it.

edit: here's what I'm talking about

A diamond coated file is a pretty nice thing to have handy.

 

[Old Biker]

I'm not seeing any advantage over just buying a SAK with a saw blade built in.

O.B.

 

[Guy McVer]

I'm not seeing any advantage over just buying a SAK with a saw blade built in.

Probably because you haven't completely thought it through yet.

If you don't want the extra thickness and extra weight of a saw layer in your SAK, either because you don't like the way it feels in your hand or how awkward the extra bulk is for you to carry, and you don't really intend to use the saw but you still want to have the extra functionality of a saw just in case you might need it, then there's an alternative for you. In terms of actual usage, it's not as good as having a wood or metal saw built into the SAK itself, or as good as having a dedicated folding saw, but it can still work well enough *in a pinch*. That's the point. It's not supposed to be something that you'd plan to use regularly. You obviously shouldn't do that.

To be absolutely clear: If you want a saw, and you actually intend to use the saw at least somewhat regularly, then of course you should consider getting a SAK with a saw. Duh. That's what it was designed for, so it's obviously going to be a better option for you...

...unless you'd prefer to carry a larger dedicated Silky or Bahco style folding saw, which would work even better...

...but a chainsaw would work best of all. So why don't you just carry a gas powered chainsaw everywhere? Right? Why even bother with Swiss Army Knives at all? Just carry a tool box.

I highly recommend the Victorinox Camper model. I have 2 of them. I love them. The Camper is 3 layers and it is one of the best SAK models in my opinion. If you see a nylon scale Camper in good condition, then snatch it up. If you want a Phillips instead of a corkscrew, then get the Hiker model. It's the same as the Camper except that the corkscrew is replaced by a 3D Phillips head screwdriver. The alox Farmer model is a great choice too. It's heavier and you get no back side tools, but it's more robust and you get an inline awl. Those are the trade-offs.

 

[Old Biker]

Probably because you haven't completely thought it through yet.

If you don't want the extra thickness and extra weight of a saw layer in your SAK, either because you don't like the way it feels in your hand or how awkward the extra bulk is for you to carry, and you don't really intend to use the saw but you still want to have the extra functionality of a saw just in case you might need it, then there's an alternative for you. In terms of actual usage, it's not as good as having a wood or metal saw built into the SAK itself, or as good as having a dedicated folding saw, but it can still work well enough *in a pinch*. That's the point. It's not supposed to be something that you'd plan to use regularly. You obviously shouldn't do that.

To be absolutely clear: If you want a saw, and you actually intend to use the saw at least somewhat regularly, then of course you should consider getting a SAK with a saw. Duh. That's what it was designed for, so it's obviously going to be a better option for you...

...unless you'd prefer to carry a larger dedicated Silky or Bahco style folding saw, which would work even better...

...but a chainsaw would work best of all. So why don't you just carry a gas powered chainsaw everywhere? Right? Why even bother with Swiss Army Knives at all? Just carry a tool box.

I highly recommend the Victorinox Camper model. I have 2 of them. I love them. The Camper is 3 layers and it is one of the best SAK models in my opinion. If you see a nylon scale Camper in good condition, then snatch it up. If you want a Phillips instead of a corkscrew, then get the Hiker model. It's the same as the Camper except that the corkscrew is replaced by a 3D Phillips head screwdriver. The alox Farmer model is a great choice too. It's heavier and you get no back side tools, but it's more robust and you get an inline awl. Those are the trade-offs.

The thinnest SAK with a hook, (needed for that trick), is 2 layers. The thinnest SAK with a saw is 3 layers. Add a loose saw blade, and some sort of pouch, to keep from tearing up your pocket with that loose saw blade, and you end up with more bulk than a 3 layer SAK. I agree that the saw is only for in a pinch. But if you don't have it with you when you get into that pinch, it is of no use. So you need to be carrying it. If I need to go find the saw blade somewhere, when I need it, I might as well find the real saw that would do the job easier.

My general rule for all SAK tools; If I can do the job in less time than it would take me to go get the right tool. I will use the SAK. If not I will go get the right tool.

So in my Opinion, Carrying a knife with the saw built in still makes more sense. Or I will just plan on going to the tool box and getting the right saw for the job, when a saw is needed.

O.B.

 

[Guy McVer]

The thinnest SAK with a hook, (needed for that trick), is 2 layers. The thinnest SAK with a saw is 3 layers. Add a loose saw blade, and some sort of pouch, to keep from tearing up your pocket with that loose saw blade, and you end up with more bulk than a 3 layer SAK.

Yeah, this looks really complicated. I don't know how anyone would ever manage it. Having an extra layer on your Swiss Army Knife would definitely be less bulky than this. Maybe if there exists some type of clothing that allows you to have more than one pocket at the same time... but that's crazy talk.

Should you have an extra layer on your knife forever, for something you barely use if you ever use it at all, or should your knife be less bulky in your hand and less bulky in your pocket while you carry something extra which is so small and so light that you can literally forget about it until you need it?

I don't know, guys. This is a tough one.

Look, as I said already, if you plan to use the saw a lot, then get a SAK with the saw built in. It's going to work a lot better.

 

[sonofwilfred]

In what was either a stroke of pure genius or a moment of total stupidity, I figured out how a Compact or Climber model swiss army knife can be used as a handle for a t-shank saw blade.

The t-shank is trapped under the parcel hook. It's not exactly rock solid, but it seems to work well enough to easily saw through a pencil.

If anyone would care to try this out in the wild, then I would be interested in hearing about the results. If you do try this, BE CAREFUL! This is obviously not the way these tools are intended to be used.

I think this is a pretty cool discovery. It means you can add some limited wood and metal sawing capability to a thinner SAK without increasing its weight or thickness. Obviously you wouldn't want to depend on this trick for regular use, but it could work in a pinch and it allows you to increase the overall capability of your swiss army knife for only a small weight penalty.

Watch this.

 

[Guy McVer]

I've been trying to figure out different ways to make thinner saw blades work. The problem is that if the blade is too thin, the hook will slide off to one side of the t-shank and the saw blade will come loose.

If you look at this parcel hook, you can see that there is something nested inside of it. It's a stack of 3 circular neodymium magnets. Their dimensions are 3x1mm each. Together they match perfectly with the inside dimensions of the hook, and you can close the hook down to store all three magnets in your SAK. The idea for this came from Felix Immler's channel. He did a video on storing magnets in your SAK, and he demonstrated some different things that you can use them for. One of their uses was to make a navigational compass needle with the Victorinox straight pin.

T-shank blades are metallic and ferrous (they have iron), which means that magnets will stick to them.

Theoretically you could use these magnets to help stabilize a thin saw blade, but I don't have any blades thin enough to try this with.

The rule seems to be that the thinner t-shank blades are also the shortest ones, while the longer blades are thicker. Longer blades are probably more susceptible to breaking because being longer means less force is required at the tip to cause the base to snap (like a lever), so they probably make the longer blades thicker in order to strengthen them and help prevent them from snapping.

Watch this.

Awesome! I've been watching that channel regularly for the last few years. Don't know how I missed this video. He links directly to this topic in the video description. Kinda makes me uncomfortable but it's whatever. At least more people will find out about this trick.

On that channel was posted a video a while back about a custom 74mm SAK... I watched it very carefully when I started making my 74mm Alox MoneyChamp. I paused it at several points trying to get a good look at the layout of the tools and the springs.

 

[sonofwilfred]

. Kinda makes me uncomfortable but it's whatever. At least more people will find out about this trick.

Yes people are looking, I like to think it's just the regular 10 or so guys who see my photos.

 

[Guy McVer]

Speaking of shims, guess what else works as one?

A straight pin. Combined with the SAK tweezers inserted on the other side of the jigsaw blade, this cheap off-brand straight pin helps to stabilize a thinner Lenox General Purpose blade for nail embedded wood. It's convenient because the tweezers and straight pin are both stored in the scales, so as long as you have your SAK then you still at least have those two things to use as shims.

If you're worried about the pin falling out and getting lost, then you could try positioning the magnets next to the pin as a kind of failsafe. (There are magnets stored in the hook. See my previous post for more info on those.)

By the way, I don't recommend using that particular Lenox blade for sawing wood by hand. The general purpose teeth pattern makes it harder to use on wood than it is to just use a normal wood saw blade. Use a wood saw for wood, and a metal saw for metal... although a metal saw can still work on wood.

Yes people are looking, I like to think it's just the regular 10 or so guys who see my photos.

It's all good. First they'll have to defeat the roaming bands of surly kangaroos, avoid the writhing swarms of poisonous bugs and venomous snakes, bypass the salivating snaggletoothed crocs, evade the vicious scavenger dingoes, and survive the ever present threat of deadly drop bear assassins. If anyone manages to get through all that, then they probably deserve to getcha.

 

[Storm 8593]

It's all good. First they'll have to defeat the roaming bands of surly kangaroos, avoid the writhing swarms of poisonous bugs and venomous snakes, bypass the salivating snaggletoothed crocs, evade the vicious scavenger dingoes, and survive the ever present threat of deadly drop bear assassins. If anyone manages to get through all that, then they probably deserve to getcha.

Dont forget the Yowies , theyll do for a few as well :O

 

[dogstar]

At 2:37 he credits someone from German facebook, Benjamin Balke for this idea. I guess great minds think alike.

 

[chacapa]

À 2 h 37, il attribue cette idée à quelqu'un de Facebook allemand, Benjamin Balke. Je suppose que les grands esprits pensent de la même manière.

ouces vers le haut: ouces vers le haut: ouces vers le haut: ouces vers le haut: ouces vers le haut:

 

[Guy McVer]

At 2:37 he credits someone from German facebook, Benjamin Balke for this idea. I guess great minds think alike.

Given the timing, it's pretty obvious where the guy on facebook probably got it from... but I don't care. I am just glad that this is being spread around. It's really cool to see Felix Immler covering something that I shared. Who gets credit for it doesn't matter to me.

 

[Guy McVer]

Update: I figured out another way to use jigsaw blades with a bottle opener instead of the parcel hook.

This way you can use jigsaw blades on models without a parcel hook, such as a Victorinox Spartan model or a Tinker model swiss army knife.

I posted a quick write-up on how to do this over in the SAK Mods topic. <---link

It does require making a small modification to the bottle opener, but you don't need to take the knife apart in order to do it.