The Vic Classic as a hobby tool

[hsherzfeld]

Just something I thought I'd throw out there: for years, I've used a Victorinox Classic as a hobby tool when building model airplanes. It's almost as if Victorinox designed the Classic for just such a purpose.

The scissors are great for cutting out decals, trimming plastic parts from the sprue (parts tree), trimming flash (extra plastic from the molding process) off of parts, and general cutting duties.

After I cut parts using the scissors, the nail file smooths down the cut surfaces; it also removes material to help parts fit together properly. Finally, it files dried superglue off of my fingers!

The blade mainly serves as a scraper (blasphemy!) and spatula for precision cement application (also blasphemy!). It doesn't see much cutting action; I use a craft knife or single-edged razor blades for cutting decals out of the middle of decal sheets, which is pretty much the only major cutting required for most of my model kits.

The tweezers are obviously useful for manipulating tiny pieces, although I've since found that purpose-built hobby tweezers are more precise and work better.

Finally, the toothpick also acts as a glue application spatula, as well as a general poking device.

 

[jackknife]

No great surprises there. Since the 58mm SAK is a very precise tool, its no surprise that it excels at very precise cutting and fitting duties. If the small SAK is the surgeons scalpel, then the 'other' knives are the butchers cleaver.

My classic has always been my 'precise cut' tool. No matter the thin sharp blade, or the exact snip of ER level scissors.

Of course, since you admit that you never use the blade to cut with, there may be some prosecutable SACrilege taking place here.

Inquisitors may want to question you!

 

[Dimashkieh]

The Classic is good for many things, but as a hobby knife, I personally use the 74mm Executive. The scissors are a bit bigger and better, and the 2 knives serve different purposes. The tiny one is excellent for cleaning any plastic after snipping, and the large one is much more usable than the Classic’s.

 

[315]

I don’t build models, but I do agree there are a lot of little tasks I use the Classic for that would be a bit more difficult with something larger. I keep one in all my vehicles, key ring I take to work, kitchen counter, work bench, tackle boxes, and a few other places. That way if I don’t have one on me, there’s probably one close by.