unltralite knife

[W I S N E R !]

Anyone know what sort of tang is inside the Victorinox paring knife? I'm wondering if I could get the plastic handle off (heatgun/muscle/utility knife?) and replace it with a custom wood piece.
I've always found them to be a perfect food prep and general chore knife shape…but as an artist/craftsman I'd like to fancy up the handle a bit.

[jimmer ultralight]

Craig,

I tried to to handle a Vic parer about 20 years ago.

The good news is, the tang is about 1/3 diwn the handle.

The bad.news us you WILL NOT get that puppy off by melting it.Fibrox burns like a car tire…really slow.

Probably the best way to remove it would be to grind it off.

I tried to destroy a 3.25 Vic Parer about 2 years ago by battoning it through wrist thick black locust kindling. It worked side by side with a Becker BK16 and a Mora Companion. The little parer held up fine except when it encountered a few knots – which are hard on any knife. That put a wave in the very thin edge.

The knife still cuts fine, no chunks out of the blade, it just does not look as.pretty now;)The handke has no cracks,and I would trust them to di any sane task I woukd ask a 3.25" belt knife to do.

[Ian]

Opinel has a pairing knife that looks like it'd be easier to mod. Can't say how it would compare to the Vicky.http://www.cutleryandmore.com/opinel-essentials/ndeg;112-stainless-steel-paring-knife-p130778?gclid=CI7v5vLT0MMCFYOUfgod4R4AaA

[W I S N E R !]

Thanks guys.
That Opinel looks like a nice little knife Ian.
I like Opinels quite a bit; my favorite is the No.8 Garden Folding Knife. Perfect picnic/food prep/chore knife. I'm not much into Rambo stuff with knives stuff; a fruit and cheese chopper is enough for me. Opinels fit the bill perfectly.

[Joshua B]

I'll give another prop for Opinel. My favorite is the Opinel Slim No. 08. Weighs 1 oz, perfect blade for skinning fish and any other camp task. Folds small, and well made:

http://www.opinel-usa.com/collections/opinel-slim-knives/products/opinel-slim-knife-bubinga-no-8#.VNgxLl7F-g0

If I'm not fishing on a particular trip, the Opinel stays home and the Leatherman Micra does everything I need a multi tool to do.

[Ken Thompson]

+1
I really like the No. 7 Junior with it's butter knife rounded tip and stainless blade. Perfect for slicing and spreading.

[Dale Wambaugh]

You can buy a nylon sheath from Victorinox. Forschner is part of Victorinox and makes a rosewood handled version of the paring knife that is sweet. It fits in the plastic sheeth from the Little Vickie too.

The AG Russell Woodswalker is just like a paring knife with a very good handle and several sheath options.

[Ian]

That Forschner looks like another great option.

I'm not artsy fartsy like Craig but I do agree with him. The little Vicky should be the perfect knife. Cheap, durable, useful, low maintenance, and light.

The plastic leaves me felling fairly blah about it. I normally carry a SAK classic which isn't a masterpiece either although it meets the same criteria previously mentioned for the Vicky.

I've owned a couple Opinel knives over the years but have lost them along the way in my many moves. This is the first one I've purchased since the mid '90s. My SAK classic does it all, with the exception of food preparation. For most of my trips where I'm freezer bag cooking, it's fine. When I'm baking, slicing vegetables or cheese, it just isn't enough.

The Opinel #6 is certainly cheap, I've yet to break one, it's certainly useful, and light at .9oz. Low maintenance… well not as much. I could have gone with stainless steel and removed one of the maintenance issues with the knife. I actually don't mind carbon steel in this case as it gives me something to play around with. I left it in an apple overnight which left an interesting patina pattern on it. I may touch up the patina with some mustard later this week to add some contrast. I'll eventually throw some Frog Lube on it once I've got the patina where I want it.

The beech wood (and probably others like walnut and olive as well) is prone to swelling when wet. Oh well. I'll throw it in a ziplock when it's raining.

Not a rambo knife by any means, and not something I'd bring to process wood (which never happens) but I think its simplicity makes it beautiful.

[Kattt]

A have the Victorinox and the one time I took with me backpacking the existing red handle made it easy to find when I thought I had lost it. I had dropped it and quite a bit of duff was covering it but the red color came through and no backpackers in the future ended up with it through their trailrunners……but I tend to drop stuff so that may not be an issue for others.
Good little knife there.

[David Thomas]

"Anyone know what sort of tang is inside the Victorinox paring knife?"

You could place it in your carry-on luggage, then look at the x-ray screen at the TSA station. Look quick, because they'll be cuffing you shortly.

[Jake D]

Ian can you post a picture of what just apple did? they are fun to play with aren't they :) I shaved the handle a bit to make a rounder shape on mine. sanded all the varnish off and did Tung oil. blade is darker now that i've used it more and looks really nice.

[Ian]

Jake,

Sorry for the late reply. Here's what my #6 looks like after leaving it an apple overnight. The part where there's less of a patina is from the core.

I'm going to splatter some mustard on it this weekend with the hopes that it'll be a bit darker and break up the pattern,

.

[Jake D]

Nice. Horseradish also makes a nice dark patina too.

[Ian]

I just used good old French's classic yellow mustard to finish of the patina. I like where it is now and won't force it any further. It's a pretty good slicer out of the box but I'm going bust out my Edge Pro later and refine the edge some.

.

[Jake D]

Nice.. i like it.

i'm not great at sharpening and i got it as sharp as i'd want it with 2 levels of arkansas stone and leather strop. i'm sure you will get it to a nice edge

[Bob Shaver]

I made a knife about as light as I could, specifically for backpacking. It weighs 1.8 oz so far (I'm not quite done with it). It has a big fat handle, for comfortable grip when cleaning fish. Laminated stainless blade made by Helle of Norway. Razor cutter in the handle, to cut open food packs, to cut cord and line, and to cut bandages. Small fire steel in the handle, as an emergency fire starter. has a lanyard tube, and 3 other tubes. I'll put some char cloth in one of the tube openings. I got the cork from a place that sells fly rod making cork rounds. I call it Frankenknife. I have not figured out how to secure the fire steel in the handle. I hate to rely on friction, but might have to for now. The blade is 2.25 inches. I tossed it in the hot tub, and it bobs right to the surface. It totally floats!

[Ian]

Well done Bob! Are you going to make a kydex sheath for it?

[Jake D]

I saw a video of someone putting a fire steel into a handle. They put the steel in and then threaded a small chain through a small cross hole so it would stay in.

[David Gardner]

While going through a bin of old gear this past weekend I found this old Tekna "Xtra Edge" that I used to carry. Edge is 1.5".

[Bob Shaver]

That one might get chiseled off, as I don't like the look of the through tubes, and the handle was pretty easy to do. I might use the same blade with a cork handle, with just the lanyard tube and the firesteel in the handle, no multiple tubes. Maybe the firesteel in the sheath. I was thinking the brass tubes would add some strength, but the cork glued together and around the knife tang seems to be plenty strong. There is no flex to it all. I will need a light sheath, which I'll have to think about. Tyvek lined with inner tube material, or duct tape?

[Mitchell Ebbott]

As great as this thread is, I hope it ends soon because I can't stand seeing the title pop up so much. Where did the "n" come from!? It's nowhere near the "U" or "L" keys!! It makes me cringe every time, I can't help it.

[Ian]

"Tyvek lined with inner tube material, or duct tape?"

Bob,

If you're interested in a kydex sheath, there's an abundance of information on YouTube on how to do this using stuff that you should already have lying around the house with the exception of the Kydex.

Also, PVC could be heated and form molded to the knife as well. If you don't have any success getting the ferrocerium rod into the handle, you may want to consider modifying the sheath with a loop to carry it.

[Henk Smees]

Hi Bob,

That “Cork Handle Knife” really looks good, although I agree with the through tubes (if you can get away without these, it'll look even better); now I just HAVE to make one myself (especially like the razor cutter idea).

What kind of glue have you used? Some kind of two component epoxy? Cork to cork is pretty easy to glue, but I'm not sure about bonding the metal of the blade to the cork.

> I have not figured out how to secure the fire steel in the handle. I hate to rely on friction, but might have to for now. <
Have you thought about making the handle of the fire steel round (with a lathe) and afterwards cutting a male thread on the outside of same??? If you glue the corresponding nut in the inside of the cork handle at the end of the hole, you can secure your fire steel by simply inserting the steel in the hole and when it reaches the end, “screw” same in -clockwise- a few times to lock it (to get it out, you unscrew until the thread releases the steel). Sorry for the very basic way of describing this (English is not my native language), I hope you understand what I try to say.

[Bob Shaver]

To answer your question: I used a two part epoxy. I got a 3/8" dowel and stacked up 10 cork rounds, putting epoxy on each surface. The I cut off a slice on two opposite sides of the cylinder of cork, and made the basic shape of the handle, with flat sides but the general side view correct, then I cut it in half down the center. On one half I cut a groove for the tang of the knife, and on the other half I carved a groove for the fire steel. Having it cut in half allowed me to get plenty of epoxy over the length of the tang. I also positioned the razor blade in the inside surface of the handle. Then I put it together like a sandwich, clamped it, and let the epoxy dry.

I'm not sure the razor blade feature is worth the effort. There is a sharp blade on the other end, after all. My friend said now when I drop this knife into a river, I can watch it float away. So true. But if I drop it in a lake, I can get it back.

Blade: Helle Nying, $17 from Ragweed Forge
cork: 2" rounds from Mud Hole Custom Tackle, 10 rings will do it @1.55 ea.

[Bob Shaver]

I put a picture of the finished knife on the "Make Your Own Gear" section. It comes in at 2 oz.

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