TITLE: Knife wear and tear
DATE: 2018-06-20
AUTHOR: John L. Godlee
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I’ve had a Victorinox Swiss army knife since I was about 12, when I
was given one as a present by some relatives who live near Grenoble
in France. It’s a fairly basic model, with a big blade, small blade,
tin opener, bottle opener, awl, and corkscrew. It used to have a
toothpick and a set of tweezers but they are long gone.

I use the knife for nearly everything, it lives in my pocket
everyday, except when I go somewhere where it wouldnt’ be a good
idea to be found with a knife, like an airport. I use it for
chopping food, carving wood, general tasks that require something
sharp. It’s been with me to 4 continents and survived a cumulative
total of 10 months of fieldwork.

The knife has evolved a lot over the time I’ve had it. I was
comparing it to a friend’s knife today and noticed that the repeated
sharpening of the blade on my knife has completely changed its
profile. Instead of having a deep belly, it’s been ground almost
flat, which I find much better for carving wood. I’ve also added a
more distinct point to the end of the blade by grinding off some of
the top of the tip, this makes it more effective for etching designs
and [kolrossing]. The profile of the blade has also changed, going
from a normal compound bevel to a flat scandi edge, which is better
for carving and much easier to keep sharp.

  [kolrossing]: https://pinewoodforge.com/basics-of-kolrosing/

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A couple of years back, while in Brazil, the glue on one of the
scales of the knife came loose and fell off. For a long time I left
it like that, as the knife was more compact. But as I started to do
more carving I found it was quite uncomfortable. I shaped a new
scale out of a piece of scrap hazel which I had been using for a
different project. I used a power drill to make little indents where
the rivets fit into the scale and clamped it overnight with come
wood glue. I later engraved it using a friend’s soldering iron with
a herringbone pattern and my initials. It’s much more comfortable to
carve with now.

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