Restomod of a badly beaten Victorinox Camper- changing the scales

On a flea market some time ago I got myself a cool, but really badly battered Victorinox Camper... but for 3€ or summat.  

Now Victorinox has really changed my outlook on bushcraft knives in general.  Maybe it is because I am getting old, but a Victorinox Ranger really is my most used knife these days.  Rather light, always on board and rather unproblematic with the authorities, it really shines in a lot of applications, if you know how to use it. 

I think that will be a topic for another post.

 Anyway, the knife I got had a bad dent on the small whittling blade. On the detour from the flea market, I did a little bimble through the woods, and picked out a random sandstone and ground it flat against a broken tile also lying around not doing anything, and used it on the small blade.  

This worked out pretty well. I will show you how to use a sandstone as a grindstone in a future post.  The beauty of a SAK, however, is that, while the tempering of the blade is really resilient, while having a more than adequate edge retention, it can be maintained with next to no provisions.  

The other day, I had ordered some new scales. I did not need to upgrade to the Plus scales, but I ordered new goodies in red, too.  I am a fashion victim, too, sometimes, you know? 😉

But, of course, there was a reason for it,  since the scales were a bit damaged, too.  

Those had arrived, and I watched the awesome tutorial by the master of SAKs himself. Look here: 

That said, I changed one thing, and that was adding some detergent to the boiling water.  Removed the tweezers and toothpick, and put the knife into the hot, no longer boiling, water. I took some tongs at the ready to take it out of the water after some five minutes. The scales get a bit softer afterwards. 

Using the small blade on another SAK, i popped off the scales as Felix suggested, getting between liners and scales between the two hindmost rivets.  Worked a cinch. You have to be a bit careful and have a little patience, but the scales come off with a rather satisfying "pop" 😉. 

Taking care to thoroughly clean the liners and working the blades underwater for some time (you can also use Q-tips or a piece of handkerchief or paper towel wrapped around the tweezers), 

Thoroughly dry the liners afterwards. 

Starting with the corkscrew side, handpress the scales onto the rivets. 

Use a towel, some tape, or felt inlays to protect the scales from scratches, you can use a vise to press-fit the new scales in place. 

And just like that, you have a knife that is almost like new.  

This is the real beauty of a SAK.  That knife is over 45 years old, and it is now ready for a good time in the woods again.