Daily Customs – Brass SAK Scales

The Swiss Army Knife (SAK) is one of Switzerland’s most iconic products. The distinct red color of the plastic handle scales is immediately recognized around the world. Although Victorinox, the SAK market leader, also offers pocket knives with aluminum scales in a variety of colors, there is an active modding community that makes custom scales for SAKs in all kinds of materials.

The young German brand Daily Customs offers CNC precision milled SAK scales that are completely manufactured in Hamburg, Germany. Available in titanium, aluminum and brass, the scales fit all models of the 91 millimeter Victorinox line of SAKs. A full set consists of both a front and a back scale, an interchangeable cross background, and a filler tab to cover the unused mount for the optionally available pocket clip.

In order to keep the weight reasonably low, I decided to modify a compact two-layer SAK instead of a heavier three-layer model. I bought a brand-new Victorinox Tinker, a popular model that is similar to the classic Spartan. The only difference is that the Tinker is equipped with a Phillips screwdriver instead of a corkscrew.

The Daily Customs scales are manufactured to very tight tolerances, which sometimes causes problems with the manually riveted Victorinox SAKs. That is why Daily Customs advises you to use some additional glue or epoxy to mount the scales properly. They even sell small packages of a two-part epoxy by Loctite. In my case, mounting the back scale was a breeze, but I was not able to get rid of a little gap between the front scale and the liner. The gap was not only aesthetically annoying but also likely to attract dirt over time.

The following three photos show the gap.

I contacted Jannik from Daily Customs, and he promised to fix the problem. I sent him my Tinker with the already glued-on scales. Unfortunately, he was not able to close the gap, either. There was a small mechanical mismatch between the Victorinox liner and the Daily Customs scale. Jannik bought a new Tinker at his own expense and mounted a new pair of brass scales. This time the result turned out perfect. While this kind of customer service is laudable, the gap issue raises the question of how often other customers may experience the same difficulty. Jannik assured me that this has never happened before.

So, should you buy the Daily Customs scales? Yes, but be aware that you could run into the same problem as I did. The good news is that you are covered by an excellent customer service.

Mounting the brass scales increased the weight of the knife from 62 grams to 140 grams. But the looks are worth the weight. The warmth of brass adds a rich and classic style to the Victorinox Tinker.