# Disassemble a Swiss Army Knife

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disassemble-a-swiss-army-knife/495334>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disassemble-a-swiss-army-knife/495334 "2009-05-04T20:48:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disassemble-a-swiss-army-knife/495334/1 "2009-05-04T20:48:36Z")

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It looks like the little plastic toothpick in my new Wenger Swiss Army Knife is broken. The head broke off, and now the plastic is stuck in the slot. I should probably send it to warranty repair, but meanwhile this brought up a question:

Can I disassemble my knife? And if so, how? And if I did, I suppose I’d void the warranty!:eek:

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**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disassemble-a-swiss-army-knife/495334/2 "2009-05-04T20:55:44Z")

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A few pocket knives I’ve seen are assembled with threaded fasteners, but almost all use a sort of rivet. On some the rivets can be driven out and reused, but on most I’ve looked at it appears that it would be difficult to do so. I think you’re right about the warranty, it would be pretty obvious if it were worked on without some special tooling and replacement rivets.

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disassemble-a-swiss-army-knife/495334/3 "2009-05-04T21:11:28Z")

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As I recall, the toothpick slot is between the plastic and the body of the knife. I don’t think there is any way to remove the plastic without destroying it. If you can see the top of the toothpick, you could try drilling a tiny hole in it, and threading a small screw into the hole, then pulling it out. Your friendly neighborhood Printer Circuit board manufacturer will have drills small enough.