How to Take Apart a Swiss Army Knife

Remove the scales, or sides, from the knife. Slide a thin blade from another knife under one scale at one end and pry it away. It will pop up from its attaching pin. Repeat the process at the other three attaching pins until both sides are removed.

Determine which side is up. On one side of the knife is a rivet. On the other side is the end of the rivet pin seated in a bush, or housing. The bush side is up.

Secure the knife in the vise, bush head up.

Loosen the pins. The easiest way is to drill the ends of the pins out of the bush, using a 2mm drill bit. Loosening the pins and keeping them intact is more difficult. Take a small diameter nail, such as a finish nail, and flatten the tip by tapping on it with a hammer. Then place this blunt tip on the pin and tap the nail with the hammer until the pin is loose.

Remove the pins from the knife. Once the pins have been loosened, they may slide right out. If they do not, you can lever them out with a screwdriver.

Keep your knife together as you remove it from the vise so you can make note of the order of the layers in the knife before you take them apart.