Hi All,
I recently boogered up the wire cutter on my leatherman charge xti. Actually I have done this before, and filed it back down several times, but this time I actually chipped the cutter and it is not so easy to repair this time. I have carried this leatherman nearly everyday for ten years, so I think it is time for retirement.
Looking for a replacement, I am struck buy the total lack of progress in multi tools. The new top of the line leatherman is nearly identical to what I had in my pocket for the last ten years. I eventually ran across this site, and I really like the mod where someone put rebar pliers with replaceable cutters on a charge tti. I will certainly do this for my next multitool.
In payment for the rebar/charge idea that I intend to filch, I submit a few mods I came up with over the years. Hopefully someone can make use of them.
On the left is a full size #2 Philips bit. Center is the scalpel blade holder.
This mod was born of necessity after I lost the bits that came with the leatherman. It turn out that when you use the tip of the pliers as a chisel to chip away stuff, the bits pop out of the handle. The full size bit works better than the OEM flat bit anyway. To make it, I just took a 1/4" bit to the bench grinder and ground two of the sides down until it fit in the bit holder. This will work with almost any type bit. It's not double sided like the OEM bit, but it is better than an empty holder.
I am particularly proud of the scalpel blade mod. I bought a scalpel handle and just carved the old dull leatherman blade down to the same shape using a bench grinder and a dremmel tool. It was not as hard as it might look. The only trick is making the slot that holds the blade. I found that a "lapidary diamond saw" is just the right thickness to make the slot.
I am fairly hard on my tools, and I hate sharpening knives. The scalpel blades definitely go dull faster than a "real" knife, but at $13 for a pack of 100, who cares! I routinely do really nasty things to this knife that would make me hesitate if I knew that I would have to resharpen it, like scraping paint off of old rusty metal, or cutting asphalt impregnated rope (the reason for the black nastiness in the pic). Then when I get home, I just pop a brand new blade in.
I recently boogered up the wire cutter on my leatherman charge xti. Actually I have done this before, and filed it back down several times, but this time I actually chipped the cutter and it is not so easy to repair this time. I have carried this leatherman nearly everyday for ten years, so I think it is time for retirement.
Looking for a replacement, I am struck buy the total lack of progress in multi tools. The new top of the line leatherman is nearly identical to what I had in my pocket for the last ten years. I eventually ran across this site, and I really like the mod where someone put rebar pliers with replaceable cutters on a charge tti. I will certainly do this for my next multitool.
In payment for the rebar/charge idea that I intend to filch, I submit a few mods I came up with over the years. Hopefully someone can make use of them.
On the left is a full size #2 Philips bit. Center is the scalpel blade holder.
This mod was born of necessity after I lost the bits that came with the leatherman. It turn out that when you use the tip of the pliers as a chisel to chip away stuff, the bits pop out of the handle. The full size bit works better than the OEM flat bit anyway. To make it, I just took a 1/4" bit to the bench grinder and ground two of the sides down until it fit in the bit holder. This will work with almost any type bit. It's not double sided like the OEM bit, but it is better than an empty holder.
I am particularly proud of the scalpel blade mod. I bought a scalpel handle and just carved the old dull leatherman blade down to the same shape using a bench grinder and a dremmel tool. It was not as hard as it might look. The only trick is making the slot that holds the blade. I found that a "lapidary diamond saw" is just the right thickness to make the slot.
I am fairly hard on my tools, and I hate sharpening knives. The scalpel blades definitely go dull faster than a "real" knife, but at $13 for a pack of 100, who cares! I routinely do really nasty things to this knife that would make me hesitate if I knew that I would have to resharpen it, like scraping paint off of old rusty metal, or cutting asphalt impregnated rope (the reason for the black nastiness in the pic). Then when I get home, I just pop a brand new blade in.
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