The Beerplumber!

[Metropolicity]

Beerplumber and I met up to talk tools yesterday and he had an idea for a mod that was so easy (at least I thought) that I decided to throw some time at it.

He asked for arbor shears and a tap wrench (looks like a open C with a hook on the end) I went ahead and ordered another set of folding shears from http://www.dealextreme.com/p/stainless-steel-garden-scissors-with-nylon-pouch-57319 and went to town on the tap wrench he gave me. He cuts PVC tubing all day long and pruning shears work awesome.

A couple of hours later, the wrench part was done.

There was already a hole in the tool so it needed a locking tab and profiles to fit into the Surge. The hole needed to bored out too.



This wrench replaced the PE blade because BP doesn't really use that blade in favor of the sheep's foot to slice open piping insulation. So the wrench needed to OHO. He says he can open it with one hand, mission accomplished. The second hole is for a thumb stud, I gave him the option of brass or aluminum. He wanted brass, good choice. 



First fitting was good, BUT when it open the flat portion of the wrench got caught on the liner lock, dang.



Solution, make a washer that moves with the wrench, increasing the surface area and only engaging the liner lock until the tool's flat portion is clear of it.



Due to the increased thickness, the wrench needed to be thinned down, I also made a tab on the washer to sync it's rotation with the wrench.



The hand off! Moments after assembly, oiling and test motions, I called up Beerplumber and we met up. This is him holding onto it.

You'll notice it had my trade mark three rows of tactical jimping! It's functional for both the use of the wrench and also the deployment.



He promises to give it a test run Monday.

Whenever the shears come in, out go the inside tools and in goes the pruning shear head, like the Arborman.

Caveat: this nothing to do with the the Great Mod Give Away, it came up in conversation and it was and easy mod!

[J-sews]

Pretty neat! Any pictures of it with the tap wrench closed?

[Metropolicity]

Dang! forgot to take one, was too excited to pass it off.

I asked BP to take a pic, he'll pass it along and when he does, it'll be here!

[Metropolicity]

Yahoo! BP tested it out!

[Gareth]

Excellent job.

[Beerplumber]

I'd say jealous co-workers is one of life's simple pleasures

[Beerplumber]

Thanks again Met!  Amazing work!

[Metropolicity]

I'd say jealous co-workers is one of life's simple pleasures

I was just about to post this. Hehe

I accept cash and paypal

Just gotta wait for the shear head!

[Metropolicity]

Oh yah.

OOOHOTTW!!!

(outside opening one hand opening tactical tap wrench!)

[J-sews]

Are you happy with the location of the brass one-hander stud? (I mean, next time would you move it out farther for more leverage, or does it work fine where it is?)

[Metropolicity]

Are you happy with the location of the brass one-hander stud? (I mean, next time would you move it out farther for more leverage, or does it work fine where it is?)

.

Not 100% but BP seems to open it fine. And really, it's up to him.

[Sparky415]

That's great
I love seeing tools that have been modified to suit a specific kind of job 

[AHB]

Very kewl mod MPC..

[Threeme2189]

I like

[Beerplumber]

Yup thumb studs a little close but I can flick it open no problem.  I use the wrench many times a day so it is actually super useful.  And the looks it gets are priceless!

[Zed]

nice work metro 

[J-sews]

Good job Eric!!

[Metropolicity]

BP sent this today! The Beerplumber in action!

[Metropolicity]

The shears I ordered finally came in. I like these ones a lot because the spring is internal, so the aesthetic is much cleaner!

I also got some bear and sons bird shears in too, for size comparison.



Initial expanding of the pivot holes on the shears proved to be easy an they dropped in easy. BUT there was a huge problem, when locked the handles drew too close together and the lock would not disengage.



My solution for this was to make a shim for the shear head to rest on. A 1/16" piece of angle aluminum was milled to fit inside the handle an a hole was drilled to accept a pop rivet. A matching hole was drilled in the handle.







These shims allowed the handles to sit 2" apart when the shears were locked.





A quick squeeze and the head unlocks.



And closed. No gap!



You'll also notice that I added a OHO slot for the blade exchanger.

Just gotta open and close it about 100 times and work out the kinks.

[Metropolicity]

I also forgot to mention that there isn't any room in the inside for any tools.

Beerplumber said they would be redundant anyway as he carries another Surge in addition to this.

I will make an aluminum spacer to fill one of the internal tool pivots, but the other side, I'll see about making a hammer type thingy so he can give those beer taps a different kind of tap once and a while.

 

[Beerplumber]

I feel so special!  Very excited to give this thing a run, and to show-off of course!  With the BP I may start carrying an ST300 or blast since OHO will be provided by the BP.  Had the idea of turning a PE into a CE and swapping the SE for a BE (still with me?) creating an ambi-surge always having file + saw on hand but not sure yet. Might need the scissors to stay on the BP and kind of want to keep a stock surge JIC.  it will depend on acquiring a blast or said ST300 first, I refuse to be left scissorless. Might have to start looking at powerlocks a little more seriously.

[Metropolicity]

I made some filler spacers for the BP. I had intentions of making these out of steel so the BP can be used to give love taps to stuff that need love taps.

All I had for round stock was some 6160 Alu. After facing the round stock, 1/8 channel was milled to engage the lock (really moot at this point because there isn't any inside tools)



Once the pivots and fillers were screwed into the tool, the outside profiles were sanded down to match the profile of the boxy Surge handles.



Since there aren't any tools on the inside, there isn't any need to tension the pivot so things could rotate. This solved an age old problem with the Surge, clip wobble.

By torquing the pivot screws tight, there is MUCH more resistance on the clip and locking it into place, it has about the same amount of sideways play as a Charge.



I am meeting with Beerplumber today for lunch so I can pass off the BP an let him test her out.

[Metropolicity]

Here's the Hero shot!

[badwolf]

Great work and cool tool, do like these mod posts

[Metropolicity]

Now with authentic battle damage!



Okok, seriously. BP and I met up for lunch (I finished a 20 Ounce burger, called the 20 Napkin Burger, no lie, BP has pics to prove it) and I handed off the tool to him.

SO AWESOME, we tested it out after in his truck on some tubing and snip snip, it was an instant classic.



and some video:

http://flic.kr/p/ay8ryC

[WWW]

Made by you I wouldn't expect less !!!  Great job mate! 

[Beerplumber]

I had stage fright! After asserting myself as alpha male with the new tool I'm becoming much better at using it. The shear heads are perfect seriously, a wrist flick and a light squeeze disengages/engages the lock super easy. Looking forward to work this week now!

[Gareth]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100thousandquestions/6270790560/#secret8cb6e21fcf
very nice indeed.

[enki_ck]

I think this could be some of your best work yet.

[Metropolicity]

The Beerplumber was so good that I updated the Arborman with the same shears! Also a lanyard with some custom beads.

Don't let your eyes fool you, that's another almost identical tool!

Arborman MKII!