crackout's Adventures in Alox.

[Syph007]

Moderators Note: This thread has been split away from Syph's alox adventures thread.

So you don't use button srews? But I guess you still have the pivots go into the scales and not flush with the last tool?

Yep exactly.  I grind the pivots so they extend the maximum possible into the scale, but allow the screws to be countersunk.  I did use button heads at the start but found I didnt like them, and switched exclusively to countersunk.

[crackout]

Fresh from the lathe!



3mm diameter, M2 threading. Forget the screws, these are just for testing. Nice ones are already in the mail.

Syph, is it okay if I "use" your thread for this? It's basically your gained experience that I'm using, hehe.

[Syph007]

Fresh from the lathe!

3mm diameter, M2 threading. Forget the screws, these are just for testing. Nice ones are already in the mail.

Syph, is it okay if I "use" your thread for this? It's basically your gained experience that I'm using, hehe.

Ya go ahead and post wherever you think it fits in.  Now you are making me want a lathe!  I need a mill first though.  So many tools to want!

Those pivots look cool, what type of steel did you go with?

[crackout]

V2A steel. Time will tell if it's suitable.

[Syph007]

V2A steel. Time will tell if it's suitable.

Looks like that's close to SAE grade 304.  Should be ok I think.  Im no steel expert though.

[crackout]

Cool thanks!

[crackout]

And here we go!



Thanks all for the great tips!

[Syph007]

Looks good!  Did you go with a solo backspring?  They only need a very tiny bit of a grind on that one inside corner and then they work awesome.

What are you making next now?

I ended up buying that little bottle of Vic oil as well.    It really makes it easy to get it where you want it in the SAK.   

[crackout]

Yep, used a Solo spring.
The spring still needs some grinding and polish but I'm getting there.
I need to find golden screws.

Next? Mh, I love the concept from the Yeoman thread. Maybe I'll try this.
Also, there are tons of Explorers on German eBay, but always the old models with the long phillips. Xx

Any suggestions?

[Syph007]

Yep, used a Solo spring.
The spring still needs some grinding and polish but I'm getting there.
I need to find golden screws.

Next? Mh, I love the concept from the Yeoman thread. Maybe I'll try this.
Also, there are tons of Explorers on German eBay, but always the old models with the long phillips. Xx

Any suggestions?

Lately Ive been picking up swisschamps.. you get the scissors, pliers and philips.  Pliers are fun too sometimes.    Once I get some more Ti scales in I'm putting together a 4 layer with pliers/scissors and philips.

[crackout]

Alright, I sucessfully bent a Solo blade to be parallel to the liner.
Also, I have 3 more pivots on the lathe right now. But these will definitely be the last ones done manually.

Does the caplifter need some grinding to fit in front of the blade?

[Syph007]

Alright, I sucessfully bent a Solo blade to be parallel to the liner.
Also, I have 3 more pivots on the lathe right now. But these will definitely be the last ones done manually.

Does the caplifter need some grinding to fit in front of the blade?

I got it to fit without removing anything from the cap lifter, but it did rub a bit.  I think I would grind off a bit from it and repolish for a perfect fit.  then again the combo and blade rub on a stock Vic compact anyhow... so maybe the rubbing is more authentic.

[crackout]

Hehe!



Brass pivots this time (better than nothing ). Didn't drill the springs and the hole in the middle yet. Fit is nice.

[crackout]

Finally got an Electrician to tear down.

I did some measuring on all the tools and came up with this:

• Blade            2.70mm
• E-Blade            1.70mm
• Awl            1.70mm
• Caplifter         2.20mm
• Phillips Driver      2.70mm
• Spacer (Awl)         1.00mm
• Spacer (E-Blade)      0.50mm

So I was thinking about adding a Phillips to my Pioneer by using the blade spring from the electrician which has the same thickness. Then use the spacer of the electrician's blade to shim up the caplifter.

Thicknesswise it should work. :-X

[lowtech]

Good to hear it arrived safely! I´m looking forward to your mod.

[crackout]

Got this one together right now to test the bent electrician's blade. Works!





I know the saw is mounted the wrong way.

[MadPlumbarian]

Got this one together right now to test the bent electrician's blade. Works!

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

I know the saw is mounted the wrong way.

looking good! JR

[crackout]

Had the posts removed from Syph's thread.
No I can spam without regrets. 

[clickstop]

I'm really liking those 3mm custom pivots, very interesting stuff! 

[crackout]

I got sick of searching for a cheap new Explorer so I just ordered a new one.

I also realized the thin spacer from Electricians is still about a 1/10mm too thick to shim up the caplifter to phillips width but I'll sand that sucker until it matches.

So upcoming: A Harvester bringing a pruning blade as a replacement for the awl and an Explorer bringing an inline phillips to replace the can opener (which will go into the Harvester).

Stuff should arrive on Tuesday hopefully.

If somebody wants the leftovers from Explorer teardowns (cap lifter, can opener, magnifying glass, blade, small blade) or even a reassembled Explorer (-> Climber), shoot me a pm.

[crackout]

And finished!







Big thanks to Syph for the support.

[Syph007]

Looks good to me! 

Did you have any trouble shaping the philips part to get it to work?

[crackout]

No, once you understand that the front nipple controls the angle of the driver when closed and the second the overall position it's fairly easy. I think I could have left an itsy bit more material on the top, but it works perfectly nevertheless.

The spring needed far more grinding to handle the caplifter. Btw, I used the thin spacer that came with the Harvester to shim the caplifter. Works like a charm.

Bending the Pruner blade was also a lot easier than bending the Electrician's blade. Actually, I already bent it too far with the first blow and had to go back a little.

6 scales will go to my anodizer (& laser engraver) tomorrow.

[crackout]

And here we go: Call it Super Bantam, Voyageur, Alox Compact...



First peen-job. Went smoothly. My new EDC.

Two layer 84 alox just feels so nice. I begin to understand why so many people love Cadets.

[Syph007]

Looks good to me!  It is a slender but powerful combination of tools isnt it?  How do the back side of your pins look?  

[crackout]

Pretty much stock, except for one. Not sure why this one turned out so different (a little wider). Might redo that one.

I used a block of steel I drilled a little hole for the pin head of one side in. And a modified 'punch' with the same hole. Worked pretty nicely.

Tools: I'd love to have a caplifter layer and a nail file instead of the combo tool (a scissored Cadet), however then it's just too thick for my taste for a 84.

[Sidhartha]

very nice! 

[nuphoria]

Cool... great EDC

[crackout]

Found some time to shoot better pictures.

[nuphoria]

Lovely

You can't really get too much of a good thing.