I finally did it! Mini Surge ALX and 1 Wing Wingman!

[matt2silver]

So I finally got up the courage to rip apart my wave and rebar to create the MINI SURGE   Over the last few weeks I've been collecting everything I needed for this mod which included a SV30 blade, an extra large bit holder, wingman scissors, and the special 6 point security torx drivers to take down the wave pivots. I also borrowed SteveC's awesome Idea of making my own enigineer pliers to take apart the knurled heads on the rebar pivots, (thanks Steve you saved me a lot of time and effort).

Overall the mod went pretty well it probably took me the better part of 3 hours all said and done to take everything apart and put it all back together. I had one dicey moment when I thought I filed the flat on the wingman scissors down to far but thankfully I just had some things misaligned and they actually fit perfectly with less wiggle than some of the other stock tools.  I also struggled with the flipping indexed washers that go between the tools opposite the sides connected to the pliers,  (made me want to whip the whole thing right on the front door on several occasions). 

After all that work I ended up with something that I'm really happy with, it's your classic mini surge but instead of the saw I opted to keep the file as I use it more often. It also has dual bit holders (like the charge ALX), originally I wasn't sure if I wanted dual bit holders as the extra holder takes up a lot of realestate that could be used to add other tools, but I think it was a good choice for me as I like have the ability to carry two different sizes of phillips and flat head drivers in the wave platform. I also left the large flat driver for prying tasks and the small glasses bit driver as I sometimes find use for it while tinkering around with electronics (and I do where glasses although I have to admit I've never used the driver to fix/adjust them.)  Lastly I loaded in a new SV30 blade and sharpened it up to a razor edge.  I'm calling it the Mini Surge ALX which I think is a fitting name based on the tool load out.

Once the Mini Surge ALX was finished I swapped the wave plier head into the rebar and left the other tools untouched, and I turned the left over wingman into a one wing wingman and added in the scissors I removed from the wave.  I'm pretty happy with the way this little tool turned out as well,  after a lot of mixing and matching tools I think I figured out the best possible combination to make the most out of the limited space.  I installed the scissors and phillips driver on the handle side so that they could lock into place via the spring.  I then swapped all the other tools from the wingman platform (small file, package opener, flat driver, and bottle opener) to the plier pivot side.  The fit is snug but everything does fit and I don't mind the fact that these tools don't snap into place as I think they will do their jobs adequately without having to be fixed open.  As an added bonus I purchased the wingman here on the forums and it's previous owner had already modded it slightly so that it came to me with a plain edge blade instead of the crummy combo edged blade. 

So overall a good day, I ripped apart three good tools and ended up with three great tools when everything was over, and nothing went to waste.  So let me know what you think guys, Thanks!!

Also, I'm done with my home made engineer pliers for a while so if you'd like to borrow them just let me know and I can ship them out to you for a little while.  They're made from cheapo dollar store pliers so the metal isn't the greatest, but they do grip the knurled heads pretty well.  It still helps to loosen the loctite with heat first though, so if you barrow them make sure to heat those pivots up first! (also, they only fit the plier head knurled screws, not the ones that hold the tools in the handle.)

[BlueDot]

Impressive work!

I really like the one-armed wingman.  Any plans for the other 'wing'?

 

[zoidberg]

Good work matt.   

[matt2silver]

Thanks Zoidberg,

I've been wanting to do this mod since joining the forum but I was always intimidated by the idea of resizing pivot holes and filing down the spring engage area on the scissors.  All told though, it really wasn't to hard, I just used a cone shaped grinding bit in the dremel and went nice and SLOW.  It ended up being kind of fun, like playing with an erector set and a brain puzzle all wrapped into one.

[matt2silver]

Impressive work!

I really like the one-armed wingman.  Any plans for the other 'wing'?

 

Thanks Blue Dot,

So far no plants for the other wing, I'm basically out of inside tools and the only parts I have left over are the other arm, the plier head, a few washers, and some pivots.  I'll throw them in the spare parts pile for a future project. 

[SteveC]

Nicely done  Matt   

[matt2silver]

Nicely done  Matt   

Thanks Steve, your engineer plier tip really saved the day!!

[Kampfer]

nice work!

[Breezy12]

great work, Matt! and nice pics too!

[ducttapetech]

Nice work!

Nate

[tommywp]

Perfect tool load outs on both! Awesome!

[Zed]

Very cool mode   

[anditsgone]

So do the wingman scissors lock on the wave or is that not possible, thinking about getting the serrated blade out of my Wave and swap it with wingman scissors.
I never use the serrated blade, and than i could swap the scissors in the handle with something else, don't know which tool yet.

[matt2silver]

So do the wingman scissors lock on the wave or is that not possible, thinking about getting the serrated blade out of my Wave and swap it with wingman scissors.
I never use the serrated blade, and than i could swap the scissors in the handle with something else, don't know which tool yet.

Yep the wingman scissors lock in place on the wave perfectly. you have to do a bit of work to make the pivot hole slightly larger and you might have to file a bit off of the flat area where the lock engages but if you take your time and read some of the awesome how to articles here on the forum, you should be able to do it without any problems.

[Obi1shinobee]

So do the wingman scissors lock on the wave or is that not possible, thinking about getting the serrated blade out of my Wave and swap it with wingman scissors.
I never use the serrated blade, and than i could swap the scissors in the handle with something else, don't know which tool yet.

Yep the wingman scissors lock in place on the wave perfectly. you have to do a bit of work to make the pivot hole slightly larger and you might have to file a bit off of the flat area where the lock engages but if you take your time and read some of the awesome how to articles here on the forum, you should be able to do it without any problems.





good job

[NKlamerus]

Sweet looking mods.

I really like the monowingman as well.

[anditsgone]

Would the wingman scissors fit in place where the serrated blade normaly sits?
Because the end of the tools are grinded under an angle to accomodate the lock.
Is the enough material to grind the angle for the lock so it will work on the wave.

Maybe i replace the serrated blade because i have never use it once.

[mat derby]

a mini surge seems to be for the majority (including myself) the perfect MT. with so many people doing this mod it would appear that leatherman are really missing a trick here. instead of a petition to bring back the kf4 perhaps we should start one for the mini surge or wave/charge v3 and send that to oragon hq.

[Demel]

a mini surge seems to be for the majority (including myself) the perfect MT. with so many people doing this mod it would appear that leatherman are really missing a trick here. instead of a petition to bring back the kf4 perhaps we should start one for the mini surge or wave/charge v3 and send that to oragon hq.

What he said.