Evil's Elixir: A liner locked Leatherman Juice project.....

[evil510]

Hey gang. Evil here again. Finally got around to tearing apart my Juice XE-6 that I have been wanting to mod for years. There are a few things that I have been wanting to change on it to suit my needs. For starters, I never used the corkscrew. The uneven thickness of the handles always bugged me from day one as well. At the moment there are only a few modifications that I know I will do for sure, the rest I will figure out as I go along. Where the corkscrew use to be I am making a foldout LED light. I'll probably swap out the seldom used wood saw for a bi-metal saw similar to the one I installed on my Wave. I'll also be making carbon fiber scales with inlays. To even up the thickness of the handles I created a new blade with a liner lock. Fresh from heat treatment, I mocked up the new D2 blade with it's new thumbstub that I made to compliment the angles on the blade. Thumbstud tapers down in thickness towards the tip. I chose to go with a drop point/semi tanto profile for this blade that actually rides above the bolt spacer opposite of the pivot bolt. By doing this, as well as bringing back the cutting edge towards the handle, the new blade has a cutting edge that is a full 1/2" longer than the standard Juice blade. I raised the height of the blade to move the thumbstud outside the scale and as far away as possible from the cutting edge without interfering with the use of the pliers. The addition of the liner lock evened up the handles perfectly. Now that they are of an even thickness, I can't wait until it is done and I can throw it into my EDC rotation. At any given moment in time, I probably have a dozen or so projects going on with my real life work, so I don't know how often I will be able to devote time to this particular project (or other multitool projects for that matter). I'll post updates whenever I have added to it. Until then, this is stage one of the Elixir: a Juice with a touch of evilness.....

~ evil ~


New D2 blade. Drop point/tanto profile. Custom thumbstud, of course.....


Another view. Here you can better see the liner lock release tab.....


Liner lock engaged.....


Closed view. Back side of blade and liner lock.....


Closed view. Front side with thumbstud.....

[Chain Gang]

That's going to be a class act.Fantastic job.

[82brutus]

One handed evil goodness in a juice package!!! Will the madness never end!?!

[WWW]

 The blade is so freakingly awesome  !!  I REALLY loved it, but rust will be an issue wouldn't it?? Considering that the blade is D2 and that we're talking about a folding knife the maintenance on this will have to be regular (right ). Congrats mate I never get tired of reading your posts, take care!! 

[nuphoria]

Ooh lala.... more great stuff sir

[evil510]

That's going to be a class act.Fantastic job.

Thank you Chain Gang.....

One handed evil goodness in a juice package!!! Will the madness never end!?!

It never ends..... 

The blade is so freakingly awesome  !!  I REALLY loved it, but rust will be an issue wouldn't it?? Considering that the blade is D2 and that we're talking about a folding knife the maintenance on this will have to be regular (right ). Congrats mate I never get tired of reading your posts, take care!! 

Actually, for me anyway, it is because of the lack of maintenance needed that I chose D2 for this blade. I am not referring to the cleaning and oiling aspect, but the need to re-sharpen. I have made many other tools out of D2 and they have held up remarkably well. I have found that, unless they are constantly exposed to moisture and left to sit, a light wipedown every so often with a light oil is all they need to stay rust free. This project will end up being one of my everyday beater tools, so I wanted it to have an edge that will really last. While I use and abuse my tools, I take good care of all of them and keep them in good working order with regular cleanings etc. For some projects, I want more corrosion resistance, for others I want better edge rentention and for others I want a balance of both. Anyway, I hope this helps.....

Ooh lala.... more great stuff sir

Thanks Nuphoria.....

[Dexter]

Very smart sir.  Just a question though, doesn't the thumb stud get in the way somewhat with certain cutting jobs? Such as when the full length of the blade is needed...

[Threeme2189]

Can you post a picture of the blade along side a wave or charge for comparison?
Great work as always Evil!!!

[evil510]

Very smart sir.  Just a question though, doesn't the thumb stud get in the way somewhat with certain cutting jobs? Such as when the full length of the blade is needed...

Thank you, and you have a valid question, however, the same question could be asked about any blade with a thumbstud in general. Actually, this thumbstud, as well as the others that I have made similar to this one, have LESS of a chance of snagging than a typical round bolt style thumbstub. It tapers in both width and height, from full thickness at the bolt to very thin at the tip. If you stabbed through something, it would slide right through like a wedge rather than get stopped at the 90 degreee flat surface of a typical round bolt style thumbstud. Hope this helps......

Can you post a picture of the blade along side a wave or charge for comparison?
Great work as always Evil!!!

Thank you threeme. It is right in between the length of the standard Juice blade and a Wave blade in terms of length. 1/4" longer than the Juice, 1/4" shorter than a Wave. The cutting edge was brought a 1/4" closer to the pivot bolt. This is how the additional 1/2" cutting edge was accomplished. I'll try and post a pic tonight.....

[Dexter]

Very smart sir.  Just a question though, doesn't the thumb stud get in the way somewhat with certain cutting jobs? Such as when the full length of the blade is needed...

Thank you, and you have a valid question, however, the same question could be asked about any blade with a thumbstud in general. Actually, this thumbstud, as well as the others that I have made similar to this one, have LESS of a chance of snagging than a typical round bolt style thumbstub. It tapers in both width and height, from full thickness at the bolt to very thin at the tip. If you stabbed through something, it would slide right through like a wedge rather than get stopped at the 90 degreee flat surface of a typical round bolt style thumbstud. Hope this helps......

Thanks for that explanation. I see what you're saying now. It's not that easy to see on the photo though. Still...fantastic work Evil!

[bushidomosquito]

You always seem to leave out the best part, the making of the blade. Any chance you could let us in on that process next time? I'm tossing around the idea of better blade steels for my SAKs and I'd like to see how you go about it.