Leatherman charge hacks - pic heavy

[vadsoom]

So far, I don't have a name for this beast. I've tried to address issues I've had with my much loved Charge over several years.

Here's a list of the kids
- Rebar head, ground to allow the tool to close completely.



- Removed serrated blade and replaced with Wingman scissors



- Because I use the serrations for bullwork, the straight blade was replaced with a  Skelletool combo  blade.



- I used the hook blade for removing wire insulation and opening packages. I didn't want to give it up, so I sharpened a hook into the clip, covered with heat shrink so I don't cut myself when it's riding in my pocket.



Covered



Added a custom made glass breaker to the top of the clip.



Added a ferrocium rod striker into the curved part in the clip.



Added a ferrocium rod



Added tweezers



Added a pen



Added a Swiss Army plastic toothpick



Added a custom made titanium toothpick



For field sharpening, a custom removable diamond file.



To prevent the file from protruding, a wire loop to hold the tip in place.



I kept the file and saw, both useful, but moved them to the same side.



Added a brass bit holder. It holds any standard Leatherman bit, but I have a custom awl, nail puller installed.

And the bit...



Speaking of awls....



And finally, tritium markers in both latches...



The whole setup....



Everything stores in the standard package with nothing protruding except the bit holder. All the tools lock when fully deployed. All drivers lock at 90 degrees and fully open.

Many thanks to everyone's inspiration and ideas.

What do you think?

[Fortytwo]

Wow, that's some serious modding! Good on you for knowing what you want with the tool and making it happen!

[bigraab1972]

Awesome work man! Can't wait to see more of your work in the future.


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[Poncho65]

Very nice mods Love all the pics as well Thanks for sharing with us

[Aloha]

  great work.
I was looking at putting the saw with the file on my Wave.  Good to see someone do it.

[gregozedobe]

Very impressive !         

[Kampfer]

OB1 would be impressed. 

[SteveC]

That is    

[sLaughterMed]

Fantastic modding! How is the retention of the pen and toothpicks?

[vadsoom]

Retention of all of the tools is good. I placed a small piece of velcro inside the knife slot to increase the friction for the pen. The rest fit quite snug with no need  for reinforcement. The removable file is held by the wire loop and implement lock.

[IvanDrago]

And finally, tritium markers in both latches...

(Image removed from quote.)

 

[ducttapetech]

Now that is some proper modding right there. Nicely done.

[Mizedog]

Well, I'm wholly impressed.  You basically married the hardware store functionality of the Leatherman with the more stately pieces of the Victorinox.  This is extremely close to my vision of the perfect multitool for when functionality rules over lightness. I wonder which of these mods I can do to my Wave...

I would like to see your exploded view next to a fully opened Swisschamp. I know it wouldn't be a fair comparison,  but would be an approach from the Victorinox side of the equation.

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[009L]

Very, very cool!

I'm really glad I found guys and this forum, a real source of inspiration!

[pomsbz]

Really impressive!

[kkokkolis]

Man, you are a serious candidate for an asylum. That means, you are a proper MTOer.

[NicknameNMS]

How did you make the brass bit holder?

[vadsoom]

The brass bit holder is made from rectangular bar stock. The inner dimensions are really close to the outer dimensions of the flat Leatherman bits so I needed to add a little detent on the side that rests against the Charge to retain the bit. The angles are cut from the bar stock with extra material cut and folded to cover the sharp end bit. The joints were then carefully soldered, then sanded to remove the burrs and sharp edges.

Another update:

The tritium tubes were protruding from the channels slightly so both have broken during tool use. I didn’t dare cut any more material on the channels to make them deeper, so the logical solution is to use smaller diameter tritium tubes and when the epoxy is applied, leave a small gap between the channel and the upper surface of the epoxy so any pressure placed on the latches isn’t transferred to the tritium tube causing breakage. Replacement tubes are on the way.

I’ve changed the knife for a straight blade with the skinning hook, but I’ve ground off the serrations.

At some point, I lost the titanium toothpick.

I’ve changed the diamond knife sharpener with one that’s commercially available to give some replacement options, and added a SIM card eject tool held in place using a tiny rare-earth magnet.

The glass breaker proved to be too much for the clip during normal use so the clip has a broken. I’ll try again add both of these tools again, I’ll try to remember to post photos and updates.

[NicknameNMS]

Thanks for the updates. I have 3 more questions for you, how did you make the toothpick and what diameter is the tritium and where did you get it? I am also curious to see if maybe a bit holder can be made that is attached by magnets. you would need some strong magnets though.

[Hvac budget]

Love the mods!  What pen did you use?

[vadsoom]

It’s a Swiss Army pen. Nothing unusual.

[vadsoom]

Thanks for the updates. I have 3 more questions for you, how did you make the toothpick and what diameter is the tritium and where did you get it? I am also curious to see if maybe a bit holder can be made that is attached by magnets. you would need some strong magnets though.

The tritium is from MixGlow, 1.2x5mm vials.

I made the toothpick. Unfortunately I lost it. If I recall it was about .8mm diameter with a cap of about 2mm.

I’ve tried the magnets. Without having a magnet embedded in each piece, they aren’t strong enough to prevent the loss of the bit.

[Hvac budget]

How is the pen narrow enough to fit?  I've tried fitting the victorinox night manager refill pen in the wave and Surge pocket clip slot, and the pen is too wide to fit through the end width opening.

[vadsoom]

How is the pen narrow enough to fit?  I've tried fitting the victorinox night manager refill pen in the wave and Surge pocket clip slot, and the pen is too wide to fit through the end width opening.

No, it’s not without modifications. My scales are modified to fit the pen.

[Hvac budget]

Thanks.  Great job again!

[pfrsantos]

Very nice mods Love all the pics as well Thanks for sharing with us

+1

 

[Joshua Toral]

Hoping to revive this thread I bit and hoping OP sees it. Super sweet mods. How did you cut your own hook blade into the pocket clip?
 
Love the pen and tweezer addition. Stroke of genius seeing those pockets and filling them tastefully

[Joshua Toral]

Also meant to ask about the ferconium rod. How did you cut the notch out?

[ModificatYon]

Wow that's a noice mod, I didn't know you could use a skeletool blade in a Charge. Do you know if its the same for the Wave?
Keep on modding!