First time modding

Aloha · **Reply #30 on:** February 07, 2017, 12:08:14 AM

Looks great

Booba5 · **Reply #31 on:** February 07, 2017, 01:10:19 AM

Thanks guys, I think it turned out great! I went ahead and polished up the plier heads, There were a few dings that didn't come out, but nothing too major. I know it'll end up rubbing when I close, but that'll clean up easily and eventually it'll stop rubbing. This stuff is really addicting, I'll tell ya.

DSC01307 by Scooby Walker, on Flickr

SteveC · **Reply #32 on:** February 07, 2017, 01:26:48 AM

Great job !

Poncho65 · **Reply #33 on:** February 07, 2017, 04:48:04 AM

Wow

Nice job on that Wave

jlwatso1 · **Reply #34 on:** February 07, 2017, 06:27:16 AM

Looks good!

I bought me a Wave, Rebar, and Wingman off of eBay as well, just haven't had time to do the mod yet. The more I have used my Surge with the replaceable wire cutters, the more I miss having the original head. The wire cutters just don't cut stranded wire that well and I save nail head and screw cutting for my linemans or a sawzaw. Think the original Wave head may stay. I plan on the wingman Scissors, 3D screwdriver from the Rebar and I think I will ditch the eyeglass screwdriver for a larger one. Scissors may go in the Rebar or possibly my Crunch! I got a pocket clip too. I hope to carry it when I'm not at work.

Booba5 · **Reply #35 on:** February 08, 2017, 03:44:02 AM

Sounds like a plan! I have yet to cut any wiring with my Wave, but the chain link fencing I was cutting through was no problem at all. I ended up pulling the pliers out again and polishing them once more, I wasn't satisfied with the sides at all. Ironically, the sides took longer than everything else I have done...combined.

Anyways, S30v came in today, my buddy won't be able to get to sharpening it until the weekend, so I just went ahead and installed it now. I also had my wife line the inside of my sheath with microfiber, so that's pretty cool. Here's a pic of the new blade. I'll do the JB weld dots after sharpening. Since I was done with the 420HC blade I went ahead and popped the JB weld dots off of it to see how hard removal was...and it was cake. Good news to me since I might get sick of them on the S30v blade and it'll be nice to just pop them off. Ok, enough rambling...pic:

DSC01321 by Scooby Walker, on Flickr

Booba5 · **Reply #36 on:** February 08, 2017, 03:53:18 AM

Here's the sheath itself, seems to polish up the handles every time I pull it out of the sheath!

DSC01327 by Scooby Walker, on Flickr

jaya_man · **Reply #37 on:** February 08, 2017, 04:27:37 AM

That's a nice mod you have there... how did you achieve the polished mirror finish?

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Booba5 · **Reply #38 on:** February 08, 2017, 04:55:32 AM

Thank you. I started by stripping down the Wave, to avoid getting grit into the joints, and to avoid polishing something I didn't want to polish. I started with 400 grit (dry) going against the "grain," so lengthwise from end to end. After I could see the majority of the original lines were gone, I moved to wet sanding 400 grit, using a new sheet. Everything was wet sanding from here. I stayed with 400 grit until the original lines were totally gone, and the only lines you can see were from my sanding (lengthwise). I moved onto 800 grit, then 1000, 1500, 2000, and finally 2500. I'd be sure to sand each level at least 3 times, cleaning more frequently with higher grits. Once my wife and I had agreed it was time to move onto a fine grit, I'd do another round of sanding just to make double sure it was time to move to something finer.

Once I was done with 2500 grit I was honestly happy with the results, but I went ahead and moved onto the Dremel. I used the polishing compound they provided, but I was disappointed with it scratched up the surface and I had to sand from 1000 grit again. I tried the polishing bit "520" as they call it, which is a polishing bit with compound and lubrication "impregnated" into it. This worked great. The sharper edges of the plier heads chewed up the Dremel bit a little so I just used some polishing compound and polished it by hand.

Time and patience is key.

jaya_man · **Reply #39 on:** February 08, 2017, 06:02:00 AM

Quote from: Booba5 on February 08, 2017, 04:55:32 AM

Thank you. I started by stripping down the Wave, to avoid getting grit into the joints, and to avoid polishing something I didn't want to polish. I started with 400 grit (dry) going against the "grain," so lengthwise from end to end. After I could see the majority of the original lines were gone, I moved to wet sanding 400 grit, using a new sheet. Everything was wet sanding from here. I stayed with 400 grit until the original lines were totally gone, and the only lines you can see were from my sanding (lengthwise). I moved onto 800 grit, then 1000, 1500, 2000, and finally 2500. I'd be sure to sand each level at least 3 times, cleaning more frequently with higher grits. Once my wife and I had agreed it was time to move onto a fine grit, I'd do another round of sanding just to make double sure it was time to move to something finer.

Once I was done with 2500 grit I was honestly happy with the results, but I went ahead and moved onto the Dremel. I used the polishing compound they provided, but I was disappointed with it scratched up the surface and I had to sand from 1000 grit again. I tried the polishing bit "520" as they call it, which is a polishing bit with compound and lubrication "impregnated" into it. This worked great. The sharper edges of the plier heads chewed up the Dremel bit a little so I just used some polishing compound and polished it by hand.

Time and patience is key.

Thanks for the helpful tip

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Booba5 · **Reply #40 on:** February 16, 2017, 07:06:25 PM

I've been using it for a week and a half and I love it! My friend finished sharpening the knife to a mirror finish as well, so it all matches, lol. I have taken on the task (and gotten a little carried away) of grinding down the inside a bit so the plier heads don't rub, and will stay polished. This is fun. Just kidding, it's not. I finally was able to track down a 3 inch sanding pad for a die grinder at work so that moved things along a bit. I'm just about done with that task, maybe a little more grinding to do, once it doesn't rub anymore, I'm going to strip the tool down and polish up the insides to 1,000 grit. Confused? Here's some pics.
Knife edge:

This morning I gave the pliers a quick 1,000 grit sanding to clean up the old rubbings, so I can look for new ones. Eventually it'll be polsihed up to 2,500 and polishing compound thereafter:

Here's the insides, like I said, I'll polish it up a bit when I'm done.

In this pic you can see where it's still rubbing a bit, the darker part above the medium screw driver:

As far as how I like the heads (basically) not rubbing anymore? It's awesome. The handles still move nice and tight, but the tool itself opens so much easier, and smoother. So far, it's probably the best thing I've done to my Wave.

Aloha · **Reply #41 on:** February 16, 2017, 07:29:41 PM

While the tool will sustain some scratching with use I have found its not terrible. Sure looks awesome all shined up right? I personally didnt find it to be unwieldy in hand due to being polished either. I think polished the tool just looks more badda$$.

Great job on the Mods.

Booba5 · **Reply #42 on:** February 17, 2017, 09:26:56 AM

Agreed. It just seems like a different class of tool, lol. I think the Rebar heads are a bit thicker than the normal Wave heads, so that' probably why they were rubbing so bad. I'm 99% sure I have it ground down enough now, I have the heads painted and I'll be closing them repeatedly to see if anything is rubbing. I know there might be 2 VERY small spots. Serious about the easy of opening though. It just opens so much more fluid than before. A buddy at work (who turned me onto the Wave) has a "stock" Wave and I asked him to see it today. Talk about a difference. The Rebar, S30v, and SAK scissors aside, that thing was just a PITA to open and use, lol.

I might have more pics tomorrow, but I will for sure have some more this weekend, when I strip it completely down for a (hopefully) final cleaning and polishing.

Booba5 · **Reply #43 on:** February 20, 2017, 05:14:21 AM

Whew, what a weekend. So, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and when I showed an engineer my Wave at work and he instantly showed me the play in the center pin (that I had never noticed, magically)...and it through me for a loop. I tried fixing it and they may or may not be locked up now. I mean I can move them, but not very easily. Long story short, I decided to go ahead and buy a Rebar and basically use it for parts if needed (and that's how it turned out). I picked it up for $40 from Walmart (friend works there, and it was a display), and tore it limb from limb.

Anyways, this meant starting from scratch on the polishing, and I had plenty of tools that I can swap around. One in particular caught my eye. The 3D screw driver. I was able to make it fit with the can opener, and moved both bit drivers to the same side. I know it's not very much as far as how many tools it has now, but it's the tools I'd use at work the most. For the record, a little side project at work is milling a 1\4 allen wrench down to fit in the bit holder. On both of the handles I was able to put a washer in between every tool, even against the body so everything moves very nicely. The polish on the pliers came out great, IMO. Better than the old set, and these are MUCH tighter. The handles got a little cleaning with some 2500 grit, but they can stand to get a little more attention. I discovered a bench grinder at work with a polishing wheel in it, so I'm going to take that thing for a spin (pun) and see what it can do with these handles before I start from 1,000 grit again.

All in all, I spent a fair percentage of the last 2 days sanding, and the end result is a multi tool that not only meets my needs, but looks AND performs like new, or even better. Here's some pics!

Closed:

And the shine:

Aloha · **Reply #44 on:** February 20, 2017, 06:09:03 AM

Really glad to see another polished Wave. We have several members now who have done it and after I first saw one here on MTO I knew I had to. I've now polished 2 new Waves and 1 old plus and Old style Surge that I gave away. It really does "dress" up the tool. With all the mods you did it really makes the Wave very personal.

Great job

.

gnosp · **Reply #45 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:16:37 PM

Great polishing work!

Have you noticed any "slipperiness" when using the tools or pliers due to the smooth, polished finish?

Booba5 · **Reply #46 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:58:17 PM

Nope, not yet, at least. The side that are polished aren't really a gripping surface, so I don't think it'll be a problem. I have been paying pretty close attention to it, but I haven't really noticed anything yet.

Aberdrew13 · **Reply #47 on:** February 22, 2017, 05:33:54 PM

I've been giving thoughts to jeweling the handles of my Reaver. Will have to see what I come up with.

Booba5 · **Reply #48 on:** February 23, 2017, 12:16:49 AM

That'd be interesting to see, for sure! How would you go about attaching them?

SteveC · **Reply #49 on:** February 23, 2017, 12:26:16 AM

That plier head looks amazing

I like how you have rounded the wedges and smoothed the lines

Poncho65 · **Reply #50 on:** February 23, 2017, 04:27:48 AM

Very nice and very shiny

Good job on that Wave

Booba5 · **Reply #51 on:** February 23, 2017, 07:06:58 AM

Thanks guys, I used the bench grinder (with a polishing pad) at work and it helped the heads shine a bit more, but there's still a hair line on the edge where they rub. I'll probably grind inside the body (again) some day when I'm bored at work. The handles, need to be repolished. The bench polisher helped, but it's still not as nice as the heads. This was my first time polishing metal and all, and these handles were literally the first thing I polished. I've gotten better, so I'll go ahead and repolish them, probably starting with 1,000 grit or so. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll have a bunch of pictures basically showing the same thing, but with different legos, lol.

Aberdrew13 · **Reply #52 on:** February 23, 2017, 04:53:08 PM

Quote from: Booba5 on February 23, 2017, 12:16:49 AM

That'd be interesting to see, for sure! How would you go about attaching them?

I was meaning jeweling like this.... http://www.3me.us/jewelling.htm

Booba5 · **Reply #53 on:** February 23, 2017, 05:10:44 PM

Haha, that's a relief. I was thinking, "like what, bedazzled? Whatever floats your boat." LOL. That does look awesome though, I'll have to look into it whenever I get bored with the polish.

Aberdrew13 · **Reply #54 on:** February 23, 2017, 09:29:29 PM

My dad used to jewel bolt action rifle bolts as part of his gunsmith business. That's how I know of it.

Booba5 · **Reply #55 on:** March 12, 2017, 06:46:28 PM

I finally was able to dedicate some time to polishing, Since the initial polishing I was able to pick up a small vice, so this was quite a bit easier. I also took the chance to fill in the lettering on the ruler and the "LEATHERMAN WAVE" on each handle. I used brake caliper paint, and baked the handles in the oven at 400*f for an hour to help it withstand chemicals. I can say it withstands fingernail polish remover, I haven't tested anything else, yet. I think it came out pretty good, Here's some pics.

The LEATHERMAN isn't really all that noticeable, but the Wave is:

The numbers on the ruler came out great, though.

And just because I've always wondering was a wood grain Wave would look like:

Since I had everything torn down I sanded all of the pivots up to 2500 grit, so they were basically a mirror finish as well. This thing is smoooooth.

ReamerPunch · **Reply #56 on:** March 12, 2017, 07:18:44 PM

That's amazing!

How long did the process take?

Booba5 · **Reply #57 on:** March 12, 2017, 07:35:13 PM

Well with this go around, I just "touched up" the Rebar heads, they still rub just a little and over the last month they accumulated some marks from it. I just started at 1500 grit and worked my way up on that while the paint was drying\baking. As for the handles? Including the drying and baking time, the entire project took me about 8-9 hours start to finish. 3.5 hours of that is painting, drying time, and baking time. I wasn't really in much of a hurry to get it done so I took my time, having a 3rd party (Wife) check my progress along the way.

Poncho65 · **Reply #58 on:** March 13, 2017, 04:15:38 AM

That thing is sweet

Any chance we can see the tools fanned out and blades open as well

I love how shiny it is

Reminds me of an old school LM

kaput · **Reply #59 on:** March 13, 2017, 05:07:39 AM

Quote from: SteveC on February 23, 2017, 12:26:16 AM

That plier head looks amazing

I like how you have rounded the wedges and smoothed the lines

I noticed this too. Impressive. I like the replaceable hard wire cutters and I like knowing that if I damage them they are replaceable. But I prefer the rounded plier heads ala the supertool and wave.

But you have made the best of both worlds imo. Bravo

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