Gerber Dime Screwdriver Mod

[vrunge]

Hello everybody,

this is my first post on this forum so please be gentle! Id also like to apologize for my english. Let me know if there is anything unclear in my writing.

1) What it is:
- a mod for the gerber dime keychain multitool that gets rid of the build in flat head screw driver as well as the two dimensional phillips / wannebe file combo.
- it replaces them with a 4mm precisionbit-driver plus room for a second spare bit (also knows as "micro bit", found for example in phone/computer repair kits)
- for now, it also takes away the spot for the mini tweezers in the scale. Will fix that soon-ish

2) What it looks like:
Album: https://imgur.com/a/9dD0N










3) How it came to be:

A few months ago i purchased a gerber dime as my edc keychain tool. I did like the tool selection as well as the optics. The screw drivers did seem a bit lackluster though. But beeing a tinkerer a thought to myself that id be able to fix that. The screws on the pivots appeared promising with regards to mod potential.
After a couple of weeks tinkering around, i came up with the design from above which fits my needs. Its printed in nylon on my el-cheapo china 3D printer. That way the torque i can get out of the bit driver is enough for the toolsize. (especially compared to the suitable usecases of the pliers) and if it ever breaks, i can just reprint it.

In case a lot of people want to replicate what i did, i can post a more detailed how-to as well as uploading the stl files on thingiverse. There are a couple steps in preparing the dime, swapping around some things and filing down others. As well as some tricks to do after the parts have been printed.

Best reagrds,
Volker

[Dutch_Tooler]

Welcome here!

That looks awesome

Isn't nylon a bitch to handle though? I have yet to try printing it. Do you need a heated bed and what bed and extruder temps are you using?


PS your English writing is fully understandable, no worries.

Sent on my SM-G930F with Tapatalk

[vrunge]

That looks awesome

Isn't nylon a bitch to handle though? I have yet to try printing it. Do you need a heated bed and what bed and extruder temps are you using?

Sent on my SM-G930F with Tapatalk

Thanks!

The main issues with nylon are delamination, moisture and warping. If the filament is dryed, the chamber is heated and a large brim is used, it can be handled very gracefully. I dont have a heated chamber though, but for parts this small, it appears to be fine.

I'm currently using dried nylon trimmerline, a non heated gerrolite bed with glue stick (Tronxy X1 printer) and printing at a relatively hot 270 degree. Even with a huge brim i do get a little bit of warping, but layer adhesion is really good as well as print quality. The warping issue is encountered by making the part taller at the bottom and filing it down after the print. At some time down the road, there will be a heated chamber to turn the printer into a nylon-machine.

[Dutch_Tooler]

Ah, OK, thanks. My printer has heated bed and chamber so that would be OK, but I worry slightly about the 270 °C extruder temp, I think mine goes up to 260 or so. Need to check...

[ThePeacent]

awesome mod!
I don't even think a Dime is worth that modding and the driver itself outdoes anything on that tool (IMO, of course)

Very neat       

[Don Pablo]

Mini bit drivers are cool. 

[King_Gorilla]

    


WOW  It looks very professional. 

Is the little lever a lock for the driver?

 

[ReamerPunch]

Welcome to the forums! 

That mod is crazy good. I bet you could sell the design to a manufacturer.
Two double sided bits on a keychain multitool? The versatility is mouth-watering. 

[Obi1shinobee]

 

[vrunge]

Ah, OK, thanks. My printer has heated bed and chamber so that would be OK, but I worry slightly about the 270 °C extruder temp, I think mine goes up to 260 or so. Need to check...

for bowden extruder printer, the firmware usually caps at 275. If your hotend cooling fan also blows on the heatblock, that might cause the hotend to cap out at a lower temperature.

awesome mod!
I don't even think a Dime is worth that modding and the driver itself outdoes anything on that tool (IMO, of course)

Very neat       

Understandble preference, im glad you like the driver! Do you have any other compact MT in your mind, that would be a worthier base for this mod?
For me the fact that the dime is a rather inexpensive multitool made it an even better candidate for tinkering.

Mini bit drivers are cool. 

Indeed they are!

   


WOW  It looks very professional. 

Is the little lever a lock for the driver?

 

Thanks, i'm glad you like it!

The little lever indeed locks the driver with very little play. In my first iteration i tried to implement a slipjoint kinda affair. But it tended to close itself up when i drove a screw into the wall for hanging something up (maybe also to test the rigidity, i didn't HAVE to use the tiny dime for that).

Welcome to the forums! 

That mod is crazy good. I bet you could sell the design to a manufacturer.
Two double sided bits on a keychain multitool? The versatility is mouth-watering. 

Hah, i wouldn't complain if gerber got in touch with me and bought my design
I actually plan to file down my minibits to have a flat head driver on the other side each. I'm not too sure which two bits ill have to be my go-to. Probably PH2 and some Torx. So it would be like four proper screwdrivers in place of the two bad ones

Thanks!
 

[benbergman]

This is awesome. I may have to try this.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[ironraven]

First, don't worry about your english- most of us don't have the most amazing vocabulary here, and our grammer is meh. And our table manners are atrocious. You'll be fine.

Secondly... hubba-hubba! That mod is nice- I"m not a fan of the Dime, but taking it's limits into account this is an excellent mod. I'd normally worry about nylon in a use like this, but as you pointed out, this is not conductive to over torquing. While it does look a little rough, it also looks right for this particular tool- it looks nice and worn in, matches the rest of it. Is that a lock I see? The little tab we can see clearest in the 4th and 5th pictures, near the pivot. An excellent touch if it is, we don't normally see anything quite like that.

[vrunge]

This is awesome. I may have to try this.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Thanks!
I uploaded the files on thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2719278
The instructions are incomplete as of yet, but feel free to try, comment and ask if anything is unclear.

First, don't worry about your english- most of us don't have the most amazing vocabulary here, and our grammer is meh. And our table manners are atrocious. You'll be fine.

Secondly... hubba-hubba! That mod is nice- I"m not a fan of the Dime, but taking it's limits into account this is an excellent mod. I'd normally worry about nylon in a use like this, but as you pointed out, this is not conductive to over torquing. While it does look a little rough, it also looks right for this particular tool- it looks nice and worn in, matches the rest of it. Is that a lock I see? The little tab we can see clearest in the 4th and 5th pictures, near the pivot. An excellent touch if it is, we don't normally see anything quite like that.

Thanks! And yes, that's a lock! For now without any spring action though. At first i implemented it as a slipjoint but i quickly got annoyed by the driver closing itself while screwing. So a lock was a must have in the next iteration.

So far i didn't notice any awful table manners. Every comment was nice so far. But i'll brace myself for the future ^^

[ChrisEDC247]

Wow! Superb mod! Most impressive.

[Mechanickal]

Would love to see you do this on a Leatherman Micra
If possible at all.
Really neat work!

[vrunge]

Wow! Superb mod! Most impressive.

Thanks a lot!

Would love to see you do this on a Leatherman Micra
If possible at all.
Really neat work!

If someone would send me one, used or new, i'd try to adapt it to the micra for sure. Or perhaps the p4/ps4. Looking on ebay for a ps4 as a direct comparison to the dime right now. But not so many used offers here in germany and i dont wanne buy a brandnew ps4 to tinker with. As far as i know id have to drill out the rivets and replace them with pivot barrels + screws.

[Mechanickal]

Wow! Superb mod! Most impressive.

Thanks a lot!

Would love to see you do this on a Leatherman Micra
If possible at all.
Really neat work!

If someone would send me one, used or new, i'd try to adapt it to the micra for sure. Or perhaps the p4/ps4. Looking on ebay for a ps4 as a direct comparison to the dime right now. But not so many used offers here in germany and i dont wanne buy a brandnew ps4 to tinker with. As far as i know id have to drill out the rivets and replace them with pivot barrels + screws.

You're in Germany and got pivot barrels + screws??

Now I'm thinking about sacrificing my Micra...

[vrunge]

You're in Germany and got pivot barrels + screws??

Now I'm thinking about sacrificing my Micra...

...well, i don't have them personally. But there will probably be some solution to buy some (or sacrifice the dime ones...).
Do you happen to know the outer diameter of the pins in the Micra/PS4?


Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlZnGJDGcog
this suggests that the micra can be unscrewed once the thread glues is softened up. Same as with the dime, just no screw socket to help.

[proileri]

After a couple of weeks tinkering around, i came up with the design from above which fits my needs. Its printed in nylon on my el-cheapo china 3D printer. That way the torque i can get out of the bit driver is enough for the toolsize. (especially compared to the suitable usecases of the pliers) and if it ever breaks, i can just reprint it.

Nice design!

I'm a big fan of using some metal bits to strengthen the prints, to put some sturdiness where you need it the most. If you find that something breaks easily, you could use a piece of thin metal tube and epoxy it around the bit holder. And if the stem breaks, you could use a bit of flat metal to strengthen it - if you keep the metal part simple, it can be relatively easily shaped with a metal saw / dremel / file. Then print the more complicated parts from plastic.

I also have a cheapo 3d printer around, but I didn't think about printing tool parts yet 

[vrunge]

Nice design!

I'm a big fan of using some metal bits to strengthen the prints, to put some sturdiness where you need it the most. If you find that something breaks easily, you could use a piece of thin metal tube and epoxy it around the bit holder. And if the stem breaks, you could use a bit of flat metal to strengthen it - if you keep the metal part simple, it can be relatively easily shaped with a metal saw / dremel / file. Then print the more complicated parts from plastic.

I also have a cheapo 3d printer around, but I didn't think about printing tool parts yet 

Thanks for the tip! I might consider it in upcoming designs.

I shortly revisited my thought about modding the micra in a similar way. I think the squirt lineup makes for a better target. My solution replaces on of the dime scales. With the micra there are no scales and thus the space efficiency will go down.

I did buy a ebay ps4. Once it arrives i will try to mod it.
In the meanwhile i bought a vic classic which i took apart. The plan is to integrate my house key with the vic classic tools, an usb sick (kingston sdcard adapter) as well as a keychain prybar (china version of the wedgy bar)

New topics may follow!

Best regards,
volka