Today I spent a few hours in the garage fixing up a Coast Pocket Toolbox that I modded previously. I combined all the best tools from an old version of the toolbox and the new version. Essentially, I got rid of the victorinox-style pliers (which were springless), and added a saw and scissors to the tool. Well, the scissors broke a while back. And since this was the first tool I ever modded... I went ahead and fixed it. I disassembled the tool, drilled out the spot welds holding the spring to the scissor body, then once separated I bent the spring back so that it wouldn't keep popping out. Then I ground a bevel on the tip of the spring and matching bevel on the contact area of the scissor, so that when actuated the spring will tend to pull into the frame instead of be allowed to pop away. (In the transmission world, ,this is undercutting gear dogs). Finally I put stainless rod in the two holes from where I drilled out the spot weld, and hammered them in with a ball peen hammer until everything was tight and not moving. I could tack weld it, but this way actually worked really well and there was no risk of heat causing the spring to go brittle.
I must have put four hours into this over two days. For a tool that sits in my desk unused, that I paid a grand total of $14 for between the two tools I combined.
But you know what? I'm much calmer and happier after spending my time dicking around in the garage. I feel relaxed and my stress level has dropped a bit. So... those four hours weren't really wasted in my book.
Charles.
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