Crony

[Zack]

Well I just got done with my stint with the crony and here is a mini-review of sorts to give both the strengths and weaknesses of this tool.

Strenghts:
-The bottle opener is perhaps one of the best bottle openers I have ever used.
-The small flathead screwdriver is the perfect size for screws around the house.
-Lightweight
-Excellent concept

Weaknesses:  I will go in more detail on this since this a prototype and it was sent to give thoughts on.
-I had some troubles with the multi-step wrench.  It kept wanting to slip on bolts, and could strip them if not careful.  This could be fixed by making the steps sharper and more defined.

-The small screwdriver can dig in your hand when using the wrench.  Not sure how you would fix that

-It needs a a place for me to attach it to my keys.  My keys are always with me, and I think it would work well as a keychain tool.

-Scrap the maginifier idea, it will get too scratched after a few months of use.

These were a few of my ideas to make it better.  It is a very good prototype and as I have said before, I will buy one.  There were a few things like the grinfs being off, but that was stated before I even opened the package.  All in all a very useful tool, that will be a cheaper alternative to the Atwood style tools.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Sounds pretty positive for a prototype

Good work all round

[DoughDTD]

Thanks alot for the review man!  This is where our design concept goes from prototype to polished perfection, through the user critiques!  For the wrench application, I had some good success with it, but I can see what you're saying.  We're going to do a more in depth analysis using the ANSI standards for nuts and wrench sizes, and come up with a better size for the steps to prevent slipping.  The prototypes are water-jet cut as well, which ends up putting a radius on corners where we didnt want one.  The final parts will be laser-cut, so they will have sharper edges to help prevent the stripping.  The keychain attachment is our next big obstacle, and definately something were working on, as this was originally intended to be a keychain tool.  I'm not sure how the screwdriver was digging into your hand while using the wrench, because the way I used it was hold the pry bar section in my hand and turn it like that, so the screwdriver was actually not even in contact with my hand while using it.  I'll try and make a video or post some better pictures showing how I went about using the wrench function.  We are still wrestling hard with the magnifier.  We think it would be really unique, and there are ALOT of obstacles to overcome to make it work, but it very well might get scrapped for another idea in the end.

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to look over the tool and give me and everyone else your input.  This tool is being designed with you guys in mind, so who better to help work out the bugs?!

-Dough

[Poncho65]

  Well that first review sounds promising Dough I most likely will want one myself but just waiting more for the final price Keep up the good work

[Mr. Whippy]

Where the "eye" is for a magnifying lens, why couldn't you make that a 1/4 in bit holder?

[DoughDTD]

I had thought about that, so the user can pick one bit to carry around with the tool.  I'm not really sure how to go about holding the bit in there though, other than just wrapping something around it (which I'm not really a big fan of).  But I do like the idea, throw some ideas at me as to how you think we should hold the bit in place and maybe I can make it happen.

-Dough

[Mr. Whippy]

Could do it with a ring spring ala the Vic Spirit plus socket, driver handle...

 

[DoughDTD]

That was our original intention, but in order to get a groove to insert the ring spring, you have to use a boring bar.  The problem is, with the hex shape, you will be constantly cutting/not cutting/cutting/not cutting until you reach the full depth, and this impact loading on the cutting tool will cause it to shatter.  I think we're going to try really hard and pursue the magnifying glass idea, and take every precaution to make it scratch resistant and useful.

-Dough

[NeitherExtreme]

That was our original intention, but in order to get a groove to insert the ring spring, you have to use a boring bar.  The problem is, with the hex shape, you will be constantly cutting/not cutting/cutting/not cutting until you reach the full depth, and this impact loading on the cutting tool will cause it to shatter.  I think we're going to try really hard and pursue the magnifying glass idea, and take every precaution to make it scratch resistant and useful.

-Dough

I like the magnifying glass idea. I'm no machinist or anything, but could you find some way to make rubber stops or something that lift out when you want the magnifier?

[Benner]

I'm not going to comment too much as I want to do a more full review later, but PLEASE put the magnifyer in.

[Zack]

I don't know what I was thinking about the screwdriver digging into my hand I meant the prypar part of it.