Gerber Center Drive Club

[Jan178]

I HAVE ONE TOO!!! 

After years of thinking about it i finally got myselt the CD!
So, long story short, i found myself needing a multi with capability of taking standard bits. I watched reviews of SOG, Leatherman and Gerber, and decided that Gerber is the way.
I have had my MP400 for two decades, Spirit for couple of years and i´ve carried Suspension NXT for about half year, and none of those is close to what i really need at my daily job.

The MP400 keeps going with me when compactness and light weight is needed, but the tools are quite worn out and the whole thing is pretty limited overall.
Vic Spirit is absolutely great when i do some clean tasks inside the house and it´s tools are fantastic, but it´s finishing and tight tolerances makes the tool unusable when using it outside, cold and wet environment. More of an instrument than a tool. But not giving it away, no way!
Gerber Suspension NXT, well, i like it´s toolset, springloaded pliers are nice, phillips driver is absolutely usable and the awl works great as scriber. But they made the tool so unergonomic that it´s actually painful to use without gloves. Also the whole tool flexes so much it feels like it´s gonna break when even moderate force is used.

Now, i thought about getting a SOG Poweraccess for the exotic pliers and ability to use standard bits, but they apparently suffer major quality control issues. Might get the Powerpint is some point, though...
The Leatherman Wave would be a boring desision, tried and true, yes, but i don´t really care carrying plethora of useless flathead drivers. Ability to chance bits is cool, but their price is not. Also i couldn´t buy those bits from every corner store. And actually having used the Wave, while being greatly made it´s tools are, IMHO quite mediocre. And to use those standard bits i woul´d have to carry the extension with me. So, no.

So, what about the Center Drive? Yeah, Gerber has it´s quality issues, but it also has great quarantee. Also i have liked my other Gerbers, specially the MP400 and i think that the sliding pliers are next to none when it comes to usabilitity. The drive of course is the main attraction beside the big OHO knive.
I´ve had this beast of a tool for two weeks now and the more i use it the more i like it! Pliers and blades are coming smoother to open, i modded the tip of file to work as chisel. There are not too many tools in it, but the ones that are there feels to work as they should.

Not regretting my buy so far, and i think we have many years and many jobs ahead of us! 

[Barry Rowland]

Good for you and welcome aboard!! 

[semso suljagin]

 

[Barry Rowland]

Has anyone ever seen, or modded, a Center Drive pliers set into the blunt nose?  I think that would be a handy set of pliers!

[zoidberg]

Has anyone ever seen, or modded, a Center Drive pliers set into the blunt nose?  I think that would be a handy set of pliers!

I have thought about it but I already have a blunt nose mp600, surge, charge and a few others...

[Barry Rowland]

I'm sort of surprised Gerber doesn't offer one 

[Barry Rowland]

Well used but still getting the job done!

[Antti Lammi]

Has anyone found good solution to spare bit holder so it wont prevent grabbing thin materials, i hate to open it everytime i want to grab thin materials like paper so 8 can pull them without slipping.
I could mod that holder so it wouldnt engage other side when grabbing thin materials but it would also mean that lifting up spare holder comes troublesome especially when wearing gloves ( without gloves its also really difficult) to me its really huge flaw on desing, on my previous Centerdrive i modded part that engaged orjer handle away so i know how annoying that can be, also i dont wanna keep holder open cause if it comes loose bits drop and secondly it digs to your hand when squeezing pliers ( without gloves or thin gloves) also it sometimes stucks to your pockets cause of that holder, i carried it on my workpants swing pockets for faster acces, many times it got stuck on fabric inside pockets.
So i decided to cut away that part but it made lifting holder near impossible without help of something like nail or screw. Eventually i just let it sit and started carrying seperate bitholder cause it was easier to grab bit from it that lift up holder.
Eventually i sended Centerdrive to warranty cause blades lock bended and i couldnt bend it back so blade wouldnt wiggle back and fort when blade was engaged, when i got new i partially gave up carrying it cause of that flaw in desing and replaced it with ST300 and Victorinox wrenches.


There is that flaw, if anyone wonder what part i meant. Try it yourself, when sparebit holder is closed grab paper with pliers and pull paper it just slips, then open holder and repeat grabbing and it wont slip like when holder closed. It seems to be small flaw but it is actually really huge desing flaw.
To make it work better Gerber should redesing holder so that lift up mechanism is much lower than it is now. Difference between gap on handles closed and opened holder is roughly 2-3mm but if you press even more on opened holder handles gap is much less, but even without pressing hard that 2-3mm makes pliers grab paper without it slipping. So it makes huge difference even that gap is so small.



Only Tools Matters

[Barry Rowland]

Of all the pieces on the Center Drive, that bit holder is the one part that almost everyone dislikes.  Mine wants to drop the bit because it gets loose.  I think it could definitely use some revisions. 

[Judith]

Just picked up a CD the other day, they had it 20% off at Ace Hardware. So far I really like it, it rattles a bit more than my surge but I honestly prefer it over the Surge so far. One thing though does anyone know where you can buy the bit set that comes with it? The one I purchased didn't include the bit set and Ive looked high and low and can't find it anywhere. I couldn't even find it on Gerber's site

[Barry Rowland]

Welcome to the club Judith!  I know someone posted a link on either the CD or MP600 owner's club for the bit kit.  Let me look and see what I can find for you and get back to you.

[Judith]

Thanks Barry, this site has been awesome to browse through since I stumbled across it recently. Since the CD takes standard 1/4 bits I know I can use some off the shelf ones but I’m a sucker for having my equipment match up OEM wise. Thanks again!

[Barry Rowland]

I understand completely Judith!  https://www.knifecountryusa.com/store/product/120708.120737/gerber-45200-tool-kit-for-mp-400-mp-600-and-mp-800.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8sauBhB3EiwAruTRJj55DxygdAui2y3SYG-x1Gv1gEhX9o4io5O2TXGQkHRM1BjQSAG0qRoCTsUQAvD_BwE is a new set for sale.  It's identical to the CD version.

[Barry Rowland]

Some pictures from the Driver Challenge.  I don't know why I didn't post more here 

[Barry Rowland]

 

[Barry Rowland]

☕☕

[Juan el Boricua]

Patina!!!
 

20240324_114759.jpg (Filesize: 288.01 KB)

 

20240324_115056.jpg (Filesize: 330.63 KB)

[Barry Rowland]

Excellent!!  Juan that looks great!

[Juan el Boricua]

 

[Barry Rowland]

I love how the Center Drive seasons with use.  They look better the older they get 

[Swiss Reformer]

I just became the proud owner of a Gerber Center Drive.  I love it, though was surprised by how 'rough' it's overall functioning felt (which is not a problem). 

The only thing I noticed that seemed not right was that there was a 'lip' on the bit holder (see first pic) that, when compressing the handles, curved down onto the other handle.  That seemed odd (and a little fragile) to me, and wondered if there was a way to press the bit holder down farther.  Well, with a good bit of effort, there was (I first thought I'd broken something!), which changed the angle of the lip of the bit holder to go into a groove in the other handle and create (what seemed to me, anyway) a firmer foundation when the handles are pressed together.

The first and 2nd pics show where the lip would make contact at first.   

The red lines in the first and 3rd pics show the change in the angle of the bit holder's angle. 

The last pic shows what seems to be a perfect fit.

I at first assumed the bit holder was in the correct position because it came to me in that position.   

This has likely been addressed before, but I've been away from the forum for quite some time, so thought I'd go ahead and make the post.  Hopefully, it will help some avoid a little head-scratching 

[Barry Rowland]

Welcome to the club and welcome back!  Of all the pieces for the Center Drive, that one almost seems like an afterthought.  It's the only part of mine that has given me grief.   I've had to tighten it with another set of pliers around the bit because it will work itself loose from being used as a block between the handles.  Other than that, my Center Drive has been a beast of a tool.  That lip is part of the package, but it does look cheap.

[Swiss Reformer]

Thanks, Barry!

Welcome to the club and welcome back!  Of all the pieces for the Center Drive, that one almost seems like an afterthought.  It's the only part of mine that has given me grief.   I've had to tighten it with another set of pliers around the bit because it will work itself loose from being used as a block between the handles.  Other than that, my Center Drive has been a beast of a tool.  That lip is part of the package, but it does look cheap.

[Barry Rowland]

Anytime!  Just let me know if I can help.  I've had one for years now. 

[jf34]

hi ,  im french so excuse me for my english ...  i have 2 gerber center drive  , each bought on second hand .  the last one at some  very little difference with my first .
and i m asking myself , if one of those are not a fake , or it's only different building process , with time ...
sheath are the same , (made in china )

place to photos

[Barry Rowland]

Bienvenue JF!  I think your Center Drive is legitimate.  If you can, post pics of the different implements opened up.  I was involved with Spyderco knives for awhile and the difference is definitely in the details.  Where did you purchase it and did it come on a box?  Does the main blade hold an edge?  Was it incredibly inexpensive?  Definitely post more pictures. 

[Juan el Boricua]

Welcome JF34 and, good tool choices you've made. I'm going to guess that the one with the laser etched date code is a first generation model, and the other one is a later production model; both real models. One way to be sure is to look on the blade of the "undated" one and see if it has a date code etched on the back side, right under the thumb hole or, stamped inside the handle under the blade. By the look of yours, I'd say look for the stamped 5-digit code on the handle.

[Juan el Boricua]

On the following picture, the top and bottom ones have the stamped code (silver one is 08722 and the black one is 08723), the second and third ones from the top have the code etched on the blade back, right under the thumb hole (0870318B and 0870219B), and the fourth has it on the handle; this fourth one is a mid-first generation one with an etched date code of February, 2017 (0870217B; CD debuted in October, 2016, if I remember well).

20241218_223216.jpg (Filesize: 357.1 KB)

[Juan el Boricua]

And here's a picture of the stamped ones(you can see the stamps right under the beginning of the "blade guard"),

20241218_223642.jpg (Filesize: 233.9 KB)

[Barry Rowland]

Thanks Juan and that's a fine lineup of Center Drives!