Divisible Victorinox RangerGrip (Work in progress)

[Gino88]

Hi Guys,

Short intro: I wanted a pocketknive or multitool with a one-handed blade, a wood saw, pliers, a full size hex bit driver (without using accessoires) and preferably storage for a couple of bits and scissors. This turned out to be quite difficult because Victorinox doesn't offer a model that has all of these things. I also looked at Gerber and Leatherman but I do not prefer the form factor/size and the propieraty bits.

So I decided to mod a Victorinox Rangergrip to get the perfect solution for my needs, through this topic I want to show my progress.

At first I planned to use a Victorinox Rangergrip Boatsman since it has a full Hex bit driver and pliers. But the pliers where dissapointing (too small jaws) and I discovered through a thread on this forum that actually all Rangergrips have the hex driver hidden behind the scales as you can see in below picture.


Therefore I decided to base my mod on a Rangergrip 178 in green/black. In this second idea i wanted to build up this Knive from the ground up adding an extra layer of 6 mm with a pliers and scissors of a smaller victorinox at one side, and a 3d printed bit holder at the opposite side. Furthermore I wanted to 3d print the scales in plastic or even aluminium, you can see below a picture of a prototype of the scales and the bitholder.


However I concluded that it will be very difficult to get the 3d printed scales to fit perfectly, also they do not come out as nice as the original scales. So I have improved my concept further and the current idea is to make a divisible Rangergrip from two Rangergrip Knives. What I want to do is mod the left knive on below picture so it features the scissors, the mini pliers and the bit holder. The right knive will be the original Rangergrip 178. Then I will put magnets and a 3d printed layer in between the knives and the left knive will feature the left original scale and the right knive will feature the right original scale.


Attached with the magnets and the 3d printed layer they will be a big, solid knive containing all features I need. But when needed I can conveniently detach the plier side to tighten a bolt will turning it with the other side. Also I can leave the left part at home for a more lighter and compact size when needed. Currently I am in search of the magnets needed to make this work. They need to be strong enough to keep both layers tightly together but not strong enough to interfere with my creditcards or smartphone storage.

Curious to any ideas or feedback

[SirVicaLot]

Very interesting concept, haven‘t seen anything like it. As far as the magnets are concerned, I think you would want something with a shallow magnetic field. Maybe a multi-pole neodymium magnet?

[FInixNOver]

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[Aloha]

  Not very familiar with the big SAKs but look like you're off to a good start.   

[comis]

Gino88, good to see you on mod squat!

Neodymium magnets do come in all form and shapes, if the intention is only keeping two halves of the tools together, I'm sure you can find them quite easily.  I think the slight challenge is to find them with just the right amount of attraction, too strong they may smash together and shatter.

[SirVicaLot]

I know they make coated neodymium magnets as well. Would that help with a potential shattering problem? The magnets might be thicker though 

[Gino88]

Thanks for all positive replies,

I have found a webshop that sells very small but powerfull neodymium batteries, my idea is enclose them in two 3d printed layers (on on each side), which will also have idents so they will automatically be positioned correctly. The magnets I found are 1 mm thick, I might take multiple 4 or maybe even 6. The minimum wall thickness of 3d printed plastic is 0,7 mm, so the total layer height could be as thin as 3,1 mm including protection of the magnet at both sides.

So that is not really the problem, but I got a more pratical problem when I took apart the knive today (which is a lot more difficult then taking apart smaller Vic's I found out).


The problem is that the backspring I want to use has the awl on the backside and I need to put the Pliers on the left side because of their height, but this leaves very little room in height for the 3d printed bitholder on the right side + the pliers are a little bigger then I estimated so I will only have room for 3 bits at the most. Also the scissors and the pliers are too big to fit them in one layer opposite of each other.

So I am not thinking about putting the 3d printed bitholder, the scissors and the pliers all in seperate rows. Downside it it will get a bit bigger, because the pliers are 3 mm, the scissors 2 mm and the bitholder approx. 6.2 mm, making a total of 9 mm. This would mean that both knives attached with the magnets would be 34 mm thick. Which is 14 mm thicker then the original Rangergrip 178. I am not sure it this will be too big. Upside is because the 3d printed bitholder has it's own layer it does not need a spring which means I can put the bits very deep inside the knive and they will barely stick out. Also I can take up to 10 bits then. Also I have been playing around with the idea to put a in-line bit driver of 3d printed metal at the opposite side of the scissors and the pliers. This will of course not be as strong as the hex driver at the side but it will be more practical for light tasks and you can use the hex driver on the side to really tighten something.

If anyone has any other suggestion for tools that might fit in let me know,

[Simyo]

You might be able to incorporate the bit holder portion into the magnet layers.

[King_Gorilla]

Seems like a really cool idea Gino88.  I love the RangerGrip knives. 

One question:  You said that you were originally thinking about the RangerGrip Boatsman but you were disappointed with how small the jaws were on the pliers.  Now you are putting normal vic pliers on your new mod RangerGrip.  But aren't the Boatsman pliers WAY bigger than the vic pliers???  My RangerGrip doesn't have pliers, (saddly) but from the pictures they seemed to be pretty big.


Also, a suggestion.  If you are sold on the idea of the magnets, then I wouldn't want to try to change your mind, but that seems like for such a big knife, you might want something stronger.  I would suggest something like the Ka-bar hobo knife.  If you could make something similar to that, I would bet it would hold together better.

[comis]

Thanks for all positive replies,

I have found a webshop that sells very small but powerfull neodymium batteries, my idea is enclose them in two 3d printed layers (on on each side), which will also have idents so they will automatically be positioned correctly. The magnets I found are 1 mm thick, I might take multiple 4 or maybe even 6. The minimum wall thickness of 3d printed plastic is 0,7 mm, so the total layer height could be as thin as 3,1 mm including protection of the magnet at both sides.

So that is not really the problem, but I got a more pratical problem when I took apart the knive today (which is a lot more difficult then taking apart smaller Vic's I found out).
(Image removed from quote.)

The problem is that the backspring I want to use has the awl on the backside and I need to put the Pliers on the left side because of their height, but this leaves very little room in height for the 3d printed bitholder on the right side + the pliers are a little bigger then I estimated so I will only have room for 3 bits at the most. Also the scissors and the pliers are too big to fit them in one layer opposite of each other.

So I am not thinking about putting the 3d printed bitholder, the scissors and the pliers all in seperate rows. Downside it it will get a bit bigger, because the pliers are 3 mm, the scissors 2 mm and the bitholder approx. 6.2 mm, making a total of 9 mm. This would mean that both knives attached with the magnets would be 34 mm thick. Which is 14 mm thicker then the original Rangergrip 178. I am not sure it this will be too big. Upside is because the 3d printed bitholder has it's own layer it does not need a spring which means I can put the bits very deep inside the knive and they will barely stick out. Also I can take up to 10 bits then. Also I have been playing around with the idea to put a in-line bit driver of 3d printed metal at the opposite side of the scissors and the pliers. This will of course not be as strong as the hex driver at the side but it will be more practical for light tasks and you can use the hex driver on the side to really tighten something.

If anyone has any other suggestion for tools that might fit in let me know,

I am not that familiar with the Rangergrip family, but please do correct me if I am mistaken--so under current plan, is each halves of the tool has a width of 34mm?  Or together they has a width of 34mm?

I ask because a Swisschamp(or 111mm workchamp) is roughly 30mm wide, and if each halves of the new tool is 34mm, then we will be talking a whooping 68mm width tool(at 130mm long), it will be really heavy and bulky to use...and thus less desired to be carried in a connected format which kinda defeat the purpose of the mod.

You might be able to incorporate the bit holder portion into the magnet layers.

I think that's cool suggestion, especially if not that many bits are needed, it will save at least 1 layer + 1 liner for just adding few mm to the scale

Seems like a really cool idea Gino88.  I love the RangerGrip knives. 

One question:  You said that you were originally thinking about the RangerGrip Boatsman but you were disappointed with how small the jaws were on the pliers.  Now you are putting normal vic pliers on your new mod RangerGrip.  But aren't the Boatsman pliers WAY bigger than the vic pliers???  My RangerGrip doesn't have pliers, (saddly) but from the pictures they seemed to be pretty big.


Also, a suggestion.  If you are sold on the idea of the magnets, then I wouldn't want to try to change your mind, but that seems like for such a big knife, you might want something stronger.  I would suggest something like the Ka-bar hobo knife.  If you could make something similar to that, I would bet it would hold together better.

Another good suggestion, especially if the user plans to keep the two halves together most of the time(like the hobo knife)

[Gino88]

You might be able to incorporate the bit holder portion into the magnet layers.

That's actually quite a good idea, I'm gonna look into that.

Seems like a really cool idea Gino88.  I love the RangerGrip knives. 

One question:  You said that you were originally thinking about the RangerGrip Boatsman but you were disappointed with how small the jaws were on the pliers.  Now you are putting normal vic pliers on your new mod RangerGrip.  But aren't the Boatsman pliers WAY bigger than the vic pliers???  My RangerGrip doesn't have pliers, (saddly) but from the pictures they seemed to be pretty big.


Also, a suggestion.  If you are sold on the idea of the magnets, then I wouldn't want to try to change your mind, but that seems like for such a big knife, you might want something stronger.  I would suggest something like the Ka-bar hobo knife.  If you could make something similar to that, I would bet it would hold together better.

On below picture you side the small pliers and the rangergrip pliers side-by-side, of course the Rangergrip pliers are much firmer but as you can see the jaw size is too small. At a maxium you get about 15 mm of jaw size at the tip of the nose which is barely enough to clamp a bolt, let alone a tube or a piece of wood. Therefore you are giving up a whole layer of about 6-7 mm thick. I still prefer the Rangergrip pliers but I think they are not worth the extra space.

Regarding you Ka-bar hobo knife, this is actually a very interesting concept I was not familiair with. However the problem is there is no good way to attach something to the back of victorinox, since the pins are not raised like the ones in your picture. So the only option is to clamp which is very precise and difficult. Or solder/weld something to the backside, I think that magnets are a less, but easier solution.

I am not that familiar with the Rangergrip family, but please do correct me if I am mistaken--so under current plan, is each halves of the tool has a width of 34mm?  Or together they has a width of 34mm?

I ask because a Swisschamp(or 111mm workchamp) is roughly 30mm wide, and if each halves of the new tool is 34mm, then we will be talking a whooping 68mm width tool(at 130mm long), it will be really heavy and bulky to use...and thus less desired to be carried in a connected format which kinda defeat the purpose of the mod.

I think that's cool suggestion, especially if not that many bits are needed, it will save at least 1 layer + 1 liner for just adding few mm to the scale

Another good suggestion, especially if the user plans to keep the two halves together most of the time(like the hobo knife)

Thanks for your reply, each halve will be roughly 16 mm wide including one original scale and one 3d printed scale. So both halves together will be 34 mm, which is quite a lot but I think still usable. Also it will be relatively light since the bit layer and the 3d printed halves are lighter then steel.

[comis]

Thanks for your reply, each halve will be roughly 16 mm wide including one original scale and one 3d printed scale. So both halves together will be 34 mm, which is quite a lot but I think still usable. Also it will be relatively light since the bit layer and the 3d printed halves are lighter then steel.

That's awesome, 34mm total width is a totally manageable size.  I think in terms of weight saving and compact size, regular 91mm pliers/giant tweezers is great for holding small nuts and it is rather quite function. 

I don't know why I just never am a big fan of 130mm model pliers , whenever a Rangergrip gets a pliers, the weight will go quite hefty(usually above 200g IIRC), and at that weight class, I would get much more utilization using a SAK Spirit or even LM tools.

[Gino88]

Small update on my project.

I got an idea for the in-line bit holder opposite of the pliers, I found this little stainless tool that takes standard bits and is only a few mm wide. To attach it to the knive I ordered a M3.5 mm nut which is almost the same width as the hex opening it has, this way I can attach it to the rod.

Also I took apart the donor knive and I found out that the can/bottle opener backspring of the rangergrip is actually quite suitable for the pliers. I only need to shave off a little bit of the the metal at the red marked areas and then it will fit perfectly. But even now without modification it snaps in place rather nicely. The can opener will be replaced with the tool mentioned above (I put a big M10 nut as placeholder to test the pressure of the spring).

Finally I finished the 3d designs. At the bottom is the bit holder with 7 room for 7 bits and the spare room below the bit holder is for a 50x6 mm ferrorod to make fire if needed. Furthermore to save space I decided to integrate the scissors into the magnet layer above, kind of like a swisscard tool. Only thing is I am still doubting a bit about the magnets, because I found out that the outer layer is actually aluminium instead of metal. Which means I have to glue the layer at one end anyway.

So maybe a solution with clamps as suggested in this topic would be better. I am going to think about this tomorrow and maybe work out both options into a design.

[comis]

This is looking closer and closer, the nano socket is a smart find!

[Gino88]

This is looking closer and closer, the nano socket is a smart find!

Thanks for the positive reply,

I have made some further improvements. I actually decided to follow King_Gorilla's suggestion and switch the magnets for a sliding/clamping mechanism. Main reason is that the magnets would not stick to the outer aluminium layer of the Victorinox. And Also I noticed the magnets where quite strong and I was a bit worried about carrying my wallet in the same pocket.

In order to get this clamping/pin mechanism working the first challenge was to provide the Ranger 178 with some pins. I found some 2,5 mm locknuts and discovered they fit exactly in the spare room between the Bottle opener and the Can opener so this was actullay not as difficult as I imagined and luckily I could be done without taking apart the Knive.

Secondly I altered the 3d design so now if features a sliding lock at the outer side - I have ordered the designs now and they will arrive in 5 days.

Finally I adjusted the back spring and the Nano socket and they now fit perfectly and give a really nice snap without any play.

I expect the second 3d prints will need some minor adjustments so maybe I need to make a third versions. But then my divisible Rangergrip is (hopefully) finished  , hope there is some usefull info in here for other modders.

[SirVicaLot]

This will be interesting to see it working and ready to go! 

[Gino88]

I got the 3d prints early so I could put it together. I need to do some minor tweaks (for example the slot holding the scissors is a bit too small, so they won't go in properly). But in general the concept is finished and works as expected  . Only downside is that it is still quite big, luckily not that heavy.

Some pictures;

[King_Gorilla]

Looks good

 

[FInixNOver]

Looks good.
Have you considered a scale for when you use it separate? This would allow to avoid hot spots when handling the sak that has the rivets and coupling mechanism exposed.

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[kottskrapa]

Nice work! Really liking the concept

[It's not failure if you learn something from it]

[PeaceInOurTime]

Awesome mod!   

[comis]

Gino, great mod, glad to see it finished well at last. 

[Mechanickal]

Wicked!!