Curl Owners Club

[Poncho65]

My Curl bit me for the first time today...I closed the blade on my thumb and sliced off a nice round flap of skin. 

My thumb is so heavily bandaged that one-hand-opening blades are off the table for a while. Time to switch to the Bond!

 

Sorry to hear it 

Hoping for a fast recovery 

[hsherzfeld]

Sorry to hear it 

Hoping for a fast recovery 

Thanks, so am I!

[Rich_SD]

My Curl bit me for the first time today...I closed the blade on my thumb and sliced off a nice round flap of skin. 

My thumb is so heavily bandaged that one-hand-opening blades are off the table for a while. Time to switch to the Bond!

I was about to comment on the horror that Poncho posted (a Leatherman lying in sand  ), then I saw this    Ouch!!    Take care of that thumb!

[Poncho65]

The sand isn't that bad I work around sand most everyday Just because it is beach sand doesn't make it that much worse The salsmurfer in the other hand

 

[hsherzfeld]

This week, I lent my Curl to a worker at my company's shop in order to free an old ratchet strap from a rusty tiedown winch on a truck. The fastest way would have been to cut the strap off of the winch in pieces (which would have been devastating to the blade edge), but the worker was very considerate of my shiny new (and obviously rather expensive) Leatherman: he actually said that he didn't want to dull my blade! Instead, he used the pliers to pull the old, slightly rotted strap off of the winch in chunks.

The Curl received a showering of fine dust consisting of equal parts rust, dirt, and powdered nylon strapping.

After this treatment, I was cleaning the Curl off at my desk when the main blade started trying to seize up. I didn't have any suitable lubricant with me, so I put the Curl away and carried my Bond for the rest of the day (I had it in my car as a backup).

When I got home, I removed the Curl's blade completely so that I could clean the pivot more thoroughly. It was after I had reassembled the Curl and was testing the blade's ease of opening and closing that it bit me.

[Poncho65]

Glad to hear your coworker was considerate Great usage and care of your Curl

[GearedForwards]

Glad to hear your coworker was considerate Great usage and care of your Curl

Unfortunately, if he had been inconsiderate like so many others, hsherzfeld might still be able to enjoy OHO blades 

[hsherzfeld]

Unfortunately, if he had been inconsiderate like so many others, hsherzfeld might still be able to enjoy OHO blades 

Well, then I would have had to sharpen the blade and might have had the accident.

[Poncho65]

 

[Rich_SD]

😍

[Poncho65]

Thanks Rich

[hsherzfeld]

My thumb has healed enough for me to start carrying my Curl again. Today I used the blade to cut a piece of red velvet cake and the pliers to twist wire to attach a tag to a pipe. I also used both pliers and the flathead driver to remove masking and duct tape from pipe tags. Sometimes the tape peels off easily using the pliers, but sometimes it simply crumbles and has to be scraped off with the driver.

[Rich_SD]

Glad your thumb has healed quickly 

[Poncho65]

  and great pic 

[Poncho65]

[Fuzzbucket]

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Nice pic Poncho! 

[Poncho65]

Thanks Fuzzy

[Rich_SD]

You have some nice ocean beaches in Tennessee, Poncho 

[Poncho65]

 

That was Panama City Beach last week

[Adam5]

I am in Rich's club now...

[Poncho65]

  Congrats, Adam

[hsherzfeld]

I am in Rich's club now...

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Welcome to the club!

[Rich_SD]

I am in Rich's club now...

(Image removed from quote.)

Welcome! 

[Rich_SD]

This post probably belongs in the Mods section, but my mods are probably laughably easy (and not very interesting) to real modders. I figured this might be more interesting to Curl owners.

Rich's Curl Mod, Part 1

I was originally going to do my first mod on a Wingman or a Sidekick since they cost less, but then I decided to just start with my favorite Leatherman, the Curl – the size is perfect, and there are a lot of tools that easily drop in with no modifications. I figured this is as easy as you can get for a first-timer.

Step 1 – loosening/removing the screws.  I purchased two Torx10 security bits and a heat gun from Amazon.  Buying a heat gun just for this mod seemed excessive, but it was only $20 and I’m sure I’ll use it again.  The heat gun worked great for loosening the Loctite.




The first mod: replace the 420HC with a better blade – a 154CM blade from a Charge.  According to my research, they are exactly the same size and shape.  This should be easy.




I removed the screw holding the blade on, and I was careful to not completely remove the post… I just backed it out far enough to remove the blade.  Putting the blades side-by-side, they are just slightly different.  I hoped it wouldn't cause a problem (it didn't).  Note, I was very careful to not lose the washer seen in the pic.




It fit almost perfectly.  At first it seemed like the bottom part of the blade near the screw was rubbing against the handle, but it aligned up perfectly after I put on the screw and tightened it back up.  Note, I’m not going to put Loctite on anything until I am done with all my mods.




The next mod: get rid of those scissors! Yeah, I know you scissor-lovers are probably flabbergasted over this decision, but I really dislike most multitool scissors.  Also, I have almost no use for scissors when I have a perfectly good knife.  In place of the scissors, I decided to put in a small bit changer (also from a Charge).  A lot of people call it a glasses screwdriver, but I have used the small bit for a lot of electrical devices too.




I hit my first problem.  I removed the screw but I couldn’t back the post out… it seems to be stuck on something.  Doh!




I used a Torx bit on my new Picquic to remove the pocket clip.




Ok, according to my calipers, the small bit changer is 1.91 mm thick.




And the scissors are 2.45 mm thick.




I need to add another tool to make up the .54 mm difference, but no tool is that thin.  I have a couple brass washers (again, from a Charge).  Two of them together are .52 mm thick… that is just about perfect!  Note, in some pics you'll notice that I used a Torx screwdriver that had a shaft of almost the same diameter at the "tool hole" to help hold, align, and measure the tiny parts. 




I decided to put 1 washer between each of the 3 tools. I have no idea if that’s a good idea or not.  I didn’t put Loctite on in case I have to change it.  Note, this was the most difficult part of the mod – my big bumbling hands along with tiny parts (it’s a miracle I didn’t lose any of those washers) didn’t make a good combo.




And here she is!!  Phase 1 of Operation Curl-Charge complete.




Next, I need to replace that can opener with something useful.  Right now, I’m not sure what… I also have plans for a difficult mod on the file side.

[Poncho65]

Great bit of modding, Rich Lots of great pics and great explaining of everything as well

Blade swaps are always great and I did this many years ago to my first gen 2 Wave

I love scissors but if you find that the small bit driver has more function for you then that is great and the purpose of modding a tool to fit ones needs

[Zephon]

 

I always like it when one mods his tools to meet his needs!

[Rich_SD]

Thanks Poncho and Zephon   

[Juan el Boricua]

Nice job Rich, love it when someone personalize its tools to fit their needs (and becsuse of this, never think of a mod and/or well-done hack as laughable or non interesting), and take time to explain the in's and out's!!!

Will be waitin' for part two pal...

[Rich_SD]

Thanks Juan.  Even though I already have the parts for the next planned mod, it will probably be awhile before I do it because my Honey-Do list is getting pretty long.

(In case others are not familiar with the slang, "Honey-Do list" is the list of things you wife wants you to do.)

[hsherzfeld]

Excellent write-up of your Curl mod, Rich.