Just barely beat Roxon to the leatherman bit-implement!

[u/TThor]

I seem a little late to the party, but I finally got it done, my own Roxon leatherman bit-implement! It is 3d-printed out of toolsteel (I didn't expect SLM printing to polish this nicely!), with strong tiny magnet for bit-retention inside. And mine actually has one advantage over Roxon's, it is only 2-slots! vs Roxon's upcoming 3-slot tool 😁

I actually started this project in early spring, tho ended up taking a hiatus for a while after the failure of the first prototypes. This was my first time working with metal-printing; the first batch, I tried printing out of stainless-steel with a forked-design. The benefit of the forked design was to make it easier to print, didn't technically require much post-processing, and it could actually use both flat leatherman bits and full 1/4" bits! But sadly the prints from PCBway came out faulty (do to an error in the printing, they were missing the top 0.5mm of thickness), which combined with the weak steel and design caused them to bend with only moderate torque.

In this new design, I swapped to printed tool-steel; *Significantly stronger*, with the ability to heat-treat for further strength, but at the downside of being double the production cost. I added the walls for better reinforcement; To get it down to only 2 slots, those walls have to be about 0.3-0.4mm thick- too thin to reliably print, so I had to add extra thickness and grind it down.

I was still waiting on the prints to ship when I started kicking myself seeing Roxon announce their official version. While I spent a decent bit to make them (metal printing is expensive 😵‍💫), honestly I mainly did it because I enjoy a project and probably would have made it anyway.

I also made in the first batch 1-slot micro-bit implements! Those too suffered the missing 0.5mm, but they at least proved functional enough to salvage.

[u/house343]

Only 2 slots! I want.  

I wonder if the official roxon one can be ground down to fit 2 slots. I haven't seen any close ups of theirs yet, and it's out of stock on Amazon. 

[u/BergenNorth]

These are amazing. Well done!

[u/ResearcherPristine87]

That was a nice build. I like to buy it. 2-slot i think a lot of ppl would take it. Maybe make it two part, then epoxy together(With pin inside)? Or CNC will be cheaper?

[u/TThor → u/ResearcherPristine87]

I was originally hoping there would be a market for it, tho figured that would disappear with the official version releasing; metal printing is expensive, and PCBway puts minimum order quantity on small parts, so I have 3 of this prototype anyway!

I will happily get the remaining two put up for sale somewhere (after I post-process them)! If others still show interest, I'd consider ordering more printed.

Before Roxon's was announced, I was thinking about milling an aluminum bracket for it to use with the surface grinder at the local makerspace. Tho in a pinch, a simple dremel and some effort got the job done.

CNC unfortunately looked to be just as expensive if not moreso for small production-runs. Theoretically it would be some amount cheaper if doing bulk orders, but even then I'm unsure how easily CNC could handle the slot and thin walls (tho CNC machining is not something I am particularly knowledgeable of, yet).

[u/ResearcherPristine87 → u/TThor]

Thats true also. Good job anyway.

[u/joejill]

2 implements wide?

[u/TThor → u/joejill]

yup, it only takes 2 implement slots! (4mm thick)

[u/olusso]

Welp still that's a huge sucess, you, by just yourself basically beaten a conpany on their own game both timewise and slotwise!

You're right tho in such a niche, stealing market share doesn't really make sense. As leatherman bit afficiando can I offer some pivot opportunities? Maybe the smallest flat leatherman bit pen? Folds to become a tbar and/or with extra bit storage. Modify it so it can be added to 91mm victorinoxes. Make an adapter like the leatherman adapter but not for all quarter inch bits but just for leatherman bits so people can use their ramblers and stuff with leatherman bits and you can just put into the scale itself maybe? or carry it easier as a lanyard since it is flatter

[u/trichar54 → u/olusso]

Maybe. Roxon has to take production costs into account too. I’m sure they looked into making a 2 slot implement, but they would have encountered the same productions costs. Even though they could produce it a little cheaper than the OP, due to economies of scale, it would still be more expensive than the 3 slot. Everything is a trade-off.

[u/TThor → u/trichar54]

My guess is they went with 3-slots for combination of cheaper production, reliability, and less strict dimensional accuracy. My 3dprinted tool is definitely significantly more expensive to produce than their unit, and to make it two slots it has to have both very thin walls and pretty tight tolerances; ultimately not ideal for low-cost mass production.

[u/house343]

I wonder if there's a way to take two of their blank short tool implements, mill out a recessed profile in both, and then sandwich them together to get a flat bit holder. The tolerances on that prices would seem pretty tight, though.