Introduction: $1.50 Off-the-Shelf Swiss Army Key Ring Multitool
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About: I work in industrial automation and spend any free time making.
I became very intrigued and a little obsessed with the Knife style key ring a while back. But After making one I was a bit disenchanted that
1. My big ole fancy car key upsets the whole idea.
2. It was a bit cumbersome to get keys out folded deeply inside the knife and required several changes to improve this to make it even close to practical as an old fashioned ring.
But 3. it looked so cool to get your keys from a "knife" I couldn't let it go.
I devises to separate my keys and use this knife for my work keys. After a few more renditions I found a more user friendly and practical build solution that requires minimal fab work and is practically off the shelf buy for the anyone that is power tool lacking or just looking for a quick $1 store hack.
1. My big ole fancy car key upsets the whole idea.
2. It was a bit cumbersome to get keys out folded deeply inside the knife and required several changes to improve this to make it even close to practical as an old fashioned ring.
But 3. it looked so cool to get your keys from a "knife" I couldn't let it go.
I devises to separate my keys and use this knife for my work keys. After a few more renditions I found a more user friendly and practical build solution that requires minimal fab work and is practically off the shelf buy for the anyone that is power tool lacking or just looking for a quick $1 store hack.
Step 1: Forage for a Few Things
Things to gather:
- Phillips screwdriver
- 10-32 x 1.5" machine style bolt and nut
- #10 washers
- $1 Store Allen key knife
- Thin file / razor / hacksaw blade or the like
Step 2: Disassemble the Allen Key Set
The Allen set comes apart easily enough. The nuts are buried in the side wall so all you need is a screw driver.
Once apart you can simply use the side casing and make a knife ring like seen in other instructions. If this your goal Insert your keys with washers to space them AND YOU ARE DONE!!!!
But I've found having a divider to separate the key faces makes them easier to extract. If you have a Popsicle stick, hot glue, washers or just something to insert into the side casings already cut slots insert AND YOU ARE DONE!!!!
Being that I am using this for work keys I retained several of the Allen keys (commonly used at my work place) and came away with a multitool. To see this in action proceed to the next step.
Once apart you can simply use the side casing and make a knife ring like seen in other instructions. If this your goal Insert your keys with washers to space them AND YOU ARE DONE!!!!
But I've found having a divider to separate the key faces makes them easier to extract. If you have a Popsicle stick, hot glue, washers or just something to insert into the side casings already cut slots insert AND YOU ARE DONE!!!!
Being that I am using this for work keys I retained several of the Allen keys (commonly used at my work place) and came away with a multitool. To see this in action proceed to the next step.
Step 3: Trim the Base Support and Assemble
Your keys probably will not fold cleanly into the knife. You will need to trim between the base separators to give the bulk of key heads room to rotate through the base as seen in the above pics.
Do some test fitting / add a washer here and there to get spacing correct and YOU ARE DONE!!!
Do some test fitting / add a washer here and there to get spacing correct and YOU ARE DONE!!!
