Nick’s Recommended Gear Maintenance Tools
My Amazon Affiliate Store
Here’s a bunch of the tools I tend to use on a regular basis, in one consistent place https://www.amazon.com/shop/nickshabazz
Please note that any of the Amazon links on this page are affiliate links, and clicking them supports the channel. But as always, these are not paid placements, but genuine recommendations.
Important Disassembly and Reassembly Tools
Bit Driver: iFixit Precision Bit Driver, Aluminum
This is inexpensive, allows easy movement, plenty of torque. It’s a joy, and pairs well with either Wiha set below, replacing the junky plastic screwdriver included with the Wiha Sets. They’re also inexpensive enough that you can get a set of three for T6, T8 and T10, alongside one of the sets below.
In some older videos, you’ll see a pair of brass and copper Scout Leather Co Bit drivers, as well as a bluish green frag pattern driver from Aleksandr Peshkov (which is nice, but more or less impossible to find).
When I want to get fancy, the Makar Ultralight Driver is a nice choice, as are some of the models from GoodSkrew.
Screwdriver Bits: Wiha Precision Bits
- Wiha makes the best Torx bits I’ve found. Although it’s worth getting one of the sets below to get a good variety, for commonly used and wrecked sizes, you can buy individual bits from Wiha much cheaper than buying new sets. Buying a 10 Pack of both T6 and T8 is a smart move, as you’ll go through them like freakin’ candy.
Driver Kit: Wiha Ratchet Bit Set
- The Ratchet set offers a massive selection of bits which address pretty much every need, an extension, along with a ratchet handle for extra torque with good control. This also has sizes suitable for adjusting glasses and watch bracelets and such. This, with an iFixIt handle could handle 98% of what I need to do.
- If you’re on a budget, there’s also the Wiha Precision Interchangeable Bit Set, which offers a good selection of bits plus an extension, for a small fraction of the ratchet set price.
- If you want more bit diversity, the iFixIt Manta Driver Kit is super helpful. Although the bits themselves aren’t quite as durable as Wiha, and you don’t get the ratchet for torque this set has proved super handy both for computer work, and for the weird security screws you’ll see from time to time (e.g. hollow torx, spanner bits). Plus, it comes with one of the drivers above, and a very nice case for daily use.
- If you work with electronics, consider the iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit. You don’t get the same bit diversity as the Manta kit, but you get a number of prying and opening tools which are also useful for knives, and which are stellar for working on electronics. I keep one of these in my office at work, and it’s amazing.
Extra Driver: Bondhus GorillaGrip Fold Up Kit
- This is great if you need an extra driver for a free-spinning pivot, but don’t want to hold another full size driver.
Oiler/Spring Bar Tool: Spring Bar Removal Tool (One Example)
- There are a million of these flooding the market, but they’re incredibly handy not just for watches, but as a small diameter pin-pusher, as an oiler to apply lubricants with precision, and in a billion other places. I end up using one of these in damned near every disassembly it seems.
Prytool: iFixit Opening Tool
- These are great, as they’re guaranteed not to mar the finish on steel or Ti while separating halves of a knife and such. Get a few, as they’re consumable by design.
- Rarely, the little iFixit Opening Picks come in handy for separating adjacent parts, but a guitar pick or old credit card might work too!
- (Both of these options are included with a driver and bits in the iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit)
Cleaning Mat: KnifeJoy Silicon Knife Takedown Shop Mat
- There are many variations on these silicone mats, but I do particularly like the base pattern on the KnifeJoy mat, along with the magnetic parts holder. And they’re just about as inexpensive as more generic options like this, so the KnifeJoy mat is my recommendation as of 2022.
- If you’d like to try another mat, the most important things you’re looking for are separated areas to lay screws out in, and a ‘rim’ around the work surface to keep small bearings from rolling away. Soldering mats work well generally, but again, that rim will be key when you open up a knife with unexpected loose bearings.
Threadlocker: LocTite 248 Medium Strength Threadlocker Stick
- I use the threadlocker on a stick because it makes things easier to apply directly to screws, but you can also get a tube of LocTite Blue 242 if you prefer the liquid stuff
- Be careful! You absolutely do not want red loctite (262 or 277), which is nominally ‘permanent’, and very difficult to remove even with heat. Blue threadlocker keeps screws in place until you take them out again, red threadlocker is for when you never plan to remove them.
An Adjustable Flashlight: JetBeam RRT01
- This is a gem of an EDC flashlight, but for disassembly, you’re going to want to be able to see inside small areas, check for gaps, etc, and the rotary variability of this is massively helpful.
- Here’s my review of the RRT01
Optional-but-helpful tools
A Watchmaker’s Loupe: Bergeon 2611-TN 6.7x Loupe with Loupe Holder
- Sometimes, you need to see what you’re doing up close and personally. This can be admiring the maker’s craft, searching for a burr, or just trying to figure out what the heck the edge you’re sharpening is doing, but one of these is amazingly handy in those moments.
Deburring and Edge Rounding Files: Spyderco Ceramic File Set
- These come in handy for breaking off burrs inside knives or around detent holes, and for sharpening serrations and small knives. Not always needed, but when needed, very useful!
- You could accomplish something similar with a more conventional sharpening stone, but the maneuverability is much lower
Tweezers: Adson Forcep Style Tweezers (Here’s one example)
- Although you can make it work with any fine-tipped tweezers, having a nice fine grippy point can be awesome for grabbing things like bearings or washers, but not so pointy as to be vulnerable to bending and breaking, or to readily scratch softer metals
Pliers: Leatherman Wave Plus
- This is not only the best multitool I’m aware of, but also a fine little set of pliers for working on gear and getting things loose
- If you want to go specialized, I have and love a set of Knipex Pliers which are really great for a bunch of tasks
Polishing Cloths: Sunshine Polishing Cloths
- These are useful for polishing up pivots, copper pens, washers, and more
Cleaning
Cleaning Cloths: ‘The Professional’s Choice’ Cleaning Patches https://amzn.to/3yOeND9
- These are just better than paper towels, as they’ll wipe abrasive surfaces without breaking down.
Cleaning Swabs: Cotton Swabs
A good old fashioned cotton swab is going to suffice for 90% of your needs.
Knife Pivot Lube Knfe Care Swabs are by no means required, but can be nice for getting into smaller corners than a cotton swab generally can. And they’re reusable, at least once or twice. You can get generic versions of the same product cheaper sometimes, though.
Cleaning Solution for removing grease and oil: 90%+ Isopropyl Alcohol/Isopropanol
- This degreases well, cleans well, isn’t toxic, and doesn’t have bad effects on the materials we’re dealing with.
Cleaning solution for anodization, watch crystals, and polished parts: Liquid Eyeglass Cleaner and a microfiber cloth
- Choose your brand, it works great, when combined with a nice microfiber cloth.
Knife Lubrication
General Purpose Knife Lubrication: KnifePivotLube Original or Nano Oil 10 Weight
I tend to use Nano-Oil 10 weight on bearings and for loose-bearing systems, and KnifePivotLube (KPL) on washers and contact surfaces, as KPL is slightly higher in viscosity. But the difference is very small and way up the curve of diminishing returns, so don’t feel like you need to buy both. They’re both excellent products which work well.
If you’re on a budget or if either company doesn’t ship to you, Daiwa Reel Oil works pretty well too, and lots of folks use other lubricants like Ballistol, 3-in-One, or other low-viscosity oils (e.g. sewing machine oils). The two I’ve recommended offer a slight improvement in performance, in my very subjective experience, but if they’re prohibitively expensive where you are, there are other options where offer 90% of the performance.
Higher Viscosity Lubrication: Nano Oil 85 Weight
- This can be useful on the rare occasions when you really need to up the viscosity beyond what KPL gives you, but in most of the situations I used to use the 85wt (e.g. on the blade tang of a backlock knife), I’m now using KPL.
Low Viscosity/Penetrating Lubrication: Nano Oil 5 Weight or KnifePivotLube UltraLite
- This is mostly useful if you can’t disassemble a knife, and need something that’ll get into a locked down pivot. Again, the offerings from KPL and Nano Oil are about equivalent in performance.
Grease: Nano-Grease
- This works well if you need grease, but it does smell like boiled hell. White lithium grease works too.
Lockstick Reduction: A ‘Sharpie’ style permanent marker
- Often, lockstick is reduced or removed by drawing on the lockface (both of the blade and scales) with a sharpie.
Rust Prevention
Being honest, at this point, I’ve not yet found a rust prevention product that I’m in love with. I’ve not seen any definitive testing showing which are best (a number of folks have done small tests, but they all seem to differ some). Personally, I’ve tried TufGlide, EDCi, Frog Lube, and a few others, and they all seem to perform about equivalently, and all require regular reapplication. Right now, the products I’ve been using most are…
-
- This is a solid product, which leaves no visible film or dampness and seems to do a pretty good job preventing corrosion. But it’s pretty stinky, and isn’t certified food safe.
Mineral Oil (Sold in a bunch of places, including pharmacies)
- This is wet, and visible on the blade. But it’s food safe, if you purchase mineral oil meant for consumption, and it’s also great for making micarta ‘pop’.
Sharpening
Low-to-Mid-Range Sharpening System: The WorkSharp Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener
- For $60, this is all the sharpening system you need to get a nice sharp edge on your knives. It doesn’t get you to the absolute finest of edges,
- Here’s my review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc0Luc4z4Zw
- There’s also an upgrade kit, which lets you go up to mirrored edges, reviewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhTbvKU0x4k
High-End Sharpening System: The KME Sharpening System
This is an amazing system, which has the ability to great precise, polished, and obscenely sharp edges
Here’s my review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMGbj7dVV4g
If you’d like something which is stand-mounted, the HapStone systems (e.g. the R2) are very nice as well, with diamond stones.
Freehand Stones: DMT Dia-Sharp Benchstones
- There are a million kinds of stones, and everybody has their own likes and dislikes. But the ones I use are 8 Inch Diasharp stones ranging from Extra-Coarse to Fine.
Edge Maintenance: A good paddle-style strop
- There are a million strop makers out there, and a million compounds. Support a local maker who’s able to make a flat wood handle and apply some nice leather to it. I tend to prefer paddle-style strops, and these days exclusively use DMT DiaSpray 0.5 Micron, but lots of compounds work
Watch Tools
Toolkit: Bergeon 7812 Professional Grade Quick Service Kit
This is quite pricey, but it also contains good quality versions of most of what you’d need to do basic (and beyond) maintenance on a wristwatch, including some drivers, a loupe, some plastic and metal tweezers, a spring bar pusher, and a few odds and ends. You won’t need all of this, but it’s surprisingly handy, if not pricey, to have around.
I’ve added some Rodico and a Dust Blower to mine as well, which are both helpful for ensuring that the watch stays dust free
Timegrapher: WeiShi Multifunction Timegrapher
- A Timegrapher gives information about how often and consistently a mechanical watch is ‘ticking’, and thus, provides an instant view of the accuracy of the watch in a given position. This is not a high quality timegrapher, but I think it’s at a place on the curve of diminishing returns which makes it accurate enough to be useful and helpful, but also inexpensive enough to be justifible for somebody who’s already into watches (DO NOT GET INTO WATCHES).
- Note that this doesn’t work for Quartz. Quartz timegraphers are an order of magnitude more expensive, and largely needless.
Demagnetizer: One of the little blue watch demagnetizers
- Mechanical watches will occasionally become magnetized by the environment and start running minutes per day fast. Plug this in, set the watch on the blue part, and lift it slowly off while holding down the button, and that won’t be a problem. You can always take a magnetized watch to your jeweler, but this is quick, easy, and around $10.
Bracelet Adjuster: A Turning Screw based bracelet adjustment kit (Here’s one example)
- There are many ways to adjust a bracelet, but for pin-and-collar links, I prefer the slow action of turning screw remover instead of the little hammers and pressure tools. They don’t tend to last long, as the tools will often bend or break, but they do the trick safely.
Removing Scratches from Acrylic/Plastic watch crystals: Polywatch
- Although you’d think it’d be ideal for keeping an eye on a parrot, Polywatch is designed to polish out scratches on plastic watch crystals of all kinds. It’s kind of magical, to be honest.
The Video
My Latest Tools Video, embedded below, is a bit outdated, but shows you most everything I’m talking about on this page.