You guys planted a seed and here is the resulting fruit. Note these are not my current keys but were my practice run before I did this with my regular keys so no worries about bandit key copiers... They will be sadly disappointed. I've been using my real set for about a week now and LOVE them. The tension of the rivet keeps them tied together like in the first picture. And they have a nice smooth resistance when pulling one key up to use it. And the keys with my regular minimalist EDC
That looks awesome. O0 How smoothly do the individual "blades" rotate around the rivet? Did you use any washers in between them?
By the way, if the Tyvek Wallet has been recognized by the Museum of Modern Art and is in their catalog, surely your "ultra ultra minimalist keyring" ought to be. If I were you, I'd contact them about it. You deserve recognition for this one.
I had a similar idea but I was worried that if one of my locks decided to stick I would have no leverage to turn it. Your rivet method looks like it may actually increase leverage if needed. O0 Very Cool.
We've discussed this very concept before on these forums, and i'm pretty sure there are a few other members with close-to-identical setups. I know because i made my own a while ago, but with paracord tightly looped through the holes in the keys, and the sides of each key ground down a bit. Mine wasn't very elegant in comparison to this solution! As for turning leverage (assuming it's anything like mine) you can easily splay the other keys in your hand, and rotate the whole lot!
Thanks. Posted this right before leaving on a trip. So updating via phone. Hole was drilled to be a friction fit with rivet and no washers. I prefer it this way because keys don't spin freely but instead move smoothly against each other yet stay in place if not handled directly. So far so good. It may loosen up with time. Thanks for the nice comments, I didn't expect much hoopla since this site is chock full of neat ideas.
No doubt it is a derivative idea (as are most) but it is also a progression for me. My keyring used to be 20+ keys and doodads and I first slimmed down to 4 keys. (think life simplification and downsizing). Then the doodads seemed extraneous as my kershaw and leatherman could handle most needs so I got rid of them. Then without the doodads the split ring seemed extraneous so I got rid of it and like you tied them together with para cord. After a month of that and having no regrets, I riveted the keys on a whim and like it becuase of the added leverage you get on sticky locks. Then I was going to do the keyman thing with a leatherman micra but after cutting the keys down and giving it some thought the micra seemed unnecessary. So I trimmed the keys to the max, riveted them together and then filed the rivet end down as one big block so all the keys would be flush fit. I was very pleased with the result of an afternoons tinkering. After a week of using them they function as intended and I got really lucky with the lengths which worked out perfectly. The kind comments on this forum are icing on the cake. (posted from phone forgive clumsiness)
ICQCQ that is actually what I was preparing for when I started this project, but decided to take this turn with it. The Keyman idea is brilliant and while I like the stealth factor of the leatherman integration and give major props to the OP, the keys as I have built them are smaller, lighter, more compact, silent, and the epitome of form following function (for me anyway).
Rpuppet, Exactly why I went from a paracord tied system to the rivet. The leverage issue is solved and a further reduction of "key noise" in the pocket.
El Verbo, I did not take any pictures of the process as I was originally expecting to do a keyman as has already been documented on the forums. I'll try to describe it here and then next time I work on it I'll take some pics. It's not an art, anybody can do it with a few tools, and I didn't give it a lot of thought so don't overthink it How I did it: 1. Acquire copy of all keys you want on key ring. (you may mess up a key so make sure you have a backup copy. An errant grinder, drill or file on the teeth of the key will quickly render it useless. 2. Test fit all keys in their locks and mark with a permanent marker or sharp grease pencil the part of the key necessary to make the lock actually work. 2a. Cover teeth of keys with electrical or duct tape to protect when trimming and filing. 3. Use whatever tools you have at your disposal to trim down the key. I was away from my shop so I used a small vise and a cheap hacksaw. A belt sander. grinder, or jigsaw would likely be more precise. I made up for my butchering by leaving material that I worked off with elbow grease in step 7. 4. Leave about 1/4 - 1/3 inch of material beyond what they lock actually needs to drill the rivet hole and attache the rivet. Shorter is possible but make sure when the keys are 90 degrees from the one being used that you have enough clearance to get the key all the way into the lock. (I got REAL close on one of my keys but all function perfectly) 5. I used a standard cordless drill to drill the holes slowly using the first key as a template for the others. Drill press would have been more consistent and A LOT easier. 6. Rivet the keys together 7. Use a bastard file to give it the final grind and trilm the metal around the rivet to the barest minimum. This works especially well if you left a little extra material there and can grind all the keys down to look like one hunk of metal. Gives it a nice smooth feel in your hand. 8. Eyeball, file, eyeball, file, repeat as necessary until keys are just the way you want them. I recommend practicing with junk keys first as I learned a lot in the process that makes your second time around a lot cleaner.
Lugsalot, They keys are a friction fit against each other as is the hole drilled for the rivet. They move smoothly but with enough friction that they will not move unintentionally. The do not spin freely. This is exactly what I happened to be after, and it worked out great. However, if you want free spinning keys you would likely need washers. Thank you for the kind words.
Cool. I once shaved off all the excess material from my keys leaving only enough to keep the hole intact and put them on a tiny sak splitring, it was a tiny tidy little package but I think I might try this. A friend of mine cut many copies of his house key down similarly and sewed one into the waistband of all his pants so he would never be locked out again. He talked about sewing a little handcuff key into the waistbands under the rear beltloop in case he was ever handcuffed behind his back but I think that falls well within the realm of paranoia. Still, YNK.
