UKH

I posted in a thread months ago that I had successfully retro-fitted the grip rest from the new Fly axe to the old one, this has spurred a steady stream of emails from folk interested in knowing how to do it, rather than reply individually I've decided to attempt a step by step guide as best I can so that future forum searches will show this thread.

Images of the finished job:
http://imgur.com/fpDVzMX
http://imgur.com/ECH1fsm
http://imgur.com/LyKNr56
http://imgur.com/9F1LcYm

Disclaimer - any modifications to your tools will void any warranty and my affect their strength, so do it at your own risk and don't blame me if you knacker your tools! I've had mine modified for over a year and have used them on various winter routes and even tried tooling with them just to see how they would perform with no issues.

You will need -
- Your axes.
- 2x new style DMM grip rest for the FLY axe (available online for about £10 each)
- A vice and a couple of wood offcuts to secure your axe without damage
- Good quality hacksaw with new blades
- Metal file, the one you use for sharpening points and picks is fine.
- Drill
- 6mm Drill bit designed for drilling hard metals (I used one designed for stainless steel)
- A center punch to mark for drilling
- A roll of self amalgamating tape

Step 1 - You will need to secure the tool in the vice and using a hacksaw remove the two rounded pieces either side of the spike. You will need to cut into the tool just below where the rubber handle starts and then cut down flush with the spike to remove the section. (This section was black in colour on my tools)

Step 2 - Using the file clean up the edges. Take your new grip rest and slide it in to position. You will notice that it doesn't sit flush due to the old Fly spike being larger, so take your file and file the spike down bit by bit until the grip rest sits flush with the flat base of the handle (takes a while!).

Step 3 - Fit the grip rest and make sure its in the correct position. I found that the shaft is an exact fit so with some perseverance with the file the grip rest will sit perfectly. Now mark and the drill hole for the bolt, it is quite close to the hole in the spike so be careful when drilling that you are accurate. After drilling mine there was about 3 or 4mm of metal between the new hole and the original hole in the spike.

Step 4 - Roll the rubber handle out of the way, fit the grip rest and bolt in position. Now use some self amalgamating tape on the shaft to give a clean finish when the original rubber handle is rolled down again.

That should be it. Sorry there are no more photos but I didn't want to spend the afternoon dismantling my tools!

Cheers,

Pete.

In reply to Petarghh:

Looks like a great job. Many thanks for posting.

Cheers Davey

In reply to Petarghh:

Hi Pete,

I think you're the guy that sent me instructions before.

Cheers for that, it worked really well and I'm happy with the finish. Except I've only done one of the tools so far, I did it with a mate who's more into DIY than I am and we weren't in any way prepared for the physical effort involved. So much filing! So we will do the other one soon.

One slight modification to your method was that we actually cut a bit into the griprest plastic itself, where it meets the handle, to save a bit of time in filing down the spike.

In reply to Trevers:

Nice job Nearly Done should keep the old fly's
Going strong for a few more seasons yet

In reply to Trevers:

The sawing and filing does take a fair while, but it is worth it as it really does extend the use of the tools. Makes you wonder who had the idea in the first place as it's obviously such a better system than using leashes!

Good luck to anyone else that does it and thanks for the positive feedback!

Pete.

In reply to Petarghh:

Thanks for this really useful guide. I have 2 DMM Fly's I'd like to convert but all that filing does look like hard work! I've been thinking about trying the Grivel Easy Slider as its obviously a lot easier if it works. Has anyone tried it on a DMM shaft?

Epoxy putty is another good budget option for leashless conversion.

youtube.com/watch?v=WQzq8VytOmU&

In reply to Mikeden:

It's worth it in the end, I would say approx 2 hours per tool to get a decent finish. I've seen other modifications and they look no where near as neat as using the DMM grip rests. Nothing you can't do in the shed on a wet Sunday!

Pete.