Upgraded Apple Watch Tool Band Links

This is a remix of a previous design I made. The original design worked well, but after a few months of wearing the bands the links would break (particularly the "0" length ones). I suspect this is a material choice combined with stress concentrations with the text that is printed in the bottom to define the length code.

What changed

I adjusted the dimensions of the links to thicken them up where I was seeing fractures. I also changed the code system to create less stress concentrations on the bottom of the links.

The new link lengths (hole center-to-center) are:

• Size 0 = 12.50mm
• Size 1 = 13.25mm
• Size 2 = 14.00mm
• Size 3 = 14.75mm

Original Details

A long time ago, Leatherman came out with a really cool watch band called Tread. Not only does it have a bunch of driving bits built in, but the clasp is done with a 1/4" square socket drive. It seems to be discontinued, or at least is very hard to get.

You can see the original here: https://www.leatherman.com/tread-425.html
You can also get them from Amazon by searching for Leatherman Tread

I wanted to add this band as an option for my Apple Watch. Several companies make some cheap options on Amazon to convert the tread to normal lug connections or straight to the apple watch. I used the following options for mine in the pictures:

Something to convert the Tread links to regular watch lugs: https://a.co/d/auixsQh

Something to convert regular watch lugs to Apple Watch: https://a.co/d/0UAvDtA

After doing this, I noticed that the metal on metal connections on the tread like to squeak when you move around. Additionally, there wasn't a good way to adjust the total length other than removing whole links. So I created some plastic links in two different sizes that could be swapped out to both adjust the sizing and stop the annoying squeaking!