A macro light or a ring flash are also very helpful for taking closeup pictures of very small things.
randm, i made my i-core tool from that very diagram, found in that very thread!
It may not have been what you meant, but let me describe the mod I have made. It has been helpful. Perhaps I'll take a picture at work and post it this week:
I took a standard tensioner from my southord kit and cut the required notches in the end of the handle and then bent that with pliers to create a dbl-ended tool. Mine is bent such that the handle comes out of the lock at 9o'clock and upward pressure is applied. Perhaps this is the cause of much of my slippage. The next one I make will go the other way (3o'clock and downward pressure).
Here's what I did tho. Take the tool and hold it up, handle in the air. If the business end of the tool is the foot and the handle is like a leg rising from it, I made a bend like someone is trying to point thier toe up, like someone is pulling their toe when stretching. The curve is very slight, maybe 10 degrees.
When in use, this has had the effect of wedging the teeth at the heel and toe of the tool better into the sleeve while the convex portion of the curve is pressed against a ward.
I think its more likely you weren't talking about this sort of curve at all, but it has been very helpful. I'll keep you posted, and mb pics soon.
Also, I need to make a "right-handed" tool, too. Or buy one.