In the controls settings (keyboard shortcuts etc), the control for spawning a belt thread upgrade tool is correctly labelled, but the control for spawning a belt thread removal tool is labelled Unknown key: "controls.beltThreadUpgrader-give-belt-upgrade-tool".
I can see that the former is listed in the .../locale/en/BeltThreadUpgrader.cfg file and the latter is not, so I guess that's why only one works.