Finally scored a Sebertool M4

[Hickory n steel]

I've wanted one for a long time and have been trying to score one for the last few months.
Finally I just scored one for a few dollars less than I payed for my M2 a few months back.
Now I've got the M2, M3, and the M4.
So far the M3 is definitely the winner between the first two, but the M4 is the one I've wanted most of all.

If it had scissors I think it could possibly be better than the leatherman squirt.
It's based around a much sturdier pair of pliers, it's got the added benefit of locking tools, and it's got an actual pair of tweezers ( the Sebertool pliers as well as those on the squirt do handle splinters just fine though )
I know they're definitely a wider tool, but they are thinner which could be a good thing.

I'll evaluate it once it arrives and decided if it's as good in practice as it seems on paper.

 

[!mprovise]

I hope you enjoy it! It, like everything has flaws and limitations. I've broken a few. I find the pliers will withstand lateral stressing and twisting better than the Leatherman Juice .
Even used the tweezers as a heatsink when doing a tiny solder repair once. For the amount of real estate they take up, it's extremely useful & practical pocket paraphernalia.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I hope you enjoy it! It, like everything has flaws and limitations. I've broken a few. I find the pliers will withstand lateral stressing and twisting better than the Leatherman Juice .
Even used the tweezers as a heatsink when doing a tiny solder repair once. For the amount of real estate they take up, it's extremely useful & practical pocket paraphernalia.

It's not officially delivered yet, but it's at the post office and I should have it today.

I'm also glad to be finally getting a standard Sebertool, the M2 and M3 I have were both black Harley Davidson versions.
It's no big deal but I don't ride so having the HD branding on them just seems kind of silly to me.

 

[Hickory n steel]

So far this little multitool seems awesome.

A real decent set of pliers for it's size, and I like the implementation it offers too.
Everything is also pretty easy to open, no implements interfere with each other.

The Sebertool seems like a real winner to me, it's a shame they're no longer made.
I don't think you can even get the Chinese made T10 from when IDL Tools took over , not that I'd want one of those but it's a shame this design as faded away.

 

[315]

Ok, now you guys have me looking at them...like I really need another multitool

 

[Hickory n steel]

Ok, now you guys have me looking at them...like I really need another multitool

Good luck and I hope your find one because they're awesome, the $30 I payed is the cheapest I've seen in a while though.
For a couple months the only ones available on eBay were a Craftsman branded example and an Eddie Bauer example and the seller wanted over $100 for either.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I just scored another mint condition M2, this time a normal one and not the Harley Davidson version.

Don't know why I wanted it when I've come to like the M3 better and will probably like this M4 even more yet, but for $13 shipped I couldn't pass it up.

 

[!mprovise]

Congrats! In the past, I've found them, NIB, in some out of the way places. Such as a old drafting supply store in New Orleans and also a ancient bait shop in Sacramento
Can imagine there are a few, quietly collecting dust, in some quaint shops that tide and time have mostly forgotten.
Very capable when paired with a Victorinox SAK.
Enjoy!

 

[Hickory n steel]

Congrats! In the past, I've found them, NIB, in some out of the way places. Such as a old drafting supply store in New Orleans and also a ancient bait shop in Sacramento
Can imagine there are a few, quietly collecting dust, in some quaint shops that tide and time have mostly forgotten.
Very capable when paired with a Victorinox SAK.
Enjoy!

So far every M2, M3, and M4 I scored on eBay have been in unused condition.

The first M2 I kind of bastardized when I gave it a finer tip to the pliers and polished it up, but it's still functional and my dad thought it was cool so I let him have it.

I'm sure I'll carry this other M2 once in a while, it'll pair well with a Micra with little to no redundancy.
Kind of hard to go back when you've got an M3 and M4, but I don't think the two extra drivers on the M3 really proved to be that necessary for me and I can't completely write the M2 off.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Today decided to go ahead and sharpen the blade on my M4 because it wasn't very sharpg, I got a great edge on it but when I closed it something sounded weird
I opened it up and realized that the edge contacts the frame pretty good towards the tip and that edge I had just put on it was ruined
The knife on this is something I knew I'd likely never use anyways so I went ahead and modified it into an awl.
I made it as fine as I could without being too fragile.
it should be good for scribing lines in wood, piercing holes in things like plastic or leather, and most of all great for helping remove splinters.
I know because I used it earlier to do just that, man that one hurt to get out.

 

[USMCMP]

Just broke my m4 sebertool USA when using the pliers to close an E.D.C. flashlight's bent pocket clip that was too wide to stay on/in a pocket. The plier snapped like a twig using moderate force when the plier was near maximum width. What a bummer as I used the wire cutter all the time with a small smoking pipe kit to cut and shape pipe cleaners. I have a second one somewhere as I bought two back in the day. I wonder if it could be welded back together?

 

[Hickory n steel]

That's interesting.
I suppose just about any multitool can be broken.

Years ago I was using the old 1st gen Gerber mp my dad gave me , I don't remember the circumstances but I was either using it for something extremely minor or I was just flicking it open out of boredom and the plier pivot snapped.
I don't know if my dad ever used the pliers heavily all the years he carried it when I was a kid, but I know I barely used it and the overall condition was pretty good.

 

[USMCMP]

That's interesting.
I suppose just about any multitool can be broken.

Years ago I was using the old 1st gen Gerber mp my dad gave me , I don't remember the circumstances but I was either using it for something extremely minor or I was just flicking it open out of boredom and the plier pivot snapped.
I don't know if my dad ever used the pliers heavily all the years he carried it when I was a kid, but I know I barely used it and the overall condition was pretty good.

When viewing the broken piece- it looks like "pot metal"- i.e. not drop forged it has a "gritty" sand-blasted look on the broken faces where they interconnected. I have a ratcheting wrench combination tool set made by Proto in the USA that I bought about 5 years ago that had two of the ratchets break i.e. the 9/16" and the 3/8"; the Proto Taiwanese version that is cheaper has been used 20x more and is nearly bulletproof in comparison as I was afraid the USA version was more likely to get stolen. Speculation amongst other Millwrights is that USA manufacturers have forgotten how to make tools (except perhaps for the ridiculously expensive tools such as Snap On et.al...

 

[Hickory n steel]

When viewing the broken piece- it looks like "pot metal"- i.e. not drop forged it has a "gritty" sand-blasted look on the broken faces where they interconnected. I have a ratcheting wrench combination tool set made by Proto in the USA that I bought about 5 years ago that had two of the ratchets break i.e. the 9/16" and the 3/8"; the Proto Taiwanese version that is cheaper has been used 20x more and is nearly bulletproof in comparison as I was afraid the USA version was more likely to get stolen. Speculation amongst other Millwrights is that USA manufacturers have forgotten how to make tools (except perhaps for the ridiculously expensive tools such as Snap On et.al...

I believe they may have been some form of cast or cintered powder steel, but can't confirm.
As far as other tools being made in the USA, there are plenty of tools being made right that aren't crazy expensive.
From Vaughan & Bushnell, Channellock, WILDE, Wright tool, William's, Chapman, Grace, and Mayhew, plenty doing it right.

The problem is that the manufacturers of ratchets and wrenches...etc are struggling to compete with Taiwan, and PROTO being owned by S-B&D may not be trying as hard with some of the domestically made tools when they've got the imports to fall back on.
The Taiwanese manufacturers have lower labor costs and have implemented certain cost effective forging processes to keep prices down.
The new Craftsman tool plant in Ft Worth Texas failed because they tried to go whole hog introducing a cold forging process that was perfected in Taiwan without fully understanding it and they couldn't get things figured out.
The socket sets that did manage to be made successfully made are on shelves in some Lowes stores ( not all though ), but once they're gone that's it.

The sad part is that they're doing it to themselves, S-B&D is the largest tool corporation in the world and can afford to focus on American manufacturing but it's easier to just go with the flow of traffic ( or direct it considering their size ) and import/ outsource.

 

[USMCMP]

I am familiar with Mayhew insofar as their chisel/punches- as well as Williams: except for their apparent relatively recent unavailability. Most concerning is non-impact tools that require relatively strong articulating mechanisms exclusive of tools with strong(er) pivot points that require less expertise/difficulties in manufacture such as pliers, however Channellock (as you indicated) may indeed be a strong legacy USA contender. My opinion of the Seber tools however is that they are not special: made in USA means little without the dedicated institutional expertise and commitment to produce a legacy product that has any kind of history. Goes to show how much of a market there is for quality in a very small tool that is simply lacking. The only small tool one can obtain is the

Knipex 87 01 125 SBA 5-Inch Cobra Pliers (Made in Germany)​

- yet it doesn't have wire cutters: and is not a multi-tool: also it is huge in comparison.

 

[Hickory n steel]

My opinion of the Seber tools however is that they are not special

I feel they are / were because they're the strongest / best mini multitools that were ever made.
I say this after you report yours having broken because I've never experienced this,never heard of any other issues aside from with very late production M2's, and they're still stronger then the Gerber dime or Leatherman squirt.

I suppose opinions on the tools don't matter much at this point though since they've been out of business at least 15 years.

 

[Guy McVer]

Just broke my m4 sebertool USA when using the pliers to close an E.D.C. flashlight's bent pocket clip that was too wide to stay on/in a pocket. The plier snapped like a twig

When viewing the broken piece- it looks like "pot metal"- i.e. not drop forged it has a "gritty" sand-blasted look on the broken faces where they interconnected.

Pictures, please?

 

[Murphy Slaw]

Channellock (as you indicated) may indeed be a strong legacy USA contender.

I have various Channellock tools scattered about.

Top notch American stuff.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I have various Channellock tools scattered about.

Top notch American stuff.

I have more than I can count off the top of my head, probably 30 pairs of their pliers at least plus all the screwdrivers and picks I have but those are rebrands from Pratt-Reed ( RIP ) mayhew and I believe Enderes for the 6 in 1 reversible drivers..