Stiff tight new leatherman tools

[Hickory n steel]

I remember the ST300 I bought my dad 6 years ago was fairly stiff when I gave it to him, then by the 1st time he had me do some maintenance on it a month later I could flick the thing open, and I know all he did was use it without intentionally trying to break it in

My bond was very tight when I bought it 3 years ago, now it's pretty well broken in but still fairly stiff to open.
Everything is smooth but not exactly freely opening like a tool with a lock would, it definitely can't be flicked open.
I just chalk that up to the stiff bsckspring.


Now my new Rebar, well it's pretty slow going.
I got the plie pivot freed up nicely with some oil and working in, but everything else is not making much progress.
I'm starting to think this may be a candidate for adjustment, I just might have to try and order a pivot wrench off Ebay to adjust it with.
Yesterday morning I spent 10 minutes digging a very deeply buried steel sliver out of my index finger that came off of the opening slot in the saw.
It had a couple 3/16 slivers of steel hanging onto it, one of course buried itself into my finger and the other I had to pull off with my other leatherman before knocking the sharp edges off the slot with the tip of my Eze-Lap sharpening rod.

Aside from ordering that wrench, is there anything else I you guys have done?

 

[vltor17]

What is this pivot wrench you speak of? I have an older st300, jaws are sloppy from years of use (abuse?) .

 

[afishhunter]

I only have experience with two. A Wingman, around 2015, which I gave to my boss a month or two after I got it. I did not really care for it, and he could use it on his other job as a lineman(?), and my current Charge + TTI, that was given to me a couple years ago.

I don't remember the Wingman being stiff. It could not be flicked open for the pliers or any of the tools.
The Charge + TTI was pretty much unused when I got it. The pliers were two hand open, one side at a time. That has started to smooth out. None of the tools were or are stiff to open.

I've never found slivers of metal in either.

Question:
Has LM's QC gone down to compensate for the price increases?

It stands to reason the various blades and tools would undergo cleaning after machining to get rid of burrs and slivers, before assembly.
I can somewhat understand polishing residue in the joints, but NEVER metal chips and slivers.

The only other thing that I can "think" of that you can do is completely disassemble the tool and clean each part separately, or put them in a sonic cleaner. (I doubt the assembled tool in a sonic cleaner would get rid of any remaining slivers).
Admittedly, I personally would not be in any rush to completely disassemble mine. I don't no if I would get all the washers, spacers, and tools back in the correct place.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I bought a Rebar to replace a very old SOG, but the Rebar was stiff and not user friendly.

I bought an Arc and the Rebar is in my truck door in case of an emergency.

The Arc is on my belt.

 

[A.L.]

I don't know what leatherman's problem is with the pliers. All of the tools I've tried / owned have had the same problem. Some of them have loosened up and some of them not so much.

 

[Hickory n steel]

What is this pivot wrench you speak of? I have an older st300, jaws are sloppy from years of use (abuse?) .

it's a little wrench for the round serrated fastenters used on leatherman tools.
Little wrenches for adjusting and disassembling these are available online.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Question:
Has LM's QC gone down to compensate for the price increases?

Possibly, but besides the issue I had with this saw tight pivots are really the only issue I hear of.
It's like they've decided that any tool that can be operated is good to go because they know it will break in.
Personally I think it should go from okay to perfect over time, not terrible to okay.

 

[SteeleJ1976]

I remember the ST300 I bought my dad 6 years ago was fairly stiff when I gave it to him, then by the 1st time he had me do some maintenance on it a month later I could flick the thing open, and I know all he did was use it without intentionally trying to break it in

My bond was very tight when I bought it 3 years ago, now it's pretty well broken in but still fairly stiff to open.
Everything is smooth but not exactly freely opening like a tool with a lock would, it definitely can't be flicked open.
I just chalk that up to the stiff bsckspring.


Now my new Rebar, well it's pretty slow going.
I got the plie pivot freed up nicely with some oil and working in, but everything else is not making much progress.
I'm starting to think this may be a candidate for adjustment, I just might have to try and order a pivot wrench off Ebay to adjust it with.
Yesterday morning I spent 10 minutes digging a very deeply buried steel sliver out of my index finger that came off of the opening slot in the saw.
It had a couple 3/16 slivers of steel hanging onto it, one of course buried itself into my finger and the other I had to pull off with my other leatherman before knocking the sharp edges off the slot with the tip of my Eze-Lap sharpening rod.

Aside from ordering that wrench, is there anything else I you guys have done?

My Rebar was stiff when I first got it but it has loosened up great. I did use some WD-40 and that with some daily use and fidgeting it is now perfect, it took about 2 months though to get to that point. Getting a sliver from Leatherman's poor machining is not acceptable.

 

[Hickory n steel]

My Rebar was stiff when I first got it but it has loosened up great. I did use some WD-40 and that with some daily use and fidgeting it is now perfect, it took about 2 months though to get to that point. Getting a sliver from Leatherman's poor machining is not acceptable.

I definitely don't consider it acceptable either.
If I hadn't been at work about to clock in for my shift I'd have taken some pictures to send them because they need to know about this.
Because I was at work and didn't want to worry though I gave the sharp edges a quick softening with my sharpening rod and went about my day, if I'd had my bond still on me I would have thrown the ST300 in my bag and dealt with everything later.

 

[Hickory n steel]

By the way, I just noticed that the pivot on my leatherman Bond is actually on the loose side while my 20 year old Fuse is still solid as a bank vault.
they're buttery smooth with zero slop, and they haven't even been oiled in a long time.
The Bond pliers line up right every time, but I can rattle them.
My dads 6 year old ST300 was also buttery smooth with zero slop when I serviced it for him the other day.

 

[KenCaz]

I don't know what leatherman's problem is with the pliers. All of the tools I've tried / owned have had the same problem. Some of them have loosened up and some of them not so much.

Agreed... Every Leatherman I have once loosened will bind up a soon as you put some force on the pliers... I do think they only intended for you to use the plier head on anything heavier then a paper clip... C'mon Leatherman...!

 

[Hickory n steel]

Agreed... Every Leatherman I have once loosened will bind up a soon as you put some force on the pliers... I do think they only intended for you to use the plier head on anything heavier then a paper clip... C'mon Leatherman...!

I have not experienced this at all.

My 20 year old Leatherman Fuse has been beat to hell and is buttery smooth with minimal slop and no binding, I can't tell you how many 10d nails I've cut with it.



This is the most slop I can get out of it.

 

[SimplyMinded]

A little slop is no biggie but should it take a tool to.open some of the inner tools? The way they come new a fingernail isnt strong enough. Ive resorted to coins, keys etc.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I surely didn't mean to imply the Leatherman quality wasn't up to par. All of mine have been built with the utmost quality. The Rebar was just a little stiff and I liked the design of the Arc better.