Leatherman QC improving

theonew · **on:** June 20, 2013, 10:04:30 PM

I just got another Squirt PS4, as I have a tendency to give them away to people who admire them a lot, and I must say that the quality of this one is superb. The blade came with a surprisingly even bevel.

The scissors are sharp and nice and tight. All the pivots are tight with no real lateral play. The file is well ground and aggressive. I've been through four PS4s in the past few years and this one is without a doubt the highest overall quality. Not sure if it's a trend with LM or just a happy luck of the draw but with all the QC complaints lodged against LM, I thought a positive shout out is in order

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #1 on:** June 21, 2013, 02:26:35 AM

Personally I'd say you got a fluke, but then I'm biased against LM's sub 4" tools in particular as mine have always had issues. Glad to hear you got a good one though

JAfromMn · **Reply #2 on:** June 21, 2013, 03:35:51 AM

I hope that that Leatherman has improved their quality control.

the ps4 I had was terrible. Lose scissors, poorly ground blades and tools.

I might have to try a new one. I had kinda gave up on the ps4 but maybe there is hope.

I like the idea of having everything in such a small tool.

Nhoj · **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2013, 03:49:53 AM

I really hope they've improved their QC! That would mean that they listen and make their tools better.

theonew · **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2013, 06:36:36 AM

Quote from: 50ft-trad on June 21, 2013, 02:26:35 AM

Personally I'd say you got a fluke, but then I'm biased against LM's sub 4" tools in particular as mine have always had issues. Glad to hear you got a good one though

It could be a fluke but somehow my gut tells me that LM is upping their game. The scissors are the biggest hint for me. They seem to have undergone an additional step in their manufacture and that is they are slightly curved against each other making them closer to the mini Vic scissors. These are in fact the only mini scissors, other than the Vic 58mm ones, that pass the wet, limp cigarette trimming test: I roll a cigarette leaving about a 1/4" on one end without tobacco, I lick that end a bit to make it soggy, and then I try to cut it using the scissors in the position that doesn't bias the blades against each other. Other than Vic and now this one, the rest just fold the paper over without cutting it.

Also the blade bevel is freakishly even, as good if not better than Spyderco. I'm never too concerned with how sharp a knife comes out of the box, it takes me very little time to sharpen it, but if the bevel is all smurfed up it can take a good bit of time to fix even with the diamond hones I have.

JAfromMn · **Reply #5 on:** June 23, 2013, 02:51:04 AM

I'd like to see a pic of the improved scissors theonew

Jailbird · **Reply #6 on:** June 23, 2013, 03:41:22 AM

Quote from: JAfromMn on June 23, 2013, 02:51:04 AM

I'd like to see a pic of the improved scissors theonew

I'd like to see a pic too. The ps4 I just got was pretty bad. So bad in fact, I carried it for a day until I needed it. Then I gave it away to the first co-worker to admire it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

theonew · **Reply #7 on:** June 23, 2013, 03:56:58 AM

It's almost impossible to get my cell phone to focus properly but this pic should at least give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

JAfromMn · **Reply #8 on:** June 23, 2013, 04:39:26 AM

Thanks

I can see the difference

Mercury · **Reply #9 on:** June 25, 2013, 05:50:54 AM

It would be real nice to see leatherman start upping their game a bit. The last few tools I've bought have been fantastic, but they are old date codes, meaning they could be flukes because I have had a TON of muffed up tools from the same dates in the past. It's been so bad that the first thing I check on a new LM is the blade, I had countless blades come butchered out of the box. Usually it was uneven grinding, causing one side of the grind to be nonexistant.

It's a real picker upper to read about a new tool being so perfect!