The Ubiquitous Chinese SOG Toolclip knockoffs: Many Models Reviewed

[Wspeed]

Sorry what I mean is that you
only have to remove the screws
To remove the scales 

[ChopperCharles]

You get a two-for-one thursday today, as I post a quickie about the Ka-Bar version of this multitool. First off, if you're not careful you'll miss the fact that this isn't a full-sized tool! It's the size of a micro toolclip, and yet it looks VERY similar to the Ubiquitous Chinese Plier Tool. According to Ka-Bar this was produced from 1996-2006, and is part number 02-1307. The tools are sharp, the jaws are machined very well, the file is good for fingernails and not much else. There's a wire stripper cutout that I've sharpened on mine, but it didn't come that way. (and it doesn't work so great even sharpened. Using the serrated blade for a wire stripper works loads better). It has a clip, as you can see, which makes it nice to carry inside a jeans coin pocket.  The cutter is pretty bad. It manages 16ga insulated wire, but fails on everything else, including regular zip ties. It's peened very well, and it feels nice in the hand. It feels like a quality micro tool. It's about the same as a Micro Toolclip, but without the annoying self-opening in my pants. The cutters on the SOG are probably a hair better... but only a hair. Overall  I like the little thing, I just wish the cutters were better. They're machined well, with close tolerances, but not sharpened.

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

Note: I've gone back and taken a file to the Kabar tool's cutters, and now it will cut small zip ties, 18ga and 12ga wire easily. The extra-thick 16ga still gives it problems though.

Charles.

[Poncho65]

So far I am liking the Swissgear pliers Lots of great pics Charles and great write ups

[ChopperCharles]

Today's test subject is a "Bench Pro" branded black-scaled model. While the Swissgear is the first black-scaled model I reviewed, it's a special mode.  I've actually come across many regular models that have black plastic scales. I like the black-scaled models. They feel good in the hand, there is more to hold on to and the scales feel good. But, feeling good in the hand doesn't necessarially mean it's a good tool, as we shall see.


Jaws: C

The tips of the jaws do not line up. What's more, they're not at right angles to the tool. They're angled and not very precise at all. The teeth sorta line up, but not really. The tips of the jaws don't come together, so there will be no arm defoliation with these pliers. The one thing they have going for them is the smoooooooth jaw operation. They're worn and loose and feel quite nice to use. There is also no side offset to speak of

Cutter: C-

The cutter appears to have been hit with a file in the past. It didn't help. Out of all the test objects, the only thing the cutters cut was the large zip tie. Since the cutters had evidence of past sharpening, I had a go with a file. And now they'll cut 18ga insulated wire as well, but they fail on other soft wire.

Tools: D

This pair of pliers has the normal complement of tools... or so it seems. The main blade is normal, and the rest of the tools have the same *shape* as the tools from other Chinese Plier Tools... but they're chrome plated. Why are they chrome plated? Some of the plating is scratched from the tool opener I use, and it's pink underneath. I'm guessing the copper layer under the chrome. Since the can opener wasn't sharpened, I went ahead and took my file and filed the can opener to put an edge on it. It appears to be stainless underneath, but I'm not 100% sure of that. What I am sure of is it should NOT have been that easy to file. It was like filing mild steel. What's more, I started with the file from the sheffield tool, and it took metal away quite easily. I switched to a real file to do the rest of the job, though.

So, if they are stainless underneath (and I'm not sure of that, but if they are) then I'm wondering why they'd plate the tools instead of just leaving them stainless. Looking at the serrated blade, the plating was done AFTER the blade was sharpened and file was cut. Attempting to file anything except my nails with this file was an exercise in futility. The file first turns pink, and then becomes smooth and visibly damaged. Phillips driver and small flat driver are noticeably rounded.

Sharpening: D
The main blade has an edge, but not a very good one. It appears to be the same blade in all the other Chinese plier tools, so it should sharpen up nicely... but it's not sharp as-is. The other tools are not sharp at all. The serrated blade was plated after the initial sharpening, and it's laugably dull. The same with the can opener. It had no edge to speak of. And of course none of the wire stripper notches were sharpened.

Peening: C
It's a mixed bag. The tool holding/handle lock rivet needed to be peened, it was very very loose. So I did that, and the tool feels good and seems solid. After removing the scales, I see that peening is decent on the major spots, but the backsprings and screwdriver rivets are not peened very well. They're peened on one side and barely touched on the other. But the major structural peens, while ugly, are there and strong.

Sheath: B
The sheath is of average quality and thickness. It has two rows of stitching around all the edges, and a "Bench Pro" logo printed in white on a pleather panel. It's a thicker sheath than some, not as thick as others. The Swissgear sheath was made better and of thicker material.

Other Things of Note:
There are things that were done right with this tool. The jaws move freely and open and close very nicely. Not all the Chinese plier tools can say that. The spring has a cutout for the screwdriver, and is quite springy. It opens the jaws as much as the Sheffield spring does, but it's a much ligher spring and it takes less force to use the pliers. So the pliers are actually really comfortable to use. The edges of the plier handle has also been smoothed slightly, so they don't feel sharp in the hand. These are things that this plier tool does really right. It's a shame the cutters don't work, the jaws are jacked up, and the tools are chrome-plated. Note that the side plates under the scales are also chrome plated. On other tools they are bare stainless. The notch in the handle for the lock is haphazardly cut, at an angle no less.

Overall: Well, don't buy this one, that's for sure.
When buying a company-branded multitool, it's a good idea to look at the tools carefully and see if they're chrome plated or not. If they're chrome plated, don't buy the tool. There's really not a lot I can recommend here, as I'm still waiting on several corporate-branded tools to arrive. With enough samples I should be able to see if there's a trend, or if it's just a crapshoot. The best you can do is scour photos and look for precise jaws and a nicely machined cut on the handle for the lock.

I must say I really hate that this copy is so bad. It feels really good in my hand, and the jaws operate nice and freely, with a good spring and a decent sheath.

[ChopperCharles]

More pics of the Bench Pro.

So, I went ahead and sharpened all the tools, including the serrated blade. I knocked down the round edges on both flat head screwdrivers. I sharpened the can opener and... admittedly crudely... sharpened a notch for stripping wire. Which doesn't work as well as using the serrated blade, honestly. In doing all of this, I also went ahead and peened both the backspring rivets. And then noticed something. There is no good reason for not peening the screwdriver rivet. You want that one to be strong, and the screwdriver tool is actually thinner than the backspring, so you can't over-tighten this. BUT, the rivet closer to the jaws is touchy. Peen it too much, and it tightens the jaws. It's not terribly structural, so leaving it lightly peened isn't going to hurt anything, I think. Learned something today!

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

More of these coming in. Some really good, some really bad! Plus an entirely new TYPE, with some of the features of the Swiss Gear but with a different tool set.

Charles.

[Wspeed]

 

[Poncho65]

2 more in the books Charles Good grading system as well

[ChopperCharles]

Today I received a "new" tool from eBay. It was sold as new, but I quickly got my money back, and you can see why. This is an excellent show of what happens when a tool is heavily used, and the peening fails. Honestly, I'm not sure what happened to this thing. The scales are in good shape, but it looks to me like it was run over or used as a pry bar. The whole tool has a curve to it. It seems heavily abused... but I'm not sure how this could have happened, and the exterior of the tool be in such decent condition. It was so bad the spring popped out on one side of the liner. So fixing it was not as simple as clamping it in a vice and re-peening it.

The thing is, this would be one of the better tools. The peening on the rest of the tool, except the part that pulled out, is really good. In fact, the peens are holding the structure together well beyond what I think they were designed for. The side plates are bent, and yet the larger plier peens are holding 100%. I really think this thing must have been run over, because the quality of peening is actually pretty good. Even the tool pivot peen is decent.  The blades also have the wire stripper cutout sharpened.  One interesting thing here: This tool has two rivets on the top jaw. Most have one rivet there, unless they're the two-piece jaw type. This is still a scissor jaw, but with two rivets. I was hoping that two rivets in the jaw would be enough to determine the jaw type from eBay listings, but that's apparently not the case. Damn. That makes it harder to find the better SOG-type jaw.  (More on that later)

I'm going to try and repair this, but I think with the bent metal side plates it's probably destined for the junk pile.

Charles

[ChopperCharles]

Last pic of the trashed tool showing the two rivets that have pulled through.

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

Today I have a "Deluxe Multi-Purpose Plier" that was apparently a promotional item from a New Jersey "TransAction" Transportation Conference. There is no year on the tool, and it's an annual conference that's been going on since 1976, so it could be 2 years old or 40 years old, no clue. This is one of the best-made pliers I've reviewed since the Swiss Gera

Jaws: A

These jaws are amazing. I like the blunt nose design, and the operation is extremely smooth. There is not even the slightest hint of tightness. These are two-piece jaws, with the top jaw held in place by two rivets. This is a superior jaw to the scissor type, and in my experience these are the smoothest-operating jaws. The jaw precision is very good. There's just enough sideways offset to grab with a fingernail, but no more than that. Very acceptable. The tips are precisely ground, and I can easily grab arm hairs and pull them out. There is a very slight side-play in the jaws. More of a rocking motion, really. This indicates either some wear on the pivot pin, or that the pivot is drilled too large for the pin used. It's very minor, only 0.5mm of play at the plier tips. The spring is excellent. Very light feeling, and yet opens the jaws almost all the way.

Cutter: A

The cutter is very good. On most of the Chinese Plier Tools, the cutter blades meet at the back of the tool first. This could force the wire to slide out of the cutter. I've not had it happen, but it could for a heavier gauge or a hard copper wire. These cutters meet at the front of the tool first, and would force any wire deeper into the cutter. The SwissGear also shares this design, and I'm thinking that any of these tools with the two-piece jaw may be this way. That may be one way to determine the jaw type. The cutter on this tool is obviously machined and sharpened as well. These jaws can cut the 18ga speaker wire, the 16ga wire with extra thick insulation, and zip ties both big and small with ease. It often cuts 12ga with one cut, but sometimes takes 2 cuts. I attribute this to the play in the jaws.

Tools: B-

While the jaws and cutter on this tool are excellent, the tools are just average. It's the standard complement of tools. Blade, serrated blade/file, and can opener. None of the wire stripper notches are sharpened. The serrated blade sits low in the tool, partially obscuring the nail nick. The backspring for the plain blade is very strong. The backspring for the can opener is just right (not too strong to extract the tool easily). The backspring for the serrated blade is strong when extended, but weak such that the blade doesn't snap down when closing. The mini flat head driver has slightly rounded edges, but not bad at all. However, the flat head is missing the washer, and has a bend to make clearance for the can opener. This is the first I've come across with such a blatant corner cutting. This version of the tool, like the SwissGear, does not have a phillips screwdriver on the backspring.

Design difference: There is an additional rivet in this tool, which acts as a stop for the tools. On all other tools (including the SwissGear), the tools are stopped by the design of the backspring. Those tools can be pushed in a little more, and you can feel the backspring bend some. These tools have a hard stop against the additional rivet near the tool pivot. This is very much like the SOG ToolClip design. Unfortunately with lots of closing the tools and with force applied to the jaws through the tools, that rivet bends and wears. This allows the tools to sink further into the tool, obscuring the nail nick. This is the reason the center serrated blade tool has the nail nick partially obscured.

Sharpening: B-

The main blade is not very sharp. It's not dull, but it's not super sharp either. This is a used tool, so I'm not going to ding it much for that. Especially considering that the serrated blade is quite sharp. The can opener has an edge on it, but it's not a sharp edge by any means. But again, no wire stripper notches are sharpened.

Peening: A-

The peening on this tool is pretty good. All the main rivets have big-headed peens on both sides. The tools are well secured with minimal side play The two backspring peens near the pivot however aren't peened as well as I would like. I don't think they'll be an issue because the peening is so good elsewhere. I don't see them pulling out, but I'd rather they were peened better. The additional rivet that's used as a tool stop is pulling in slightly. The rivet has been bent slightly, and it could stand to be re-peened to prevent further bending.

Sheath: A

This is a different sheath design from the others. It's a nice vinyl sheath and more heavy-duty than most of the nylon sheaths. I prefer the nylon sheath to be honest, but this is still a good quality sheath. It's vertical-carry only, however.

Other Things of Note:

This is the closest design I've found to the actual SOG ToolClip. There's no clip, obviously, but the jaw design, the side plate shape, the lack of a notch in the end of the handle, and the extra tool-stop rivet are straight from the SOG ToolClip. It's comfortable in the hand. The sharp edges have all been knocked off this tool. However, it's still not as comfortable to hold as one of the multitools with black plastic handles. If this thing had the tools from the Sheffield and some plastic handles, it would be the perfect multitool.

Overall: Buy It

I paid $20 for my copy, with the original box and sheath in very good condition. The tool was used, with some wear on the "Stainless China" lettering on the main blade and bending of the tool stop rivet, but outwardly it appears to be a new tool. No marks on the sheath, no marks on the tool itself, and jaws with very minimal tooth wear. This is the closest I have come to a SOG ToolClip so far, and for $130 less than they go for on eBay. And I get spring-loaded jaws, which is something I really want in a plier-based multitool. I love the SwissGear for the needle nose pliers, but the fish scaler is useless to me. For blunt-nose pliers, this is the way to go, and with more useful tools than the SwissGear. It is however equally hard to find this style. All of this style I've seen so far have had non-sharpened wire stripper notches and are missing the washer on the screwdriver. (Granted, it's only been three, but they're all identical so far)
 

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

More pics of the TransAction Conference pliers:

Charles.

[Poncho65]

Very nice reviews again Charles  On my phone and it isn't wanting to show pics ATM but I will check back in on my PC and look at the pics in a while

[gerleatherberman]

Awesome write-ups, CC! Thank you!

[Poncho65]

Now that I see the pics it makes the review even better

[ChopperCharles]

Today I have one of these tools with the strange metal and rubber scales. It looks rather like a space shuttle, and not really in a good way. The metal scales are easily removed, and held on by little clips. Under that the rubber part is secured by a screw near the tool pivot. These scales will not mount to another tool, because there are notches in the rear of the side plates for the tabs on the scales to notch into, so they don't get in the way of the tools opening. The tool feels good in the hand, but the metal scales are just very thin sheet metal, and my hand can tell they're not really very solid. And they're really goofy-looking.

Jaws: B-
The jaw operation is smooth, and the tips are machined okay. They come together at a raised section at the tip, which can easily pull out arm hairs. The small jaw teeth don't mesh because of the raised tip, but they would if that tip wasn't present. The large teeth however, are cut weirdly and don't match from side to side. The tip of the top jaw is larger than the tip of the bottom jaw as well. The spring is strong and keeps the pliers open just enough to slide a wire into the cutter. There is not significant side-play in the jaws.

Cutter: F-
It seriously cuts nothing. None of the wires in my tests, none of the zip ties, nothing. The cutters are cast with no machining or filing done at all. I might be able to improve the cutters with a file, but honestly this tool doesn't have enough redeemable qualities to even bother trying.

Tools: C
Standard complement of tools. The file is fine cut, but not deeply cut, and it doesn't feel agressive at all. The small flat driver is actually less rounded than most tools, but it's really tight and difficult to open. Plus the stop notch is cut too short, so the tool opens far more than 90 degrees. The can opener is a nightmare to actually open. I cannot open it without a nail opening tool, or a bottle opener blade from a SAK. However, there is no side play in the tools at all. The tool pivot rivet is peened very strongly*. There are rust spots on the blade. The 90 degree phillips driver has the oddest cut I've seen. It's sharply cut and has the tip flattened. I'd call it a good looking driver. 

Sharpening: B
The blade is well used, with significant wear marks and rust spots, but it still has a decent edge. The can opener has from-the-factory sharpening on it, and it's actually sharp enough to be considered a second blade. The serrated blade is razor sharp. The wire stripper notches aren't sharpened though, so this is still a B.

Peening: D+
It's starting to come apart, so it can't get much higher. The peens on one side look fine, but on the other side they're peened and then ground down, and often they're not peened enough before that grinding. The two backspring rivets in particular are not peened enough, and are starting to pull through. The tool rivet is peened rather well, but looking at the marks on each side of the rivet, I'm wondering if the previous owner didn't open the tool up and peen it himself.

Sheath: n/a

This tool didn't come with a sheath.

Other Things of Note:

The notch in the handle is evenly cut, but it's not precisely machined by any means. It has a rough surface, and it's not quite deep enough. The handle lock is very tight, and not quite long enough. The handle has to be pushed in with significant force to get the lock to slide over. The edges of the side plates are sharp and unfinished. Since normally the tool has the dopey space shuttle scales on it this isn't really a problem, but it doesn't speak to quality.


Overall: Don't Buy

The overall feeling of the tool in my hands is that it's of middling quality. The tools are sharp, but one is impossible to open and another opens too far. The peening is substandard, and the large jaw teeth misshapen. The handles are weird (though comfy), and the cutter is abysmal. There aren't enough redeeming qualities to warrant buying this version of the Chinese Plier Tool.

[ChopperCharles]

Here's how the side plates attach. The last photo shows the poor peening on the backspring rivets.

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

So, I decided today I was going to make a burrito. I grabbed one of these multitools and a can of black beans, then quickly realized that they don't have can openers. The profile is completely wrong for that blade to be a can opener. It's far too long, and the tip hits the rim of the can before the  lower point of the blade touches down. I think it's meant to be a bottle opener with an auxiliary blade. Only the Sheffield has a real can opener, the rest of these have a glorified bottle opener. They do open bottles rather well, but not cans at all. To work as a can opener, the blade would have to come down significantly below the notch which keeps it on the rim. The SOG uses this same style tool, and I'm guessing it too is useless for cans.

FYI, the Sheffield can opener is really, really good. Faster than either a Wenger or Victorinox can opener. Largely because it's freaking huge in comparison. It cuts nicely and cleanly and makes big cuts without getting stuck.

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

Today I have another interesting variation. It's a standard  plier tool with a Swissgear type spring, and Barlow branding on it.

Jaws: A

Well, the jaws are really nice. They're precisely machined. The ends are square, there's no side offset, and all the teeth precisely fit into each other. The jaws are loose with no hint of tightness whatsoever. The spring doesn't open the pliers are far as the spring on the SwissGear does, but it opens them far enough that the cutters are open quite a bit. The pliers feel good in my hand, they're a pleasure to use for pliering tasks!

Cutter: C-

The cutter works well for zip ties, cutting them with a solid snip. It works on 18ga speaker wire, but the cut is not complete. Some insulation is still attached. The 16ga with the extra thick insulation (lamp cord) is not cut at all, just mangled and bent. The 12ga is equally uncut, though usually a second try on the mangled wires will result in a complete, if ragged, cut.

Tools: D

This tool has the standard complement of tools. Some things are really decently good. The phillips and the small flat head driver have sharp corners and no rounding. All the tools can be opened easily. But then things get wonky. First off, on every other of these plier tools, the small flat head driver can only be opened after first opening the bottle opener. On this tool, the flat head opens right up. This is accomplished by a small washer, which was added to the side of the serrated blade. This, plus an extra washer on the small flat driver, gives clearance for the driver to open without contacting the bottle opener.

However, they didn't increase the thickness of the backspring for the serrated blade when they added the washer. Let that sink in for a moment. The serrated blade + washer is thicker than the backspring for the serrated blade. This means the tool is wider at the back than it is at the front, and it looks like it's coming apart because there is space between the backsprings. The side plates aren't parallel! They accomplished this by basically not peening the two backspring rivets at ALL. If they had, there'd be a perceptible bend in the tool side plates, as they formed a "Y".  There is also some side play to the tools. Not as bad as some models, but still significant.

Sharpening: C-

The main blade and serrated blade are averagely sharp. The main blade can cut paper, but not receipt paper. None of the wire stripper notches are sharpened, and the bottle opener doesn't have much of an edge on it

Peening: F
It's pretty bad. The backspring rivets aren't peened at all, the tool rivet is peened well, but that's the only one. Even the plier head rivets aren't peened well. The top jaw rivet is barely peened on one side. The pivot rivet just looks okay.

Sheath: B+

The sheath is nicer than some. It's middle quality fabric, and it has a little nylon loop with a ring on it, which no other sheath has so far. Not sure what I'd use that for, but it's there.

Other Things of Note:

Nothing really to post here, that covered it.

Overall: Don't buy it.
Pass on this one. The spring is nice and the jaw action pleasant, but the poor peening, poor cutters, and the extra washer causing the backsprings to be uneven makes this tool a bad choice. UNLESS you're looking for a cheap base to start modding, I'd pass on this version.

[ChopperCharles]

First photo shows the washer. From left to right you're looking at the side plate, bottle opener, liner, washer, serrated blade, liner, plain blade, side plate.

The second and third photo shows how the backsprings are splayed apart. The third photo also shows the lack of any significant peening for the backspring rivets.

The final photo shows the back side of the pouch/sheath.

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

Another twofer today, as I review REALLY interesting model! It's a souvenir tool from Monarch Crest, Colorado. Likely sold at the Monarch Crest Scenic Tramway and Gift Shop many years ago. This tool is very different than the other plier tools. It has a completely different tool load with a longer, thicker, and deeper blade, a combination tool, and a really slick wood saw. The handle is right around a quarter inch longer, to accomodate the extra length of these tools.

Jaws: B-

The jaws are longer than most other plier tools, and are precisely machined. The tips meet almost flush (just enough space to grab with a fingernail), and there is no side offset or side play.  They're more of a needle nose than the Sheffield. The teeth are cut cleanly, although they don't mesh. They're not designed to, as there's a little extra material on the tips that comes together first. They can easily pull out arm hairs because of that.  There is a very slight drag on the pliers, which feels good. They're not tight or stiff in any way, but they're not loose and floppy either. However, the spring is very stiff, giving the pliers a heavy-feeling action.  The spring is attached to the handle, and can get in the way and feel odd if you're trying to open the pliers more than the spring does, but flicking the handle open more with a finger on the inside. The finger hits the spring instead of the handle, and this is uncomfortable. The jaws also don't open as far as some of the better tools, so there's that to consider as well.

The spring is replaceable, it's attached with a single screw, so that is something worth considering as well.

Cutter: A-

It cuts zip ties with ease, 12ga wire with ease, 18ga speaker wire with no problems. It only has trouble with the 16ga lamp cord with the extra thick insulation. Well, and the 24ga of course. None of these tools can cut that... yet.

Tools: A+

The main blade in this tool is a whopper! The sharpened portion of this blade is the same length as the Sheffield tool: 2.4 inches. However, the blade has a large half-moon cutout (not sure what this is for) on the tang. The total length from pivot to tip of the blade in this tool is 3.41". That's a a full .40" inches longer than the Sheffield blade, which measures in at at 3.01" from tip to pivot.

Many of the 5-blade plier multitools (Ruko, Alltrade, etc) have a saw. But none have a saw with this design! There is a cutout that facilitates deeper cuts. It keeps the blade from jamming as much, and it works really well. I tested this saw and it cuts better than the saw on my Swiss Champ. There are two files cut into the saw, one fine and one coarse. Both are quite aggressive and deeply cut.  There is a flat head screwdriver tool on the end of this saw which is not machined or cut so that it fits screws. This is because the combination tool has the same screwdriver head, and it IS machined on that tool. My intention is to file this down to make a scraper tool on the end of the saw blade.

Fianally we get to the awesome combination tool. This tool has a can opener, a bottle opener, a serrated blade, a flat-head screwdriver, and a wrench that fits four bolt sizes - 5.5mm, 7mm, 8mm, and 10mm. This little tool rocks my socks.

There is no backspring driver on this plier tool. That's fine with me, the backspring phillips is largely useless.

Sharpening: A+

The main blade on this came sharp enough to cut receipt paper. The half-circle cutout is also razor sharp, the can opener is quite sharp, and the serrated blade is sharp too. No complaints at all here, they've done a great job.

Peening: D-

This is where things go south. The plier head is poorly peened, but at least it's tight, as evidenced by the slight drag of the handle and the lack of any play in the plier head. The top jaw rivet doesn't look great either. The tool pivot rivet is peened well. The backspring rivets are completely un-peened, and are pulling out of both sides. Damn, so close. The manufacturing is good, the assembly poor.

Sheath: B

The sheath is longer by half an inch, to account for the longer and thicker tool. It's the same middle grade nylon as most of the rest, and it has dual carry (horizontal & vertical) like many other sheaths do.

Other Things of Note:

The wooden scales are held on with both screws and with some contact cement. The design of the scales match the side plates, which have a different shape at the front of the tool than side plates from the normal models. Because of the extra length of the handle, the tool lock loop does not line up with the plier handle. The handle really should be longer to accomodate. This means the tool is a lot easier to pop open accidentially than other plier tools.

Overall: Buy this!
If you find one that has been lightly used, I say buy it, pop off the scales, and peen it yourself. The tool selection is great and the pliers and cutter good. I like this tool!


Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

Here's the downright bad peening for the Monarch Crest souvenir tool.

Charles.

[gerleatherberman]

It is like they said "lets make this MT stand out" and 3/4 the way into it, the bean counters said "hold up on the quality and just peen it with a big rock".

[Poncho65]

It is like they said "lets make this MT stand out" and 3/4 the way into it, the bean counters said "hold up on the quality and just peen it with a big rock".

Thats what I am getting from it as well

Some more great reviews CC

[Don Pablo]

It is like they said "lets make this MT stand out" and 3/4 the way into it, the bean counters said "hold up on the quality and just peen it with a big rock".

I dunno, more like they DID use a hammer, but got someone with my skill level to bash away at it.

[ChopperCharles]

Anyone know what that half circle cutout would be for? It kinda lines up, but not really, with the hole in the combination tool. Maybe used for wire stripping? Or for something else entirely?

Charles.

[gerleatherberman]

I have no idea.
Maybe a half-smurfed attempt at a finger choil?

Also, the Bench-Pro arrived as stated and quickly. Thank you!

[ChopperCharles]

Well, this link appears to indicate the round one is for stripping, the v-notch for cutting wire. https://catalogue.facom.com/se-en/categorie/sawing-drilling-cutting/knives/produit/electricians-knife-with-wire-stripper-with-wood-handle  I can see the big round notch working well for cutting the sheath off or romex or coax, so that makes sense.

Charles.

[ChopperCharles]

Although I've alluded to the 5-tool pliers previously, this is the first review I'm writing for one of them. This is the "RUKO 15-Function Stainless Steel Multi-Tool with Nylon Sheath", sold brand new on Amazon for around $21. I've owned this one for a while, and I really *want* to be able to recommend it... but I can't. Because these are available new, I purchased two of them from Amazon to see what kind of variation there is between copies, and it's not good. The tools are all the same, but the jaw precision and cutter usability is quite variable between the new tools.

Jaws: C
One copy I have has precise jaws with no offset, and they can pull out an arm hair easily. However, they were extremely tight. One of the spacer plates is deformed slightly and is rubbing the jaw, making it a drag quite badly. The spring is weak and even if the jaw was properly loose, the spring doesn't open the pliers very far.  On the second copy, there was 0.6mm offset at the tips of the pliers. They looked okay otherwise, and still pulled out arm hairs. The side plates aren't deformed on this tool, but there is still some drag to the jaws. Neither copy is a smooth opener.

Cutter: C
Both tools manage zip ties (regular and small) without problems. The first copy will cut the 18ga speaker wire, but not the 16ga with the extra-thick insulation. It will cut 12ga wire in one stroke if I make sure the wire is all the way at the back of the cutter. Otherwise it will not completely cut the wire.

On the second copy, it cannot cut any stranded wire of any gauge.

Tools: B

The tool selection is SO much better than the 3-tool model. The thin models have a plain blade, a serrated blade w/file, and a small plain blade on the end of a bottle opener. That's three blades and a bottle opener, plus two dinky screwdrivers. This model has five main tools: A plain blade, a bottle opener with a small blade, a serrated blade with file, a wood saw, and a pair of scissors. While I still think there are too many blades, the saw and scissors make the tool a lot more useful.

The tools are located oddly, though. The nail nick for the serrated blade is blocked by the scissors. To open the serrated blade, the scissors have to be opened first. On other tools, and indeed on the older Ruko tool, the scissors are on the outermost position and have the nail nick on the other side. They sit below the nick of the main blade, and everything is accessable without opening other tools.

The Phillips driver is oddly pointed and sharp. The small screwdriver is VERY rounded. the nail nick for the saw blade is difficult to get to because of the metal tab for the small flat screwdriver.

The new scissors are very oddly shaped. They look like child's scissors. They do work well enough on paper, even several layers of paper, but they're useless for opening blisterpack packaging.

The tools all have significant side-play, due to peening (seperate issue)

Sharpening: B-

The main blade is just barely sharp enough to cut paper. The bottle opener blade has an edge on it, but it is not sharp enough to cut paper.  The serrated blade seems pretty sharp, and the file is deeply cut and feels aggressive. None of the wire stripper notches are sharpened. The saw is quite sharp, and works well. The scissors aren't particularly sharp, but they manage paper fine.

Peening: C

The main pliers are peened well, but the backsprings are peened poorly, as is the tool rivet. 

Sheath: B

Same style of middle-quality nylon sheath they all have. Somewhat larger to accomodate the extra thickness of the tool over the 3-tool models.

Other Things of Note:

The second copy of this tool was assembled differently. The new copy also has a washer added to the bottle opener tool, which is supposed to allow the small screwdriver to open without having to open the bottle opener first. Unfortunately this wasn't thought through, as there is also a washer on the screwdriver. It makes the tools jam up, and the bottle opener blade hits the screwdriver tool, causing a little nick in the blade.

I really like the thickness and weight of this tool.The extra two tools plus the plastic scales make this a nice and heavy tool that feels good in the hand. I fixed the peening of my first copy, and I worked and worked and worked the jaws so they're a little looser, but they'll likely never be completely loose. The tool selection is great, but as pliers they kinda stink. Even the one with the cutters that mostly work... the pliers just aren't easy to operate. On a tool that is all about the pliers, having the main function not work so great is grounds for skipping it.

Overall: Pass on this

Although the tool selection is great and you can buy the tool brand new, the quality control is severely lacking. The two versions I have were constructed differently, with different washers and spacers, and the product variation is just unacceptable.


All that being said, I also acquired an OLD version of the Ruko tool. This older version has more streamlined scissors, which don't look like children's scissors. These scissors are located on the outside, with an exposed nail nick. None of the tools are blocked by any other tools. The wood saw has fewer teeth, and they're not as aggressively cut. The later-model tool has a far better saw. The cutters are machined shorter. My copy is well-used, and the cutters were pretty beat up, with big dings and divots in them. They still cut about the same as the first new cutter. 12ga wire will cut at the back of the cutter, 18ga with thick insulation doesn't cut. 16 ga speaker wire cuts mostly cleanly, but sometimes there are stragglers.  The older model has less tool play, but is peened about the same otherwise.


The third pic below shows the wear to the jaw. The fourth photo shows the spacer that is malformed, and is causing the drag on the jaws.