LKL SWISS-TECH, the origin of SWISS+TECH tools

[hiraboo]

・Introduction


I think most people like the SWISS TECH tools, which are functional, key ring sized, and relatively inexpensive.
There are wonderful threads about Chako's amazing SWISS+TECH collection. Please visit and taste them.

・Swiss+Tech and other items in this collection drawer.
・More Swiss+Tech items.


Sometimes you may find there are some SWISS TECH tools on the market that have the same shape but different detail. And someone may think there may be lots of knock off on the market.

For example,



Left: SWISS-TECH MicroTechnician
Right: SWISS+TECH Micro-Tech 6 in 1



Left: SWISS-TECH Utili-Key UST (Ultralight Survival Tool)
Right: SWISS+TECH Utili-Key 6 in 1


Paul J has posted about this before. Please see the link below.
・Re: Utilikey discrepancy

The answer is that they are all genuine SWISS TECH tools. But there have been differences of manufacturing period, country, and method.


But I can't find any article on this forum so far that mentions the reason why there are the many SWISS TECH tools with the same shape but different names and details. What has been going on?

Now I will try to show you the brief story about that.



・History of SWISS TECH tools



Patent documents of US5491856A, “FOLDABLE MULTIPLE FUNCTION TOOL”, Larry K. Legg, Feb. 1996


SWISS-TECH MicroTool was invented by Larry K. Legg. He established LKL Innovations, Ltd. and started to produce his tools in 1996. All early products sold by LKL Innovations were made in USA.



Hasegawa, Tomo. “Shot Show ‘97”. Knife Magazine No. 64 (June 1997), Vol. 12, No. 3, pp94-99
A report of Shot Show in Las Vegas, Janualy 1997. The reporter drew attention to the SWISS-TECH “mini-tool”. He didn’t mention it as “MicroTechnician”, so it might be a promotional model. Leatherman Micra and Kershaw A100 were also on display at the trade show, but he didn’t write the official names of either in this report.


A few years later, may be some financial reason, the ownership of this patent has changed several times since then.



The history of changing ownership of the patent US5491856. Information from United States Patent and Trademark Office.


As far as I can tell, the seller information on instruction papers or packages have also changed many times.

Timeline of sellers, in summery.

SWISS-TECH made in USA (Approximately 1996 - 2000)

Year	Company	Location
1996	LKL Innovations	Mentor Ohio
1999	LKL Innovations	Perry Ohio

SWISS+TECH made in China (Approximately 2003 - present)

Year	Company	Location
2003	LKL Innovations	Perry Ohio
2003	Crestwood Partners	Perry Ohio
2004	Swiss+Tech Products	Mayfield Village Ohio
xxxx＊)	LKL Innovations	Perry Ohio, Cleveland Ohio (writing side by side)
2007	Crestwood Partners	Cleveland Ohio
xxxx	Swiss+Tech Products	Cleveland Ohio
2009	Swiss+Tech Products	Solon Ohio

^＊) Partially made in the U.S.A.


Please note that LKL called their products as “Swiss-Tech”, then later companies have called them as “Swiss+Tech”. I intend to write a distinction between the two.



・LKL Swiss-Tech products lineup





As far as I know, LKL Swiss-Tech products were these 7 items.

• MicroTechnician
• Marriner
• MicroPlus
• Gold
• Utili-Key UST
• ScrewzAll
• ScrewBall

There were 8 items on the instruction paper, but the MicroPac was the combination set of a Utili-Key and a Photon Micro Light. So, I will not talk about the MicroPac here.


In the next posts, I will introduce each of these Swiss-Tech tools!

[cody6268]

Excellent writeup!


I think when the name was bought, they went to the lowest bidder in China.

I had a Swiss+Tech version I'd bought as a preteen for around five dollars. In just a couple of years, both screwdrivers had a lot of dings/damage, and simply cutting a small piece of rebar binding wire had ruined the cutters.   I've had an LKL Micro Technician for maybe 4?, and it's done the same jobs, with absolutely no damage at all. I love to carry it in my pocket alongside a slimmer SAK to keep weight down, but still have some decently sturdy pliers on-hand.

[pfrsantos]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

 

[Chako]

Great post! 

[hiraboo]

> Cody6268

Your information comparing both tools is very valuable. Thank you for sharing.
I respect anyone who actually utilizes these tools. (^▽^)/



> pfrsantos

I hope you enjoy my post !



> Chako

I introduced threads about your wonderful SWISS+TECH collection.
I really enjoy looking at your collection. (*´∇`*)


1. MicroTechnician

The Original jet Black Finish 5-in-1 Tough Tool with Precision Pliers, Wire Cutter/Stripper, Emergency Shear, Philips and Flat Screw Drivers. It locks to a Key Ring. 1.6 oz.

   i) Initial model



The original package box.



Front and back of the tool. LKL is inscribed on the rivets.



The instruction paper. I just noticed that there is no word “MicroTechnician” on the package and the paper. Perhaps LKL Innovations initially called it just "Swiss-Tech".



   ii) Later model (Sold as Swiss+Tech Micro・Tech 6-in-1)



The instruction paper was inside the clamshell package.
NOTICE

• Initial model has 5 functions because they counted wire Cutter/Stripper as one function. Then they counted it as 2 functions. So, this is a 6 functional tool now.
• The photographs here ware of initial models “SWISS-TECH”. But the other part reads “SWISS+TECH”.
• LKL Innovations “Perry Ohio”, “Cleveland Ohio” writing side by side.
• The sticker for "Made in USA" is placed over the words "Made in China".

The actual tool “SWISS-TECH”, “Made in U.S.A.”



   iii) SWISS+TECH Micro-Tech 6-in-1



I forget what kind of package it was. Thin can ?



Please notice the additional 1 function is available. “BONUS! 1/8 Rule Markings”
I think this is 7-in-1 actually.



   iv) Comparison



Left to Right
Initial model, Later model, SWISS+TECH Micro-Tech 6-in-1
Initial model has different shapes of pliers-head.



Side views. The Rule Markings are only on the recent tool.

[nakken]

Excellent write-up and pictures, thanks for sharing

[hiraboo]

> nakken

Thank you for reading and replying !



2. Mariner

Specially designed for Mariners & Fisherman with the latest in NP3 Anti-Corrosive Finishes. All original functions plus Serrated Shear, Lanyard Hole, and Posi-Grip Jaw. Matte chrome finish. 1.6 oz.

The original package box


Swiss-Tech Mariner


The instruction paper


I think the Mariner was LKL’s second product.
As in the quote, since that, they had changed the pliers-head shape to “Posi-Grip Jaw”.
And they added a lanyard hole on a handle because you might loose tools easily on the ocean. So, the detachable to key ring feature was no longer ilustrated – it might be only the matter of space – in the instruction.





The additional serrated shear may help to cut ropes. But it is not too sharp. I haven’t tried it yet.

[hiraboo]

3. MicroPlus

All Microtechnician functions plus micro-sized Philips and Flat Screw Drivers. Posi-Grip Jaw. Black oxide finish. 1.6 oz.

    i) Initial model



The original package box


Swiss-Tech MicroPlus


The instruction paper. © 1998



    ii) Later model



The package was changed!


Silver but rusty model.


The instruction paper. © 2000
NOTICE

• Until 2000, instruction papers were printed on one side. Since then, the introduction of other products has been printed on the back of the papers (Right half of figure).
• Address changed from Mentor, Ohio to Perry, Ohio.
• In the introduction of other products, they still said MicroPlus was “Black oxide finish”.

    iii) Swiss+Tech Micro-Plus 8-in-1



2003 Black oxide model



2008 Silver model



XXXX Gold model



   iv) Comparison







UL) MicroPlus Initial model          UR) MicroPlus Later model
                              M) 8-in-1 Gold
DL) 8-in-1 Black 2003                    DR) 8-in-1 Silver 2008


All models have 1/8” Rule Markings. So, they really are 9-in-1 tools!

[hiraboo]

4. Gold

The Ultimate in Ultra-Light Pocket Tools with Gold Titanium Nitride Presentation Quality Finish. Same functions as Microtechnician. Special “Air Weight” arms for the lightest Microtechnician at 1.3 oz.

The optional wood box. You could choose black plastic box (polystyrene gift box) or wood box (cedar gift box).



Swiss-Tech Gold


Unfortunately, I don't have the instruction papers of Gold and can't find them on the web. If you know of any information you can share, please let me know.



One of a feature of Gold was “Air Weight” arms – arms with holes. The lanyard hole of Mariner is 3mm in diameter. On the other hand, each hole of Gold is 4.6mm in diameter.



The pliers-head of Gold have “Posi-Grip Jaw”, so it’s not same functions as Microtechnician.





Comparison of Gold and Swiss+Tech Micro-Plus 8-in-1 Gold.
Left: Swiss-Tech Gold
Right: Swiss+Tech Micro-Plus 8-in-1 Gold

[hiraboo]

5. Utili-Key UST (Ultralight Survival Tool)

The lightest, most compact multiple tool ever developed. Fully extends and snaps open for functional knife. Includes Knife Blade, Serrated Cutting Surface, Micro-Sized Phillips Screw Driver, Eyeglass Screw Driver, #1 Flat Screw Driver and Bottle Opener. Available in silver stainless and titanium nitride gold. 0.5 oz.

    i) Swiss-Tech Utili-Key UST



I found that they called this as Slim-Line Gift Box.


Silver stainless




Patent documents of USD405953, “KEYRING TOOL”, Larry K. Legg, Feb. 1999



    ii) Color variation



Titanium nitride gold



Black, not mentioned about in instructions.





Comparison of silver, black and gold models.



    iii) Swiss+Tech Utili-Key 6-in-1






    vi) Comparison of Old and New





Left: Swiss-Tech Utili-Key UST
Right: Swiss+Tech Utili-Key 6-in-1

[hiraboo]

6. ScrewzAll

Four Precision Screw Drivers – Micro Flat Blade and Phillips, Standerd Size Flat and Phillips, Stainless Detachable Key Clip, and Jet Black Finish. 1.0 oz.

    i) Swiss-Tech ScrewsAll



The design of the gift box has changed since the introduction of ScrewzAll. Black plastic and cedar boxes to this type.




There were two types of the instructions printed in 1999.



Instructions printed on one side only. The location of the company was Mentor, Ohio.


Instructions printed on both sides. The location of the company was Perry, Ohio.


    ii) Swiss+Tech Silver Screws・All 4-in-1





The location of the company was Perry Ohio, Cleveland Ohio (writing side by side).



    iii) A confusing model (May be Swiss+Tech)



The date of manufacture is unknown. I have no packaging or instructions.


Upper: Swiss-Tech ScrewzAll
Lower: A confusing model

Looking closely, you can see the difference between “SWISS-TECH^TM” and “SWISSTECH^®”. Both fonts are also slightly different.



    iv) Comparison of Old and New







Left: Swiss-Tech ScrewzAll
Center: A confusing model
Right: Swiss+Tech Silver Screws・All 4-in-1

[hiraboo]

7. ScrewBall

Each ScrewBall has eight spring lock “In-position” Drivers in a Nylon Base with a Detachable Keychain The drivers are made from 4140 Tool Steel and weights only 2 oz.

    i) ScrewBall (Yellow model)


The yellow model is typical of this tool. But unfortunately, I don’t have yellow model.
There are great reviews about ScrewBall at Multitool.org, and you can see the yellow model of this tool.

・Swiss-Tech ScrewBall Review, by David Bowen, March 2006.
・Swiss*Tech Screwball, by Grant Lamontagne, April 2022


And of course, you can learn about it on the Multitool Encyclopedia.

・ScrewBall, by Bob, May 2016



    ii) ScrewBall (Gray model)



The pyramid-shaped package made of clear plastic and paper. I love it!






Patent documents of US2001/0045145, “KEYRING TOOL”, Larry K. Legg, Nov. 2001



・Timeline of LKL Products

My guesses include.

Year	Product
1996	MicroTechnician
1997	Mariner Gold
1998	MicroPlus Utili-Key MicroPac
1999	ScrewzAll
2000	ScrewBall

I will make one more post and finish!

[hiraboo]

・Bonus Images


JPS design group was one of LKL’s business partners. They had designed some sales promotion materials and have stored data to use as samples. That data is not publicly available at this time, but Google remembered old links of them. So, I could browse them.

I decided to preserve that data as a historical document.
And I will post them.



    i) Instruction Sheets






    ii) Dysplay Ads


















    iii) Blister Cards


















    iv) Dealer Sheet












    iv) Sell Sheets





















That’s all.
I hope this material will be useful to you.
Thank you very much.

[Chako]

 

[J-sews]

FANTASTIC compilation of early Swiss-Tech information Hiraboo! I am very impressed. Thank you very much for doing the research and sharing it with all of us. 

[hiraboo]

> J-sews

I am so glad you took notice of my post. (*^0^*) And I am very happy that you are back in action. Because I was worried that you might have had some serious illness or a serious accident.



It is a great honor to hear back from these legendary members. 
I will continue to keep you informed on the topic of multi-tools from Japan !

[Aloha]

BUMP..  Don't want this amazing info to too buried. 

hiraboo  always great info when you post.  Thank you. 

[Poncho65]

Such awesome info and pics, hiraboo I have a few of these from when I first joined MTO and they are great so much info in these posts

[hiraboo]

Thank you for your warm words !
I also enjoy sharing a lot of knowledge from all of you and reading your fun posts. 

I would be honored if my information could help MTO develop. So, if someone is willing to edit the MultiTool Encyclopedia / Wiki, I will gladly provide the information and pictures. 

Or… if admin members will allow me to do so, I will try to edit that with my horrible grammatical ability. I wouldn't recommend it. 

[Sos24]

Very interesting thread with a lot of good information.

[Mini]

Very interesting, a lot of informations, images, great!

[PitCarver]

Awesome write-up and information.
Love the small tools, but only bought the utili-key and screwz-all.

[hiraboo]

> Sos24

I am glad you are interested in my post !
(o´∀`o)


> Mini

I am not fluent in English, so I try to post pictures as much as possible.
Σ【◎】ω￣*)


> PitCarver

I love small tools too. The ingenuity of the craftsmen is wonderful !
∑d(ﾟ∀ﾟd)



A few more additional information. 1 / 4



The Swiss-Tech Utili-key UST was launchd in 1998. The patent date was Feburary 23, 1999.
Thus, there appears to be another model with different markings on the body after 1999.


Upper : before 1999
Lower : after 1999


Another version of the instructions.


The company location was Mentor, Ohio. It is an early version.

What I posted earlier --- Perry, Ohio --- is a later version.

[BPRoberts]

I have most of the "standard" S+Ts. The XTREME (22-in-1) is nice for having as much as possible without sharps, but it's a brick. One lives in my travel bag since it can (in theory) make it through security if need be.

The Micro-Max (19-in-1) is the best in terms of being practical to carry with maximum functions. One sits on my workbench (in addition to occasionally getting carried) and I grab it all the time.

They're all cool gadgets.

[hiraboo]

> BPRoberts

Very interesting to hear how you are utilizing these tools. I believe that the true value of a tool is realized only when it is used. Thank you very much!
v(´∀｀*v)



A few more additional information. 2 / 4

Finaly, I got a yellow one of ScrewBall.



Yellow model is common type of this tool. I have tried to find information about the gray model using Weyback Machine, but nothing found.
Instead, I found some interesting material.




On the Web, the name was changed from "SWISS-TECH" to "SWISS+TECH" in 2002.
And also, some products names were changed.

Old	New
MicroTechnician	MICRO･TECH
MicroPlus	MICRO･PLUS
ScrewzAll	SCREWZ･ALL
ScrewBall	SCREW･BALL
Utili-Key	UTILI･KEY
MicroPac	MICRO･PAC

Other items appear to be discontinued.
If you had these “･” named tools, I think they are quite rare.



By the way, I found these reviews using Weyback Machine.





As you may know, I had just made a post about SeberTool.
So I was very shocked when I saw the pictures of the broken SeberTool.

[hiraboo]

A few more additional information. 3 / 4



I finally had a chance to get the Swiss-Tech GOLD instruction paper and report back.

Few months ago, I found a GOLD sold in a box with an instruction paper.





The box of the one that actually arrived in hand was identical to MicroTechnician's.
Even more disappointing, the instruction paper were almost identical to MicroTechnician's.



Comparison of instructions.
Left: MicroTechnician
Right: GOLD


But then I remembered that the two tools are identical in function, just different in design and color.
Hence, if you look closely, the GOLD instruction paper reflect the differences in design.







All of this leads me to believe that this is a genuine GOLD instruction paper.
I wanted it to say GOLD somewhere in the instruction paper.

[hiraboo]

A few more additional information. 4 / 4



I have a textbook on my hobby, multi-tools collecting. I have quoted from this book several times in my previous posts.
Of course, LKL Swiss-Tech is also in the book.



Ryuichi, Hirayama (1998). Toolknife no Subete (Complete book of the tool knives). Namiki-Syobou, 197p


As you can see, this tool seems to be “MicroTechnician”, but is a bit different from the others I have previously posted.
And the author mentiond this is “スイステック5イン1ツール”. Which means “Swiss-Tech 5-in-1 Tool”.

What is this?


Fortunately, I found it on a Japanese auction site some months ago.
Strangely enough, no one bid on it, and to my surprise I was able to buy it for 1 yen.



Unfortunately, the paper box is damaged. But yes, it costs 1 yen.


Definitely looks like LKL Swiss-Tech.


This tool is very solidly built, but I think the finish is rough.


The instruction paper say this is “MicroTechnician” and also “Touch 5-in-1 Tool”.

“Patent #5,491,856” shows it was made after patented date, 1996.
The company address (Mentor, Ohio) also indicates that this is a very early product of LKL.

What is this?


Recently I learned of a new method of investigation. It is the WayBackMachine.
Using this powerful weapon, I found information about who Larry K. Legg was and how he made his tools.



LKL Innovations. “About us”. crawled by the Wayback Machine on December 6, 1998.

It wasn't until 1996 that a young machinist from Ohio, Larry K. Legg,
would draw world wide attention with a totally new design. The Swiss-Tech Microtechnician would begin a totally new category now referred to as the "Micro Tool". From humble beginnings with an aging CNC Mill in his garage, Legg perfected his design and managed to produce 1,000 pieces for test marketing. The initial intent of the Microtechnician project was to produce a pocket tool for personal use. Following a successful test market, Legg caught the eye of employer, Felix Glatz. A self-made businessman with an eye for innovation, Glatz did not hesitate to provide capital and become a partner in LKL Innovations, Ltd. Thus became a start of a new venture that has far exceeded Legg's most optimistic expectations.

According to this text, he built 1,000 test marketing models in his garage using old machinery.
I noticed the rough surface of the “Tough 5-in-1 Tool” is one piece of evidence that he made this tool by grinding metal.
Furthermore, the shape of the flathead screwdriver matches the illustration in the patent document.



Upper; MicroTechnician
Lower; Tough 5-in-1 Tool


I would conclude that this “MicroTechnician Tough 5-in-1 Tool” is very early, test marketing model of Swiss-Tech tools!
1 of 1,000!?



Comparison of tools that appeared in Additional Information.







Silver; MicroTechnician Tough 5-in-1 Tool
Black; MicroTechnician (Mass production model)
Gold; Gold

[BPRoberts]

I'm honestly impressed that they bothered. Good on LKL for taking the time to redo it right.