The Leatherman Arc Is "Fixed"

[BlindFarmer]

Hello everyone. I was given a new Leatherman Arc as a gift. I am grateful for that. I was expecting it to be silky smooth out of the box, but it was not. I soaked the tool in a container of dish detergent. Used a soft brush to clean it inside and out. The water had a dark tint and was gritty. I dried the tool, blew it off with air, and now it is wrapped in a blue shop towel after a spray of WD40. The WD40 will remove any remaining water while making sure the ARC will not rust. The tool now is what it should have been out of the box, smooth. For $230, Leatherman needs to step up their quality control. I am very grateful to have the tool. Now, it can perform as intended. The magnetic clumping tool deployment is nice. After a wipe down from the WD40, the ARC is the smooth tool is should have been from the start.

[powernoodle]

BF, I'm glad that thing is working for you.  Sounds good.     As a lover of all MTs, I would like to have an Arc but have not been willing to drop the coinage on it.

I am close to cracking and getting out my credit card.  This pressure is getting to be too much for me.   

If I had one, I might hose it down in "Boeshield T-9".  It was developed by Boeing for aerospace applications.  When the solvent dries, it leaves behind a slightly waxy coating which I find very agreeable.

 

https://boeshield.com/

[Aloha]

Glad the ARC is sorted out.  I hope you get a great many years from it.  I personally have got to have follow ups on that Magnacut blade please. 

[BlindFarmer]

Glad the ARC is sorted out.  I hope you get a great many years from it.  I personally have got to have follow ups on that Magnacut blade please.

Personally I think Magnacut is just the fad/hype right now. Like S30v was in 2008. It is just another blade steel, and it is the new hot thing. Keep any quality knife maintained and even 420hc and 154cm will do a similar job. I maintain my 13 year old Buck Advantage Pro S30v knife with a Lansky Blade Medic. Run it through the ceramic v once a week and it has never dulled. Wipe the knife or multi tool down with wd40 or 3 in 1 oil (which is a clp) and have never had an issue. Honestly, in the end, the Magnacut will be no different than any quality knife steel if it is cared for.

[MrToolJunkie]

I agree on quality control. I had to ship my brand new ARC back to LM for replacement as the lock had weld splatter or something on the inside preventing the bit exchanger from smooth deployment. Also, while cosmetic, the logo was ground off on one side of the pliers. Should never have left the factory. Not sure how long it will take LM to send a new one.

[powernoodle]

Personally I think Magnacut is just the fad/hype right now. Like S30v was in 2008. It is just another blade steel, and it is the new hot thing. Keep any quality knife maintained and even 420hc and 154cm will do a similar job.

I muchly agree.  I posted this in the main ARC thread, but according to Blade HQ and Knife Steel Nerds, Magnacut is 5/10 in edge retention (15th place among high end steels), 7/10 in toughness (8th place), 10/10 in corrosion resistance (1st place), and 6/10 in ease of sharpening (21st place).

My view is that most of us don't notice anything about blade steel, unless it is cr@p steel that is never sharp.  We generally open Amazon boxes and other daily stuff with our MTs, where all of these blade parameters don't really matter.  Of course, there are exceptions and some folks really use their MT blades on the job site or whatever.  [I somewhat envy those people!].  But a roofer cutting shingles all day is not going to use an ARC.   He will use a $20 box cutter with carbide blades.

Why Leatherman coated a steel that is 10/10 in corrosion resistance makes no sense whatsoever except as a marketing thing.   But by coating it with ceracoat or whatever it is, the blade now looks different than all other Leathermans therefore "justifying" the krazy price.

For average users, sharpness, edge retention and ease of sharpening are what define a good blade steel.  Magnacut is good in this regard being mid-pack among the so-called super steels, but nothing to make your legs weak.  When MegaCut or BeastBattle steel is announced in 2024, maybe Leatherman will put it in a new Super Crunch and charge $289.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

On the blade, I am excited to try it. I have no issues with any blad3 steel, though, and agree to just sharpen whatever. Fast sharpening more often or less sharpening that takes a long time. Pick your poison..

[Old Boy]

My view is that most of us don't notice anything about blade steel, unless it is cr@p steel that is never sharp.  We generally open Amazon boxes and other daily stuff with our MTs, where all of these blade parameters don't really matter.  Of course, there are exceptions and some folks really use their MT blades on the job site or whatever.  [I somewhat envy those people!].  But a roofer cutting shingles all day is not going to use an ARC.   He will use a $20 box cutter with carbide blades.

Agree 100%. I do carry a super steel knife for fun. But for the real work I rely on my budget steels.

For Christmas my wife got me a new Milwaukee drill. Came with charger, battery and a canvas bag. The drill was meant to replace my old Dewalt drill that had batteries that could barely keep a charge which have long been discontinued. But had a nice hard case. Better than a bag.

Not wanting to wait till my Dremel got charged I took a Milwaukee Fastback and carved out some of the dividers in the hard case to fit the charger and drill. Snapped off the tip of the utility blade but that’s why I didn’t want to use a MT or a folder as space was cramped and I knew that was going to happen.

My tools and knives might be cheap but they’ll always have a place is my opinion. Super steels are more for fun, again just an opinion.

One thing I have noticed, good worker knives are now a minority. More and more knives with fancy steels and handle materials are occupying a bigger segment. Which is a shame I think. Some great designs out there but not in a budget option.

[Alan K.]

I really want an ARC but I'll get one in a few years on the second hand market when somebody pawns theirs or loses it to the TSA.  Meanwhile, I'm eagerly awaiting BF's real world, hard use on the farm report on all of his new tools.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I really want an ARC but I'll get one in a few years on the second hand market when somebody pawns theirs or loses it to the TSA.  Meanwhile, I'm eagerly awaiting BF's real world, hard use on the farm report on all of his new tools.

I'm with you.  The Arc is way too pricey for my meagre pockets.

I'm also very disappointed to hear that the Arc isn't absolutely perfect out of the box.  For the money they are asking, the damned thing better be ready to do anything, and do half of the stuff by itself.

Multitools are all about convenience- so I don't have to keep going back to my toolbox.  But, for the price, I can afford a lot of shoe leather, some pretty nice tools, and still have enough left over to buy myself lunch.

Def

[powernoodle]

One major positive of the ARC is that all tools are outside-opening.  This is relatively rare in the Leatherman bloodline.  Others include the Skeletool, MUT and P2/P4 if I am right about that.  And the outside-opening architecture gives you a smooth gripping surface when using the pliers.  This is one (of many) areas where the Swisstool and Spirit have long excelled.  And where the ST300 and Rebar have fallen short IMO.  Not a deal breaker, because I love those latter 2 as well (the Rebar is in my top 2 for EDC), but inside-opening is somewhat of a poor design element.  In theory, inside-opening like the ST300 might keep the tools clean if you throw your closed MT in the mud, but that's not something most of us do very often.

[powernoodle]

Milwaukee Fastback

This is off topic, but a box cutter/utility knife Challenge would be a groovy thing to do some time. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I know I have told this story before, but it's always fun to reminisce!

I don't know how true this story is, but I was told it by Ken Griffey of Bear and Son Cutlery, the inventors of outside opening tools.

Allegedly, Tim Leatherman and Ben Rivera (then just a designer) stopped by the Bear Cutlery booth (as it was known, pre Victorinox) at SHOT when the Bear Jaws was first released.  They were amazed by the tools that were all accessible from outside, and Tim allegedly turns to Ben and says "Why didn't you think of that?"

It's a funny story if nothing else.

Def

[powernoodle]

       

[David Bowen]

One major positive of the ARC is that all tools are outside-opening.  This is relatively rare in the Leatherman bloodline.  Others include the Skeletool, MUT and P2/P4 if I am right about that.  And the outside-opening architecture gives you a smooth gripping surface when using the pliers.  This is one (of many) areas where the Swisstool and Spirit have long excelled.  And where the ST300 and Rebar have fallen short IMO.  Not a deal breaker, because I love those latter 2 as well (the Rebar is in my top 2 for EDC), but inside-opening is somewhat of a poor design element.  In theory, inside-opening like the ST300 might keep the tools clean if you throw your closed MT in the mud, but that's not something most of us do very often.

(Image removed from quote.)

I think the outside opening is a welcomed change in the Leatherman tool lineup. I have no problems with the opening the tool, selecting implement, and closing tool again. But when I got my first Swisstool in 2000 or so, it was an amazing idea and ground breaking at the time. I do think it not only offers versatility, and ease of use, but also gives that comfort with the handles. I just wish Leatherman had implemented it sooner.

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[David Bowen]

I would be cool if it was legit. As innovated as Ben's designs have been over the years, it definitely would have been a "why didn't you think of that" moment.

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[powernoodle]

Outside-opening can be especially important if you use the MT blade as your primary blade, as it may get used a lot more than the other tools.  That's one reason, for example, I like the Curl (outside blade) over the Bond (inside blade).  But props to Leatherman for making the ARC completely outside-opening.

[Old Boy]

This is off topic, but a box cutter/utility knife Challenge would be a groovy thing to do some time.

Actually that’s a good idea.