Juice fit and finish

H

holygoat

Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Messages
518
A Juice S2 showed up today. "Pretty nice!" I thought: it's small and light, the blade is sharp, and I'm happy with the tool loadout. The tool folds shut with a satisfying snap.

Closer inspection made me less happy. The backsprings are very strong, but there's blade play, so getting the tools out is difficult. The Philips screwdriver — heck, all the screwdrivers — are essentially impossible to deploy; I need to use an AG Russell steel thumbnail and a huge amount of force to get them out. Getting the lanyard loop out required prying against the soft aluminum scales with a steel prybar.

The bottle/can opener sticks against the scissors, so that's kinda rough, too. And the wire cutters on the pliers seem to be malformed; they contact full-on while the plier tips are still 5mm apart, so it takes a surprising amount of force to open and close the pliers.

It almost seems like the whole tool was press-riveted together without any regard for folding the tools out!

I've noticed a slide in Leatherman's tool quality since I bought my first Wave. My SuperTool 300 is barely OK (pretty stiff), my Charge is pretty much OK after I loosened some of the pivots, but this Juice and the Style that came with it are both pretty sloppy, and my Skeletool is also quite badly made.

For comparison I pulled out my SwissTool Spirit. It's nearly twice the weight (all steel and larger), but the quality of the tools are just incomparable. Smooth, consistent, neat and tidy grinds…

So now I'm in a quandary. There's nothing else out there that I can find with an external bottle opener, pliers, and is light and pocket-friendly, but the fit-and-finish of this S2 has me wondering whether to return it.

Is there a half-size SwissTool that I'm overlooking? A magic way to get a flawless Juice? (Is one model better than another?)

Or should I abandon hope and carry a bigger tool (waiting for the Multitasker EDC!), or drop down to a plain ol' SAK?

Anybody else have this experience with the Juice?
 
I love my Juice and it works great but the Phillips is a pain to get out like on most juices.
 
When my Juice S2 was still new, it was really hard to open the screw drivers. But now, after 1.5 year, they're a lot easier to open. So I think it also has to do with using it. Although the fit and finish seems a bit more rough than a SAK, it's a useful and tough tool. Probably we are spoiled with the SAK quality, but I think my Juice S2 will serve me for a long time too. I'll write a review when it reaches the age of 10. :-)
 
Judging from the number of f&f complaints coming up on these forums, Leatherman seems to have QC issues, but not all their products are like that. Quite a few have passed through my hands, only one requiring warranty service (not counting a couple I bunged up). Typically, they start off stiff and after several days to weeks of use, break in quite nicely. If it is possible for you to do so, perhaps returning the S2 to Leatherman with a letter of complaint might get you a new one without problems. It is worth the effort because the S2 really has no competition in its size/utility category. I wish it did, but at this time, that's how things stand.
 
I bought what I thought was a genuine Leatherman Juice S2 but after getting it and looking at the poor craftsmanship I discovered I had indeed bought a chinese POS instead. I have since seen a few fake Leatherman models.

Could it be yours might not be genuine?

I later bought a real Juice S2 and while I dislike the can opener and scissors everything else is well made. The screwdrivers might be a little stiff but I like the way the lock open firmly. ;)
 
dfwcowboy said:
Could it be yours might not be genuine?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure it's genuine: proper Leatherman packaging, details match my other Leatherman tools (and web photos), and reputable vendor.

It's nowhere near as badly made as Chinese tools I've seen. The steel is good, it's sharp, etc. It's just too tight and there are clearly cut corners, mainly when compared to Victorinox and Multitasker tools. It's in line with Gerber, as far as I can see.

(I suppose I shouldn't say "as Chinese tools" — the Multitasker is made in China, because it made economic sense to do so, but it's fantastically built.)

In fact, the annoyances about the tool kinda match my other modern Leathermans, too :)

It's even managed to resurrect the sharp edges from the original PST — the inside edges of the aluminum scales aren't beveled. Heh.
 
The Juice is a great concept , that should have been built by Victorinox .

Chris
 
When I bought my first juice s2 I had to send it back it was in such poor condition. My second one was much better but the handles not lininbg up bug me. I was told by leatherman that on the juice s2 they don't and its normal. :confused:
 
I have a "like new" CS4 that will stay that way because I can't open the screwdrivers without one of my SAKs. No amount of oil and exercising the drivers seems to help. Should I send it in?
 
Fishnuts2 said:
I have a "like new" CS4 that will stay that way because I can't open the screwdrivers without one of my SAKs. No amount of oil and exercising the drivers seems to help. Should I send it in?
Click to expand...

I would if I was you. Leatherman has a 25 year warranty. Call them up and see what they tell you to do.
 
I have an S2 that is probably 8-10 years old and it has none of the above mentioned issues.

My only complaint is the blade. It just doesn't get as sharp as I think it should . I will take responsibility for my sharpening abilities but at the same time I think the blade is where LM tools have fallen short. At least on everything prior to my Wave.

Overall, the S2 is the best combination of useful tools in a practical pocket size but I find myself carrying a Vic SAK unless I expect to need pliers.
 
My first approach would be to lightly oil the pivots, and then open and close the tools about 83,000 times while watching Sportscenter to see if the tools loosen up a little.

If that doesn't give you any love, I would say its a warranty issue, and I bet they would send you a smooth one.
 
I bought a new S2 a month ago AT THE FACTORY in Portland OR. Mine is perfect in every way. I have had Leathermans for decades now, almost since they started. They have fantastic customer service and they're FAST. Just send it it and they'll either fix or replace it before you know it, no questions asked. That's what I love about the company. I LOVE this tool even though I also have a New Wave. Don't give up on it, just send it in!
 
Hi,

I've got over 300 leatherman tools, knives, pruners & lights. My collection started when my wife bought me the first five Leatherman Juice tools. A couple of those were hard to get some of the implements to open. I suspect that this has to do with with tolerance stack-ups and the riveting process.

I have a Juice SC2 which was suffering from this. I took my usual approach of a very light oiling with 3-in-1 oil. This is a very light and good penetrating oil. I let it sit for two days, worked it several times on each tool and wiped off the excess oil. I'm now at #4 of these exercises and the tool is quite free. A couple more times to get rid of the last of the low viscosity 3 in 1 and I'll be good to go.

Give it a try.

Best - Joe
 
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