Why does Leatherman make their blades so thick?

F

fishbulb

Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
1,196
I used to have a Leatherman Wave, and now carry a Swisstool instead.

One of the things that I didn't like about the Leatherman was that the blades were very stout and thickly ground for their size. For comparison the blade on the Swisstool is almost like an X-acto blade; very thin with a full flat grind like you see on all SAKs.

Of course, the Swisstool blade is a much beter cutter.

I can understand why a single blade folder would have to have a sturdy blade, as it could be called upon to do some damaging things other than cutting.

On a multitool you have a whole assortment of screwdrivers and pliers to take care of any prying or pulling task you would need to perform, so I would think that it would be preferable to design the blade for pure cutting rather than general utility.

So whats with the thick blades?
 
I think you may have answered your own question.
The Swisstool provides a mini-pry bar where the
other tools depend on the knife / screwdrivers for
that function.
 
The leatherman tools are pretty much the standard for a working mans tools and regardless of the condemnation often made on the forums against prying, in reality this is one of the more common uses for knife blades when used by tradesman and labor workers.

Highly efficient cutting blades are generally other knives such as Olfa and Stanley. These as well often get used for prying and are frequently broken, but they are easy to replace as the blades are very inexpensive (buy them in packs of ten for a few dollars).

-Cliff
 
Originally posted by fishbulb
On a multitool you have a whole assortment of screwdrivers and pliers to take care of any prying or pulling task you would need to perform, so I would think that it would be preferable to design the blade for pure cutting rather than general utility.

So whats with the thick blades?
Click to expand...

Simple....

The Leatherman is a pair of Pliers
(with a "token" knife-blade)
it's not a knife.....
made by people who don't know much about knife making, or understand folding knives.....

(of course I'm biassed so please don't take this too seriously :) )
 
AND when a pliers manufacturer buys his rolling stock, he probably gets one thickness to make everything, which also helps set up the width and working space in the handle of the finished product. IMHO. (OK, I cheated and took a pair of calipers to the blades on my Squirt P4. They are all the same thickness, blade too.)
 
Leatherman varies the stock across tools. The saw for example is half as thick as the blades.

-Cliff
 
Originally posted by Cliff Stamp
The leatherman tools are pretty much the standard for a working mans tools and regardless of the condemnation often made on the forums against prying, in reality this is one of the more common uses for knife blades when used by tradesman and labor workers.

Highly efficient cutting blades are generally other knives such as Olfa and Stanley. These as well often get used for prying and are frequently broken, but they are easy to replace as the blades are very inexpensive (buy them in packs of ten for a few dollars).

-Cliff
Click to expand...

I see what you mean, but the big difference here is that a Stanley or Olfa utility knife does not have 3 screw drivers in the handle.

With perhaps a few exceptions, all of the tradesmen and labor workers that I know are smart enough to realize that the fat screwdriver on a Leaterman should be used for prying instead of the knife blade.
 
I agree, the saw on my Wave is ground down thinner. I'm curious what the Leatherman folks have to say about blade thickness, etc.

Another speculation may be that a pliers blade is ground to a thicker
edge, so the stock can start that way. Utility blades are throwaways and made thinner. Or that production machinery makes them different? Cliff?

Love those locking Swisstool blades!
 
lu2236, the Olfa blades geometry is required for the types of materials that they cut. They are just thick enough to give them the necessary level of stiffness and no more. There are three classes of Olfa blades, the regular, heavy duty and extra heavy duty, which are 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 mm thick respectively.

fishbulb, it is not about being stupid, it is about simple utility, a knife breaking isn't the end of the world, you just grind a new tip and move on. Even if the blade is mangled, the tool is still kept being used. A lot of prying tasks also require the overall geometry of a blade (tapered edge to work under something, a sharp tip, more length, etc.) . The blades also need to be stiff enough for rugged cutting.

The blades on the Leatherman supertool, in any case, are more efficient cutters than most other folders on the market with the exception of knives like the Opinel and such.

-Cliff
 
Originally posted by Cliff Stamp
The blades on the Leatherman supertool, in any case, are more efficient cutters than most other folders on the market with the exception of knives like the Opinel and such.
Click to expand...


I agree. Leatherman’s edges are not quite as thin as the Swisstool (and other SAKs), but they are not overly thick - in fact they are thinner than the vast majority of tacticals and are at least comparable to most traditional slip joints. The SAKs and the smaller Opinels blades have about the thinnest edges of any folding knives that I am aware of.



Cliff,

What is the edge angles of the Olfa blades?


Are they full blade thickness behind the edge bevel or is there a primary grind of some sort?



- Frank
 
Many companies rather produce thicker blades that offer less cutting efficiency just to make sure that they don't have to fix too many broken blades on non-knife knuts' LMs.
 
Originally posted by UnknownVT
Simple....

The Leatherman is a pair of Pliers
(with a "token" knife-blade)
it's not a knife.....
made by people who don't know much about knife making, or understand folding knives.....
Click to expand...

This is so true, when i look for a multi tool I look at everything it has to offer besides the knife. Why do you need the multi tool knife when you are carrying a "real" knife in your other pocket anyways? lol. IMHO a multitool is merely a tool to have handy when you run into unexpected situations where you need a tool or something to keep in your car in case something needs a quick fix. For real jobs you have to use real tools (i.e. snap-on, Mac, etc)
 
I have a hard time seeing the LM blade ever unlocking... and if it does it mearly hits the other handle... I've got the original, even my can opener "locks" :rolleyes:
 
Its very simple guys, they are made that way to "idiot proof" them. As sub zero said, in the real world they get abused and busted. A compromize has to be made. We should think ourselve lucky they over engineer and not lean towards "planned obsolescence"
I think the good quality multi tools are fantastic and have saved my arse heaps of times.
 
The reasons are pretty much already contained in your discussion, so I won't bother to muddy the waters.

One detail to correct though...somebody mentioned rolling stock for pliers. Pliers are actually cast rather than stamped from strip.
 
I don't know how the blade is on the full size wave, but when I had my CS4 Juice, the blade was hollow ground and can be easily compensated for the fairly thick stock. They weren't as sharp as the SAKs, but still they weren't butterknife dull.
Also Victorinox already makes a bunch of these thin blades, why won't they put one of them with the Swisstool?
 
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