Gordon Multitool Fail

Lessons learned can be applied to better tools

[@nightshadefern162]

Every Harbor Freight I have been in since has completely eliminated their Gordon tool display- there were formerly a few knives and things. The Gordon multitool never actually hit the shelves, they had them in the back. Anyone else see similar things? And, since it keeps getting asked, I kept the broken Gordon for use as parts should I get a leatherman wave based tool. I did not try to warranty it out, though they told me it has a lifetime warranty. I did get in contact with HF, to tell them about the failure- this is so they become aware of the problem and could potentially correct it. I was impressed with the knife in particular- seemed to be decent enough steel that held an edge. As I said, I really wanted to like the Gordon, it had many good points… but it broke. I have since bought a leatherman Surge and have been impressed with it- although the Gordon knife blade seemed to be harder steel- the Surge gets like ribbons shedding when it is sharpened (incidentally, so do new production Victorinox blades)It does get sharp, but the steel is not as hard and the edge wears faster as a result.

[@apex_alchemy_knives]

@@nightshadefern162 I'm g9nna see if my brother in law will allow me to test the hardness of his SOG. I'll find the model of his sog too...that thing is exceptional and cost about 65 bucks brand new. Full size like a surge...lots of tools, great scissors...honestly I always have a knife so I never use the knives on any of these...but I have a feeling the sog is better than both the wave and the gordon...but then again...let's see what the numbers say first.

[@nightshadefern162]

Interesting. Hope he gives you the go ahead. It might be interesting to test the blade hardness from my Gordon to see how it stacks up.

[@apex_alchemy_knives]

@@nightshadefern162 you very much can send it in if you'd like. If yours reads 62 and mine reads 55, or whatever it was, that will be a testament to incredible inconsistency. Getting a good or bad heat treat would be...luck of the draw I suppose.

[@nightshadefern162]

@@apex_alchemy_knives Let me see about getting a message to you directly rather than splash addresses on yt.

[@apex_alchemy_knives]

@@nightshadefern162 I'm on ig fb and our email address is [e-mail] if you'd like to shoot us an email

[@AtomicBleach]

Well take it to any harbor frieght and get a new one. Cant do that with leatherman. You will be out of a tool for a month or so while it goes though warranty.

[@billybunter3753]

Wouldn't have happened in the first place with a leatherman!

[@WiredEbiker]

Mine said lifetime warranty when i bought it online. You may want to bring it in and swap it out for a new one!

[@richardsullivan1776]

That's too bad. I'm a huge Leatherman fan. I'm not one for the many "Wave" clones out there but this was the one I really liked. Its currently sold out at the two nearest stores about 30- 35 miles away in my area. I wonder how the other people's experience is going with the Harbor Freight Gordon 20-1.

[@nightshadefern162]

This tool may have permanently sold me on the (actual) Wave+. Other than the qc issue, I loved how it functioned and just how downright useful it was. Even broken, I’m still running it over my Swiss army knife. I also wonder if I simply got a lemon or if that spells disaster for the Gordon and its reputation.

[@richardsullivan1776]

@@nightshadefern162 I purchase many of my Leatherman's used online. You can find a nice secondhand Wave for $60. I love mine. I carry it with me almost everywhere. 25-year hassle free warranty. I'm still carious about the Gordon. Like you said, it could very well be a lemon.

[@noranekonekomatagi3261]

This kind of breakage usually occurs when the molten steel has too much of impurities in it. Can happen to any manufacturer, as the same batch of steel in the same furnace is usually uneven from bottom to top. Think of fresh orange juice. Heavier substances sink and light ones float in a fluid.
The copper-like surface may be of the earliest ones casted in this batch, since the manufacturer want to cut down the cost as best as they can, and copper (and its iron alloy) is heavier than iron, it sinks to the bottom, not being disposed of, enters the mold and forms this plier head. Forging, milling and drilling may or may not develop visible cracks during further manufacturing, so it's up to the quality control to go ultrasonic, dye penetrant and eddy current. Which I guess neither Leatherman or these China-man is willing to invest in. Lifetime warranty is a lot cheaper than non-destructive testing all parts before assembling, and, sounds a lot better to a general consumer.
Yes I know it's not politically correct to call these Made in China Leatherman clones "the Chinaman", but I love, use and abuse these Chinaman for all the possibilities they open up😅

[@apex_alchemy_knives]

Thank you for reminding me where this video is...shared it on my channel and subbed

[@nightshadefern162]

Thank you good sir!

[@Robertssurvivalsystems]

Im Glad I happened across your vid, I was just about ready to buy one of those. Thanks for the 411.

[@nightshadefern162]

I think holding off until they get the process hammered down might be prudent. 😅

[@MilledSteel]

Same here

[@Toycoma]

I broke my Leatherman rebar that same way

[@nightshadefern162]

Did they replace or fix it?

[@f.avilla6383]

@@nightshadefern162 i have a Gerber, not sure of the exact one, but its about 10 years old, i broke the file, and emailed Gerber, after i filled out their warranty and took pictures, they mailed me a new one.

[@tomperone9338]

I've broken a gen 1 and gen 2 Wave. Leatherman sent me a gen 3 when I sent the gen 2 in for repair. Now I abused the original Wave. That failure was entirely on me. The second Wave just plain shouldn't have broken, period. Point is, anything can break; even the very best. Now I've been EDCing the Gordon for about a month so far. It's held up beautifully. Is it as durable as a Leatherman? Undoubtedly not, but it's not bad. It remains to be seen whether the Wave is worth three times as much.

[@keeperoftruth5951]

Good news is it has a 90 day warranty

[@thisfishsmellsgood4084]

As I spoke to the salesman, it is actually a lifetime warranty. It says ninety days, but the manager told me it is a lifetime warranty.

[@billybunter3753]

​@@thisfishsmellsgood4084And it's gonna need it, time and time again!

[@lospanchos68]

I’ve broke the pliers on leather man rebar tool, and skelatool twice. Sent them back to leather man and they fixed with minimal questions asked. Take those back to harbor freights chances are they will take care of you.

[@nightshadefern162]

HF said there is a lifetime warranty. Sounds like all the ones they had in stock are sold out, so it would simply be a cash back deal. Since making the video, I ran the Gordon for several more weeks (and liked everything else about it- the knife really holds an edge well) even in broken pliers format. I purchased and am testing a Leatherman Surge with some very light mods until after I am sure its up to the task of heavier/ permanent changes. I may keep the Gordon just for parts, swap the broken pliers out for legit Leatherman Wave or Wave + pliers or just keep it as is- its still handy without pliers.

[@mario3804]

Keep us posted if Harbor Freight replaced it for you.

[@edcko10]

Yeah something is wrong with that casting. Looks like they put cheaper (softer metals) inside as fillers 🤔

[@noranekonekomatagi3261]

it would not make financial sense for the manufacturer to intentionally do so, but sometimes similar result is achieved by cost-cutting during manufacturing😂

[@mdsuave13]

are you going to show your file mods, I have a wave and your mods were impressive

[@nightshadefern162]

I think I did show the finished product after the file mod on the crayfish trap video, unless it got edited out. The file mod turned out really good has a few new features too. Stay tuned and Ill do a more in depth in it.

[@Spanky8402]

My Ozark Trail Multiforce broke just like this. I had it for a year, but I mostly used the bit adapter and flat driver as a lite pry tool. The pliers were used as big tweezers, until I needed them to twist a nut off. They gave way a little and I looked at it and the entire jaw fell to the ground. The metal looked grainy, or like you said, kinda powder look. I think it's a sign of over heating. Our plier head probably had a stress fracture and it was either hidden by the finish, or deep in the metal. I had a pair of Stanley pliers that broke on me and I got a replacement and I had the replacement since the early 2000's, so I think it could happen with any heat treated metal. I personally know a few contractors who have a Multiforce like mine that broke and since it was 1 of the 1st Wave Clones, many people tested them, so in my case with my Multiforce, I probably got a defective plier head. I put a wire stripper head on the Multiforce handles and I love it even more like that. Thanks for sharing your experience. I personally like full sized bits and I have a Leatherman Knifeless Rebar, with the bit adapter. I have a few flat bits but I don't really like them. I use my multitools daily, mostly for the bit driver's, but I also need Torx and Square bits though. If I was just a DIY or EDC my multitools, the flat bits would be a awesome space saver. Like you said in other comments, you could have gotten a lemon or Gordon messed up. Time will see. I wouldn't write off the company for 1 breakage.

[@nightshadefern162]

Might just be growing pains so to speak, not every product comes out of the gate perfect. Good info and thanks for the comment.

[@billybunter3753]

The old saying comes to mind, you only get what you pay for!

[@orlandomartinez4031]

I’m glad I didn’t buy them yet , but more importantly let’s talk about that bow your working on

[@nightshadefern162]

I have no prior experience making bows, watched a few Clay Hayes videos. The first had borers, snapped. The second shot decent but I thinned a knot out too much, light crack. The third and fourth (blanks) are drying. Trying Locust for #4. Its a learning curve for sure.

[@orlandomartinez4031]

@@nightshadefern162 well keep it up I’m sure it will come out great , you should do a few videos on them .

[@lapis.exilis]

@@orlandomartinez4031I second that! More now videos please!

[@akbychoice]

Looks like a powdered metal sinter process was used but not correctly.

[@nightshadefern162]

Sounds like you are more knowledgeable about that sort of thing than I. Is there a reason the flaky stuff would just pop through the surface? The other side of the pliers is now getting bubbly- obviously not being used. Weird stuff.

[@akbychoice]

@@nightshadefern162 could be rushing the process, production lines are often pushed to the point of bad decisions resulting in poor quality.

[@shawnpepin7890]

Definitely not baked enough /wrong temperature after sintering... thats why the color is different ​@nightshadefern162

[@6atlantis]

Are the cutters replaceable. Whether they are or aren’t I wouldn’t be cutting 90 wires like that with a multi tool. Not that it can’t do it but that’s when it’s time to pull out the snips or bolt cutters, I’d rather keep the multitool pristine for occasional snips or emergency snips lol

[@6atlantis]

I’m realizing now you were using the pliers not the cutters, I think lol.

[@nightshadefern162]

Correct, however it may not have mattered, as the break was below the cutters. The cutters are not replaceable. The cutters had no issue with 18 gauge galvanized wire- they were sharp and kept an edge.

[@reg428]

That's always my concern when I see cheap multi tools. It's the quality and heat treatment of the steel.

[@Mike-kc8rl]

These overseas cheapos are never going to be as good as a Leatherman,who put their tools through the tests and beyond!
As they say ,you buy cheap,you buy twice!

[@nightshadefern162]

This thing has been a gateway drug into multitools though, and helped me figure out what I really want, need and can do to a tool to make it really fit my needs. And weed out Leatherman or other brand multi tools that I might ultimately have been disappointed with. In some ways, it may have saved me hundreds.

[@JordanClifford-wl5ms]

Stopped watching after you tried comparing a forged tool to a multi tool. Forging and castings are two different things my guy.

[@daviddarlingauthor]

Do you think it's just a bad one-off?

[@nightshadefern162]

That could be. I have seen some photos of others breaking in the same spot. Maybe a bad batch?

[@astaschak]

Almost looks like it was broke before and got brazed back together and resold as new.

[@nightshadefern162]

I wondered if that might be the case. Its possible!

[@keeperoftruth5951]

The tool hasn't been in the shelf long on enough for it to have been a harbor freight store to send it back to corporate to be fixed and resold

[@zachrogers1985]

I broke my Leatherman 300 doing the same job on our chicken coupe.

[@nightshadefern162]

Same sort of break? (I swear I’m going to have to weld some good pliers to one of these tools to get it right)

[@shawnpepin7890]

​@@nightshadefern162get a vintage set of leathermans , like a 90s set, they used to be forged stainless, but the use sintered metal like all the clones nowadays and rely on their warranty for customer satisfaction

[@rcjoe406]

I stopped trying to tell people that the bibury is better and only 28

[@sidben-Yehoshuwa]

35.00 dollars nuff said

[@dontblameme6328]

You get what you pay for.

[@andrewfett142]

👍🏼
Dang😲

[@thisfishsmellsgood4084]

It's not a rip-off. It was a bad cast mine. I've been beating the crap out of daily bend thought that it was going to snap, but nope, it still hasn't.

[@noranekonekomatagi3261]

I used my Surge clone to unscrew an airplane nose wheel axle nut in a pinch. Someone overtightened that nut and the tapered bearings were clearly overheating. It held up ok. Probably will stay ok next time but I'm not willing to see any more red hot ATR wheel bearings😂