#3-2 "EVR production tool pt.1-2"
Now, seven years have passed and the story moves to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.
This is where all EVR concepts, which are the foundation of the current (2025) design, are designed, but because Iceland is such a remote location, it is impossible to get any "cool" tools, so the German company Knipex dominates... (see pt.1)
The story about Iceland would be too long, so I'll save it for another time.
On the way back to Europe from Iceland, I felt a strong desire to finally start preparing for the actual production, so I decided to dig into my tools again.
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That didn't work, and all I got in Google searches were "Swiss Electronics Tool", "Switzerland Tool", "Swiss Tools"... lol
As a result, I arrive at this video.
My instinct was, "This is it!" If I were in my early 20s, I might have admired a more individualistic style of blade made by a craftsman (please have a look at the ultra-high-end scissors from RENOMED in Poland. As a hobbyist, I am a big fan of tools from this manufacturer), but Ideal-tek is a highly mechanized and organized group, and the size and scale are just right.
I imagine that if the best tools were to continue to be supplied with stable quality, it would be like this kind of company in this kind of time. I'm sure the Swedish Lindstrom would have had a similar atmosphere...
I checked the entire product lineup after the actual production of Leqtique EVR had started. Just before the actual production, mistakes in the details of the design and insufficient finishing are inevitably found, and there is little time to indulge in the romantic world of the best tool.
And then, in March 2025, the nippers finally arrived.
Ideal-tek ES542TX SWISS
If you've been reading this far and have a good sense of intuition, you may have noticed something.
Yes, these nippers are also made of tungsten carbide!!! Moreover, unlike the EREM design, this time the head is a small size that is perfect for manufacturing circuit boards for effects pedals! And the bi-tone grip is very similar to that of the Lindstrom. The ergonomics are also perfect.
I've been using it quite heavily for about two months now, so I'll give it my usual rating.
Ideal-tek (Swiss/Italy) ES542TX
Cross section flatness: 9/10
Cutting capacity: 9/10
Sharpness retention: NA (predicted to be 9 or 10)
Impact on hands when cutting: 9/10
Grip ergonomics: 10/10
Changes in spring parts over time (ease of wear): NA (estimated 7-9, but can be replaced with a new one)
Precision of the head during board manufacturing: 9/10
Overall score: 9.8/10 (the highest achievement in the product category. People like me call this Swiss perfection)
There's nothing else to say about this, it seems to have all the best features of all the pliers I've tried so far. If you've tried a few different ones, you'll probably be laughing the moment you pick this up (before cutting). I'm laughing even as I write this. Lol
There are two negative points: the two springs that make up the spring section tend to shift over time. However, this doesn't change the feel or cause any particular problems, so it's not really a problem, but those who are picky may want to reset them every time.
Another negative point, or rather a scary point, is that when using ultra-hard tungsten carbide like with EREM, it may snap! Since tens of thousands of cuts are required at the very least, I will report on this in a year.
Either way, Leqtique EVR = ES542TX is the obvious choice.
This overall design, and the sophisticated fusion of automation and craftsmanship that can be felt during the factory tour, are all aspects of EVR's ideals.
In the future, completely new EVR models such as the Leqtique EVR-SRT will be released, but this company's products are so close to those designs that they can be considered teasers, even though they are still merely delusions.
By the way, I would like to write about this in detail elsewhere, but the last of the three important tools for making effects pedals is the soldering iron, or soldering.
This is the only place where we know of fully/semi-automatic machines that no human could ever match.
In comparison, human soldering is extremely uneven and has an extremely high error rate. After nearly 20 years of making effectors, I don't know how many points I've actually soldered, but I still know clearly that this is not a perfect solution.
The most important thing is to solder yourself and empirically determine what you feel is best, the solder cutting, temperature setting, tip angle, amount of solder, etc., based on your own personal sense.
Leqtqiue EVR has a complete prohibition against using PCBA (simply put, an external service that automatically completes a circuit board), which has become common in the pedal industry.
For example, in the case of the L' brand, parts that have little effect on the sound are made by PCBA (Taiwan), and important parts are hand-soldered using parts similar to those used in Leqtique. This balance makes mass production possible.
However, as you can see from the Ideal-tek manufacturing site (see the video above), the outer shape of the high-precision nippers is largely cut by CNC (programmed cutting machine), and the final sharpening (or rather, the subsequent polishing process) requires craftsmanship. Of course, individual differences in effects pedals are largely due to the tolerances of the parts, but in reality, the unevenness of the soldering done by humans cannot be ignored.
So, in conclusion, what we are ideal for at this point is to use Wonder's Signature solder, which we have been using for many years as if it were our own signature solder (more on this at some point in the future), and input the soldering profile that we have developed through years of trial and error into the machine to solder evenly with ultra-high precision.
By doing so, we can input our experience, which is impossible with PCBA, through the parameter of humanity. In the first place, PCBA is often used in products where soldering = connecting, which is unrelated to sound (specifying a solder manufacturer is not realistic, as it is not realistic to aim for sound improvement outside of RoHS-related issues), so at least we at Leqtique EVR certainly do not rely on external PCBA services.
So why did you introduce such equipment? You may be wondering, "Why not make it in-house ?" The implementation costs are truly out of this world.
What is needed for the ideal soldering automation is multiple machines from a Japanese manufacturer, and I definitely want to move towards that goal someday. I think that this is the final key to stabilizing the quality of EVR design at a high level.
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Well, I've gone off on a tangent like crazy, lol, but next I'd like to talk a little about pliers.
First of all, as I mentioned the other day, all you need to make an effector is a flat head screwdriver, a pair of wire cutters, and a soldering iron. It may seem like an extreme statement, but it's the answer we arrived at through global production. Testers and pliers are secondary tools that are not necessarily needed once the design is complete and the actual manufacturing stage begins. Yes, it's just like a Phillips head screwdriver.
I've been trying to live a minimalist life, trying not to use pliers in particular... (I can do anything with a flathead screwdriver)
Ideal-tek ES6024 SWISS .....
What on earth is this? Its otherworldly sharp edges boast incredible agility and precision. The overall design is so sophisticated it makes you think it's an F1 car.
I only started using them this month, but the process of using these pliers to secure the wires to the slider (the different colored part through which the wires inside the EVR Design pass) is already incredibly fun lol.
There is no doubt that great tools can add an incredible amount of color to pedal production, but the tools I introduced this time are not at that level anymore. They make you want to open and close them whenever you have free time... I think they are truly art products that directly appeal to your life.
Well, I'll take a break from talking about tools for a while. Because next time I'll be visiting Ideal-tek and asking for a factory tour.
The next one is scheduled for April 26th. It's a bit of a niche topic, and I'm not sure if there's any demand for it, but I want to share the "stories that you can only hear here" that are being lost in modern times.
Any form or even just a part of it is fine, but I hope it will lead to some artistic inspiration.
Shun Nokina