Leatherman Wave OHO bolster spinning

[tallowwaters]

What exactly causes the bolsters to spin when opening OHO tools on the Wave and how can it be fixed?  Are the pivots too tight, too loose? 

[Toolslinger]

I believe you are referring to the pivot screw head when you say bolster? If so...

I think it has to do with the lack of washer between the tool and the screw head. The screw is loctited in place and if one OHO tool has enough friction against the screw head, it can cause the whole pivot to turn.

It shouldn't affect the usability. More of a pet-peeve issue on mine. You can improve it by loosening the pivot, but make sure to re-loctite it otherwise if there is still friction, it could loosen or tighten the pivot on you. The other option is to source some extra washers and put them in between the screw head and tool.

[tallowwaters]

I figured as much.  Thanks for the insight!  It's just aggravating, as it happens on some Waves and not others.  I do have spare copper washers, so I may try those.

[Toolslinger]

The washer's should do the trick. Let us know how it works out for you.

[tattoosteve99]

I thought the pivots has a flat spot on them to prevent this?

[Toolslinger]

I thought the pivots has a flat spot on them to prevent this?

The pivots on the inside tool end are D shaped and indexed to prevent rotation. The ones on the plier head side that hold the outside tools are round.

With Charge models, the outside tools go between the frame and the liner and the screws anchor on the outside of 2 liners. On the Wave, there is no outside liner and the frame does not come up over the pivot. Leatherman uses oversized screw heads to give stability to the outside tools instead. There is no washer between the tool and the pivot head, so on some samples, there is enough friction (most likely due to manufacturing tolerances)  to allow the deployment of the tools to rotate the whole pivot assembly. If you're really unlucky and get a bad loctite job (or adjusted it without reapplying) it can cause the pivot to tighten or loosen itself with every use.

The sad thing is that it could be solved at the factory with 4 extra washers...

[tattoosteve99]

I never had problems with any of mine. What I would do is remove them, polish them, install one side with loctite. Then adjust the other side slowly until it works correctly.

[Toolslinger]

Mine have been hit and miss. Some spin, some don't. It's never really bothered me or been a problem except when I had adjusted a pivot and not added any loctite. Then the pivot would self tighten/loosen when I opened/closed the tools.