The Great Leatherman Wave Burial Project of 2015-2016

[styx]

Don't forget that the sheath might be a factor

[Kev D]

I'm betting we'll see major rust!!

I'm hoping it just has a General patina 

[NKlamerus]

Rust for sure. I take my Wave out on the boat or to the beach almost weekly this time of year. It's rusting before it gets home!

[gregozedobe]

I'm betting we'll see major rust!!

I'm hoping it just has a General patina 

Some may say it has undergone a form of Corporal punishment   

[Poncho65]

Will it have rust maybe, will it be usable after this test Yes, because although not pretty rust doesn't affect them unless they are left unattended a long time in a rusty condition to pit

I am anxiously awaiting the outcome either way

[Kev D]

I'm betting we'll see major rust!!

I'm hoping it just has a General patina 

Some may say it has undergone a form of Corporal punishment   

 

After its Private time alone in the dirt , it will hopefully show it handled the ordeal Admiralably 

[ddogu]

Rust for sure. I take my Wave out on the boat or to the beach almost weekly this time of year. It's rusting before it gets home!

Salty water is the issue there (assuming you are not talking about a river or a lake). Humidity in the soil should not damage that badly.

[powernoodle]

Well, lads, the time is here.  The official resurrection date is in five days, but with a good break in the weather and my schedule availing itself, I got out the post hole digger and dug up the Wave.  Unlike one year ago with the Gerber, I found this one easily. 

Here we go . . .



Last year it took me three days to find the dagnab MP600, so I took pics of the burial sight this time and buried the Wave with a couple of plastic bag shreds to facilitate recovery.  If I bury another MT, I'll use the fine suggestion to tie "string trimmer" cordage to the tool to ease the recovery process.


A few small roots grew through the sheath in the past 12 months.  Mother Nature wastes no time reclaiming her children.


First, I saw moderate rust on the pivot exterior.  No big deal, really.  But note the heavy rust on the cutters, plier teeth and base of the plier head.


The plier head, especially the pivot area, took the worst of it.  Major rust.  See also the surface rust on the interior of the tool. The plier head was stiff in its deployment, but fortunately it was not frozen.




The blades were relatively unscathed.




The small, interior tools were also pretty clean, as were the pivots.  Surprisingly clean, really.  I found no rust on these tool pivots, which is somewhat bamboozling considering how bad the plier head had rusted..


I blasted the Wave with hot water, then soaked it - along with the sheath - in a bucket of Oxi Clean and hot water.  After several minutes, I shook the water off and heated the Wave with a heat gun to dry it out.  A few minutes with a Q-tip (several, really) and some Mother's Mag Wheel polish really cleaned up the plier head rust.  The deep rust and staining is still there, but much of the surface rust is gone.


I went on to blast all contact areas with Boeshield T-9 lube, completely and excessively soaking all areas until it dripped off.  Blasting a dry MT with T-9 gives me a strange, perverse pleasure.  But I'm okay with that.  T-9 is a light oil that evaporates to leave a waxy residue that penetrates all areas to provide lubrication and corrosion prevention.


All tools, along with the plier head, now open very smoothly with no binding.  Some light rust and staining remains, but it adds a good deal of character to distinguish this Wave from the others in my arsenal.

I can't explain why the plier head sustained moderate to severe rust, while the body, blades and smaller tools were essentially unscathed.  I could be that the plier head was at the bottom (open) area of the  sheath, which exposed it to the ground.  But while the plier head sustained heavy rust, the adjacent areas of the MT body sustained little to no rust.  So I don't think the plier head rust had anything to do with the positioning of the MT in the sheath, nor the attitude of the sheath in the ground.  Until I hear a better theory, I conclude that the plier head steel, or its finish, make it more susceptible to rust than the MT body, blades and tools.

There is nothing scientific about any of this.  But I am pleased that, as with the Gerber MP600, the Wave was easily salvaged, cleaned and restored to full operation.  I am especially pleased that the plier head and all pivots now open like butter despite residing in the red Kentucky clay for an entire year.  I attribute the buttery smoothness in part to the Boeshield T-9, but mostly to the Wave's refusal to concede to Mother Nature.  She will reclaim the Wave eventually, but not today.

Thanks everyone!  You guys rock.  Onward and upward.

[zrxoa1]

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Obi1shinobee]

 

[Poncho65]

That is awesome powernoodle  

It was about how I figured it would come out and I am glad it cleaned up easy and can be put back into service should the call arise

[Monrogue]

Interesting   So what's the next victim?

[Poncho65]

Interesting   So what's the next victim?

Yes do tell

I also agree about the plier head theory My Supertool 300 plier head has had rust and rust spots over the years but the rest of the tool and it's implements have remained unscathed

[G-Dizzle]

Really enjoyed this! Thanks powernoodle!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rdub934]

Awesome, Powernoodle. Thanks for doing this, it's really entertaining and interesting to see the effects of time and nature

[Grathr]

The Wave fared a lot better than I thought it would!
Well done Leatherman!

It would be interesting to see how bad a non stainless tool/knife would rust in the same dirt/ conditions for a year. For comparison.
Also it would be interesting to see a low end Gerber tool and a low end Leatherman do the same, to see if they can take it as well.

[sLaughterMed]

A little disappointing, to be honest, but I suppose this result was expected after the MP600 last year. I was hoping for a sheath full of useless rust though

Thanks for the cool experiment PowerNoodle!

[Kev D]

Great result, thanks for the great experiment powernoodle 

I wonder how a sak would fair in those conditions. 

[hiraethus]

nice one powernoodle.  I'm glad you found it.

I can't explain why the plier head sustained moderate to severe rust, while the body, blades and smaller tools were essentially unscathed.  I could be that the plier head was at the bottom (open) area of the  sheath, which exposed it to the ground.  But while the plier head sustained heavy rust, the adjacent areas of the MT body sustained little to no rust.  So I don't think the plier head rust had anything to do with the positioning of the MT in the sheath, nor the attitude of the sheath in the ground.  Until I hear a better theory, I conclude that the plier head steel, or its finish, make it more susceptible to rust than the MT body, blades and tools.

The pliers head is made by investment (AKA lost-wax) casting.  The steel, although stainless, is not the same as that used in the other parts.  This process leaves impurities (oxides and such) on the surface of the cast part that are more susceptible to corrosion.  It's effectively a different grade of stainless (in fact it might not be classed a stainless steel at all) on the surface compared with the centre of the casting.  The grinding and machining processes that the head undergoes removes most of this layer, but there are areas on the head that are untouched - the sides, logos, cutting jaws and around the handle pivots for example.  These are the parts that have rusted the worst.  The rest of the tools are made from steel strip that doesn't have this same variation in chemistry, and most of the parts are more highly polished which will help to prevent rust from forming.

[ddogu]

Good job, powernoodle! Thank you for sharing 

[Steinar]

It's great ideas like these, combined with a willingness to actually go through with them, which is the best of MT.o. Thanks a lot!

[SteveC]

Good job, powernoodle! Thank you for sharing 

+1   

[Toolslinger]

Good job, powernoodle! Thank you for sharing 

+1   

+2   

Thanks for the experiment!

[Vladimir]

Thanks Powernoodle for doing this, great photos and writeup!
 

[strmliner]

Good job, powernoodle! Thank you for sharing 

+1   

+2   

Thanks for the experiment!

+3   

Great set of experiments Powernoodle...thanks for sharing great pictures and writeup!   And yep, I'm a Boeshield T-9 advocate as well!

[styx]

Great job. As said, I think the sheath might have played a big role

[zoidberg]

       

[Crow]

Was tool new? Did it have oil on tools? That could prevent parts from rusting.

This was very interesting wait. Thank you for doing this.

[sawman]

It's certainly not what I expected to see.....

More interesting than the experiment itself, I suppose, is how fast that year passed!!

Thanks for another fantastic thread

[Aloha]

So first off, thank you for yet again another neat burial adventure  .

Secondly, I had no real expectations of what the Wave would look like once unearthed.  I am glad the tool was not rendered useless due to rust. 

Lastly, use your tools fellas.  Using the tool and periodically cleaning and lubing it will provide plenty of years service even if some rust does appear.  Surface rust doesn't prevent the tool from performing.  I'm not trying to sound like a jerk it's just I've hear over and over again how LMs have such a rust issue.  While I'm sure each and every case is very much true, surface rust on a working tool shouldn't be such a huge deal IMO.