Home solution for loose pliers pivot! Experiment!

[Sam Lim]

I too think that is the possible reason. The sloping theory is just too complicated to implement. What the heck, so how many have been fixed?

I think I have to agree with that hypothesis too. Earlier today I submitted a PST to the treatment - and which better tool to use for it than a Crunch? Gripping the pivot tightly with two spacers between it and the jaws and turning resulted in nigh-on disappearance of the somewhat alarming PST pliers pivot wobble. Great tip Sam

(Image removed from quote.)

Sent on my SM-G930F with Tapatalk

  Glad it helped! Another leatherman revived! Yay! 

Ps* using spacer/washers sounds like a really great idea.

[Wspeed]

That's great work
I will try this later on my LM supertool they where loose from day one 

[Wspeed]

It works no more play excellent tip

[Sam Lim]

It works no more play excellent tip

Glad it work! 

[Wspeed]

My LM supertool pliers were loose from day one 
And always annoyed me
I'm just pleased it's now a 100%   
Thanks again for your excellent tip 

[srvctec]

Couldn't get this tip to work on my Tti Charge.  Clamped it unbelievably tight with my small Vice Grips using card stock discs I cut out with a hole punch for protection and it wouldn't budge.  Tried it in my vise with the same results.  I wound up doing what I've done for 40 years on pliers with this pivot type- put the ball end of a ball peen hammer right in the center of the pivot and smacked it with another hammer.  It's perfect now like it was out of the box over 2 years ago.

[Sam Lim]

Couldn't get this tip to work on my Tti Charge.  Clamped it unbelievably tight with my small Vice Grips using card stock discs I cut out with a hole punch for protection and it wouldn't budge.  Tried it in my vise with the same results.  I wound up doing what I've done for 40 years on pliers with this pivot type- put the ball end of a ball peen hammer right in the center of the pivot and smacked it with another hammer.  It's perfect now like it was out of the box over 2 years ago.

Probably wouldn't work with all but most I would say.

Btw doing what you do are rather unsafe.. Hammer on hammer is not a good idea.. Shards may fly... U should use a punch or something "softer"..

[srvctec]

Couldn't get this tip to work on my Tti Charge.  Clamped it unbelievably tight with my small Vice Grips using card stock discs I cut out with a hole punch for protection and it wouldn't budge.  Tried it in my vise with the same results.  I wound up doing what I've done for 40 years on pliers with this pivot type- put the ball end of a ball peen hammer right in the center of the pivot and smacked it with another hammer.  It's perfect now like it was out of the box over 2 years ago.

Probably wouldn't work with all but most I would say.

Btw doing what you do are rather unsafe.. Hammer on hammer is not a good idea.. Shards may fly... U should use a punch or something "softer"..

Thanks but I'm fully aware of that and didn't even come close to using enough force to cause a flying shard of either hammer.  I've never chipped a hammer in my 51 years of using them frequently.

[Sam Lim]

Where to grip on the pivot is always a trial and error. Doesn't mean gripping dead centre will turn it. A little hard to explain.. But when u have all the tools on hand, before clamping down, have a mental picture of where you clamp may have the most effect in turning it. So far, worked on most. I did also encounter one or two that refuse to budge. A few were loose beyond this method can help. So the punch and hammer would still have to come in for those nasty ones.

[aikon2014]

I have 4 Rebars, one bladeless, two regular and one BO. All of them were "loose" in the pliers, no play, but loose, I personally prefer resistance in the pliers. Tried the method, took a couple of washers that were the exakt size of the pivot, clamped down with a lockable plier tool and turned. I found 1. it does matter where you clamp down on the pivot, it differed with the different Rebars. 2. It does matter which turning movement you use, i first tried to just move the clamped plier and it didn't work until I realized that I had to use a cirkular motion to really move the pivot.

Great tips, I'm happy with my "renewed" Rebars

[Wspeed]

I have 4 Rebars, one bladeless, two regular and one BO. All of them were "loose" in the pliers, no play, but loose, I personally prefer resistance in the pliers. Tried the method, took a couple of washers that were the exakt size of the pivot, clamped down with a lockable plier tool and turned. I found 1. it does matter where you clamp down on the pivot, it differed with the different Rebars. 2. It does matter which turning movement you use, i first tried to just move the clamped plier and it didn't work until I realized that I had to use a cirkular motion to really move the pivot.

Great tips, I'm happy with my "renewed" Rebars

Hi glad you got it to work
My LM supertool was loose from day one 
But this little trick made them how they should be
Well done aikon2014

[aikon2014]

I have 4 Rebars, one bladeless, two regular and one BO. All of them were "loose" in the pliers, no play, but loose, I personally prefer resistance in the pliers. Tried the method, took a couple of washers that were the exakt size of the pivot, clamped down with a lockable plier tool and turned. I found 1. it does matter where you clamp down on the pivot, it differed with the different Rebars. 2. It does matter which turning movement you use, i first tried to just move the clamped plier and it didn't work until I realized that I had to use a cirkular motion to really move the pivot.

Great tips, I'm happy with my "renewed" Rebars

Hi glad you got it to work
My LM supertool was loose from day one 
But this little trick made them how they should be
Well done aikon2014

Thanks

[JustinCase]

How about a solution for frozen pliers? .....Asking because I used my good old 2006 Wave during salt water fishing and after a couple of days the pliers got frozen shut and resisted all attempt to work them free no matter what kind of lubricant or rust corrosion I used. I tried all the YouTube and Google tricks with negative results so I stop trying and sent them for warranty repair but instead they sent me a new Wave, which is cool!

[Wspeed]

How about a solution for frozen pliers? .....Asking because I used my good old 2006 Wave during salt water fishing and after a couple of days the pliers got frozen shut and resisted all attempt to work them free no matter what kind of lubricant or rust corrosion I used. I tried all the YouTube and Google tricks with negative results so I stop trying and sent them for warranty repair but instead they sent me a new Wave, which is cool!

That is a good question no idea 
Excellent news that they send you a brand new Wave 

[JustinCase]

How about a solution for frozen pliers? .....Asking because I used my good old 2006 Wave during salt water fishing and after a couple of days the pliers got frozen shut and resisted all attempt to work them free no matter what kind of lubricant or rust corrosion I used. I tried all the YouTube and Google tricks with negative results so I stop trying and sent them for warranty repair but instead they sent me a new Wave, which is cool!

That is a good question no idea 
Excellent news that they send you a brand new Wave 

Well, a new (old design) Wave, not the new 2018 with new pliers

[Wspeed]

How about a solution for frozen pliers? .....Asking because I used my good old 2006 Wave during salt water fishing and after a couple of days the pliers got frozen shut and resisted all attempt to work them free no matter what kind of lubricant or rust corrosion I used. I tried all the YouTube and Google tricks with negative results so I stop trying and sent them for warranty repair but instead they sent me a new Wave, which is cool!

That is a good question no idea 
Excellent news that they send you a brand new Wave 

Well, a new (old design) Wave, not the new 2018 with new pliers

Still good of LM to send you a new/old wave
But yes a 2018 wave would of been even better

[aikon2014]

Btw is there any way of tightening small tools like micra, style ps, squirts and so on?

[Sam Lim]

Btw is there any way of tightening small tools like micra, style ps, squirts and so on?

Smallish tools peening with a punch and hammer would be best. Do it lightly though. Very lightly. Test and do again if needed.

[Sam Lim]

I am now trying to use a different approach to this method.

1. Using a smallish vise grip to clamp down on the pivot. Make sure u are only gripping only the pivot with the "dead" side facing you.

2. Turn the right side handle or plier head instead of turning the vise grip. There's way lesser chance of slippage and scarring. As before, make a marking before you start.

See pic. You get the idea. Turning clockwise, start with the pliers handle open and turn the right side handle. Turning anti-clockwise is a bit more tricky. U need some kind of prying lever on the plier tip side to open up to turn it anticlockwise.

[aikon2014]

Btw is there any way of tightening small tools like micra, style ps, squirts and so on?

Smallish tools peening with a punch and hammer would be best. Do it lightly though. Very lightly. Test and do again if needed.

It worked! Tested it on both my Micra and Style CS, both scissors had a small play in it. Took a phillips head screqdriver (rather large one so the smal flat portion on the tip fit the round pivot) and whacked it with a hammer, small whacks first until I found the right force, and tadaa it worked like a charm! I suppose that there are other tools that are moore suited for this, but it worked, no play at all!
Thanks!

[ThePeacent]

why isn't this thread a sticky yet?! 

[aikon2014]

For the record I did put the tool itself outside of the edge of the table and put only the plierhead/scissorhead on the table to prevent ut all from bending. Just a small warning if anyone tries this 

[aikon2014]

Btw, is there a way to do this to a OHT?
The ONLY Leatherman I ever had real play in the pliers is with an OHT that I sent back.
All the others might have been looser in the action than I like, but no play.

Anyone tried something to fix the OHT pliers?

[Sam Lim]

Btw, is there a way to do this to a OHT?
The ONLY Leatherman I ever had real play in the pliers is with an OHT that I sent back.
All the others might have been looser in the action than I like, but no play.

Anyone tried something to fix the OHT pliers?

I did. The turning method didn't work on OHT pliers. The pivot is extremely tough. U can hit it pretty hard with the peening method with very little visible scarring. But from factory, most OHT I have seen have some form of misalignment at the tip. I have never seen one thats perfect before.

[aikon2014]

Btw, is there a way to do this to a OHT?
The ONLY Leatherman I ever had real play in the pliers is with an OHT that I sent back.
All the others might have been looser in the action than I like, but no play.

Anyone tried something to fix the OHT pliers?

I did. The turning method didn't work on OHT pliers. The pivot is extremely tough. U can hit it pretty hard with the peening method with very little visible scarring. But from factory, most OHT I have seen have some form of misalignment at the tip. I have never seen one thats perfect before.

It's such a shame I would love to have a single hand tool for fishing situations, but no dice with the OHT

[Sam Lim]

Btw, is there a way to do this to a OHT?
The ONLY Leatherman I ever had real play in the pliers is with an OHT that I sent back.
All the others might have been looser in the action than I like, but no play.

Anyone tried something to fix the OHT pliers?

I did. The turning method didn't work on OHT pliers. The pivot is extremely tough. U can hit it pretty hard with the peening method with very little visible scarring. But from factory, most OHT I have seen have some form of misalignment at the tip. I have never seen one thats perfect before.

It's such a shame I would love to have a single hand tool for fishing situations, but no dice with the OHT

Well most still grip and cut without any noticeable problems. So I think it's still a good tool.

[Syncop8r]

Some discussion about it here: https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,40047.msg1575499.html#msg1575499

[aikon2014]

I just did the method on my new Juice S2, interesting enough, I had to turn it counter clockwise, unlike the Rebars and Wave's which I did clockwise to tighten.
I first tried to do clockwise with the Juice, and it loosened, so I reversed it and it tightened. I wonder why. I had the non "rotating" surface up on all the tools while doing this.

[aikon2014]

Sam Lim have the fix of the pliers kept and worked in the long run for you? I haven't tried mine for long enough to be able to tell.

[Sam Lim]

Sam Lim have the fix of the pliers kept and worked in the long run for you? I haven't tried mine for long enough to be able to tell.

To be very honest, me neither... But so far it held up.