PST Refurbish

[pietervn]

G'Day,

I have been getting back into the original tools that Leatherman offered us - PST and PST II. The PST II has been my most favourite Leatherman of all time. The Charge Ti is close as well as the Signal, but the simplicity and easy to carry of the PST and PST II makes them timeless. I put a call out for a PST II not to long ago and an inmate, gregozedobe, answered the call. Apart from the PST II, I also wanted one of the first edition PST's. Gregozedobe had one of them too and I took both tools. The PST II will be a xmas present for the boy-child and the PST is for me.

Both tools arrived this week. The PST II has gone into hiding for the big day  . The PST was in pretty good shape. Most of the tools were barely used, however the knife saw A LOT of use and the small screw driver had a few marks on. The pliers were slightly loose and the blade had some play. So like every good MT.O inmate I took the tool apart to give it a good clean and service. The pliers still lines up perfectly without any play. I noticed a small ding mark on the pliers itself and that may be the cause of that. None of the teeth are broken or scarred. The file had a few spots of rust, but I noticed it was stamped Japan . There was a lot of "history" between the tools and on the pivots. Some of the tools were pitted and the pivots had some rust. first up was hot hot hot water and some dish-wash liquid. That took care of most of the sticky stuff and some of the rust.

I polished most of the scratches out of the blade, but I wanted to leave some character on it. It also needed a good sharpen. The scales got a quick polish too. I hit the tools with some 1200 grid sand paper and that took care of most of the pitting and bits that could not been washed off. I also did not want to sand to much and loose any thickness the tools should have. Each tool then got a quick polish and I was ready to put it all back together. I had to sand the tool side pivots too. The awl had some weird marks on the side and I suspect that is where the rust on the pivots came from. The pliers just got a clean, not needing polishing or sanding.

Assembly went pretty straight forward. I used an earbud with mineral oil on the pivots and the sides of the tools. I did not want to much oil on it.  A small drop of medium strength locktite too in each pivot to seal the deal. One of the plier pivots did not want to tighten and I had to replace that. I think that was why the pliers was slightly loose when I first got the tool. I left it over night to let everything settle and the locktite harden. Then it was time to sharpen the blade. I used a Lansky rod system with a medium and fine rod at 25 degrees. The medium took a day to re-profile the interesting convex edge it had. Then over to the fine ceramic rods and a leather strop after that. It came out a sharp as any of my other PST's that has not had such a hard life. Pretty impressive for a blade that is about 25 years old. The blade has some play in it, but that I knew before I got the tool.  Gregozedobe told me about that and even tested the blade for me before send it out!!! What a top bloke!!! If you look closely at the pics with the red circle you can see a small gap has developed over time and that is why the blade has some play. I tested it and are confident it is fine to use. In fact the whole tool is pretty much ready to be used as a EDC. It is not a smooth as the newer tools but it had oodles of character!!! I really like it.

I took some pics of the tool in bits and there you can see all the gunk. There are also pics of the three generations of PST's that I own. I now have an edition of every blade type, and that is why I wanted an older tool.

I want to thank Gregozedobe for two fantastic tools. You are a true gentleman of the MT.O community.

Reviving these older tools are fun and a testament of how well they are made. Thank you Leatherman!!!

Cheers,

Pete

[pietervn]

Clean tools, ready to be assembled - polished and washed parts. Notice there is till pitting on the washed tools

[pietervn]

Assembled, Yipee

[pietervn]

More assembled pics - pliers

[pietervn]

Internal Tools and the knife gap

[pietervn]

Three generations

[gregozedobe]

Excellent work Pete !  Looks like that old PST is now ready for another 25 years of use 

[SteveC]

Nice job, congrats !   

[Rapidray]

 
Great work! 

[HarleyXJGuy]

Well done Sir!

Where were your able to source a new pivot screw?

So moving forward I just send you all my old PSTs and you fix em up? Or do you have to travel here?

 

[Rapidray]

So moving forward I just send you all my old PSTs and you fix em up? Or do you have to travel here?

 

I was thinking the same thing! 

[Aloha]

Very rewarding I'm sure as it came out wonderful.   

[HarleyXJGuy]

I was thinking the same thing! 

You want to fix up my PSTs too?

No worries I have enough for both of you.

[Poncho65]

Love all the pics, pieter Good on Greg for the tools and good on you for taking the time to refurb the PST The really old LM are even nicer than most all of the tools as each tool almost has a handmade feel to it Thanks for sharing The PST II will also be a great tool for your son as well

[RicHT]

Great job and a great write up! 

[pietervn]

G'Day,

Thanks for the comments and complements.

I had a left over pivot from another PST that I used for parts some time ago. It is a rewarding experience seeing how it came back to a good user. These tools are pretty easy to work on. I like cleaning them up and putting them back to good use.

Harley, it will be a while before I get you your neck of the woods. If I do, I have a few other inmates that I want to look up too.

Excellent work Pete !  Looks like that old PST is now ready for another 25 years of use 

Thanks Mate, I do like this one 

Cheers, Pete

[Juan el Boricua]

That's a very good resto job, Sir! Kudos to you, Pieter!