is this leatherman salvageable?

Yep, submerge it in oil for a few days then scrub the hell out of it with a copper brush.
 
Send it in to leatherman, they have a great warranty and will either clean it up or send you a new one.
 
I would start by coating it in WD 40 over night (heavy coat, possibly multiple coats). then I would basically muscle it open after it soaks in WD40 for a while. I'd say put it in a ziplock bag and spray it really heavily and let it sit for a while. then try to move it the arm. once all that gets done, scrub it with a wire brush of some sort, I would recommend copper or brass brush.

I would also work on getting the pivot screws undone if you can. then you can clean it pretty easily.
 
That doesn't look nearly as bad as I feared it would. I think it should be perfectly salvageable.

I'd suggest soaking it in oil and just slowly trying to get the handles moving. After that, just keep moving those handles until it smoothes out again. I've rescued a lot of scavenged tools from the rust-heap, and a little oil and a good stiff brass-bristled brush should be all you need.

I just recently spent a few hours scouring the rust of a few dozen magnetic screw bits that I found on a jobsite. They were in good shape (minus the rust), so I soaked them in some oil and then scrubbed them up. They came out pretty nice, and now they serve as the screwdriver kit for my range bag (I wanted something expendable and cheap... these free bits fit the bill :D).
 
I had a leatherman wave I bought used for a low price that I was able to fix up and gift to a friend. Pretty sure guy took it to the beach and forgot about it for a couple months. It even had sand all up in it. All I did was what everyone's already said.
 
awesome thanks for the help everyone! i've got it soaking in a baggy full of liquid wrench right now, didn't have any wd-40. that arm is moving again but it's still tight and the pliers are too stiff to open without it starting to close. but it's definitely making progress. i'll let it soak in the LW overnight and report back tomorrow
 
Soak it in White Vinegar for a couple of days, this will remove the rust with out hurting the metal, get it out and brush of the scale now and then and let it soak until it looks good, clean it up and oil it and you should be fine. I've done this before and it works great.
 
frankenfish said:
awesome thanks for the help everyone! i've got it soaking in a baggy full of liquid wrench right now, didn't have any wd-40. that arm is moving again but it's still tight and the pliers are too stiff to open without it starting to close. but it's definitely making progress. i'll let it soak in the LW overnight and report back tomorrow
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WD40 and LW do basically the same thing. Some of my mechanic friends tell me it's even better, although I can't vouch for that. Looks like you're headed in the right direction.
 
I would recommend using some wd-40 on it, working it in and then once every thing is nice and loose i would give it a soak in mineral spirits to remove the gunk build up
 
znapschatz said:
WD40 and LW do basically the same thing. Some of my mechanic friends tell me it's even better, although I can't vouch for that. Looks like you're headed in the right direction.
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I believe liquid wrench is better than wd, I prefer deep creep though, it's made by a company called SeaFoam. Best stuff I've used so far. Pb blaster is at the bottom for me, it's never done what it's supposed to, it stains everything orange and smells bad. My buddy soaked his paps old block and tackle in LW for a few days and the chains freed up and it started working like it was brand new after a few minutes.

OP: I think your tool will be almost good as new in no time.
 
update time: the arms are loose now, or at least functionally loose. but the pliers are still too stiff to open without the arms closing. i've still got it soaking in the LW. should i give it more time or is it time to change up my approach?

edit: after working it a bit more the pliers are opening and closing again. they're still stiff but they're loosening slowly. now i just have to clean the rust off.
SpookStrickland mentioned soaking it in vinegar. i think i'll try that unless anyone knows of anything better?
 
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in the Navy - we used don't laugh - Oil of wintergreen to cut rust - Oxclic acid may also work - if all else fails - send it back to Leatherman! and Good Luck -
Peace - Revvie
 
Swoop03 said:
I believe liquid wrench is better than wd, I prefer deep creep though, it's made by a company called SeaFoam. Best stuff I've used so far. Pb blaster is at the bottom for me, it's never done what it's supposed to, it stains everything orange and smells bad. My buddy soaked his paps old block and tackle in LW for a few days and the chains freed up and it started working like it was brand new after a few minutes.
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I gotta step in on this. As a mechanic, I have tried them all and followed the advise of The Machinists Workshop and found the homebrew concoction did work best. Plus I get it for free. ;)
I do a 50/50 mix.
Here's a copy and paste of the test....

A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best!
Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil ..... Average load

None ...................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .............. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............. 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds
 
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