Wednesday, February 20, 2013

hand tool restoration - part 2

jambaloney here!

helga - here is your sky pic - i snapped this with my phone returning from sydney one afternoon in december..



hey let's toss some more tools in the vinegar bath!!



 and some more!!!


 a lot of them i found in this free haul last spring !!!


 so you can see the new additions to the vinegar bath and the saw and base i put in a few days prior to this pic.. let's see how it works!!!!


 i must admit, i was a little apprehensive..


and the final unveiling (yeesh, you would think i worked at an art gallery ;-)


 well...lookie lookie.. it appears the rust has lifted off the steel!!



 upon closer inspection, you can really see the flaked rust, on a couple of the instructions i read, i was told you could just wipe the rust off with a cloth, i was skeptical, but here goes - get a rag and...


 look at that - after 3 days in the vinegar bath, almost all the rust has been lifted form the surface of the saw!!!


remarkable - you can clearly see the manufacturing stamp on the spine! 


 and there is a faint visible stamp on the blade itself!!


 now, not ALL the rust was removed and there was some pitting, so the next step is to really get down to the metal. i used steel wool, a steel pot scrubber and wd-40. wd 40 -is great because it helps repel the last bit of water... it's name a derivative of  "Water Displacement, 40th formula,"  which makes it awesome for this task!!


spray the wd-40 liberally and scrub,for the stubborn pitting that remained, i used a metal scraper to finish the  job!!


and here is the finished saw blade - not too shabby!


and the other side



the final step is oiling. i read all kinds of  suggestions on the internet to use mineral oil, the kind that is sold as a laxative in a pharmacy, kept coming up as a good product. i bought some, rubbed the saw blade liberally and wrapped it in another old pillowcase to keep it safe!! all in all VERY successful!  i will post the results of the other tools later. if you have rust tools, here is a way to give them new life without too much elbow grease or abrasive power tool action.



and here is here is the sky pic from the intro, but looking the other way....these sky pics are Helga-approved!




cheers all!!

23 comments:

  1. Can't beat the price on those tools! I use a steel or brass rotary brush, but you have to wear a mask. Just use the brass on finer tools.

    BTW, if you disable the anonymous option and moderate your comments, you can get rid of spam like the one from the vaporizer guy.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. hey gorges!!

      now, free is about as good as it gets ;-)

      i have brass scrubbies and a small wire brush for the fine stuff.

      kymber and i don't want to disable anonymous comments just yet, but we are consider it...

      cheers!

      Delete
  2. The sky pics are heavenly, but then so is Framboise !
    Great job on the tools Jam !

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    1. hi jane!

      the sky pics really are spectacular - those particular pics are just outside of fourchu, 9 km ne of here.

      thanks and all our best to you!

      Delete
  3. Nice. I am going to try the vinegar bath trick myself.

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    1. hey pioneer preppy!

      honestly - it works really well, i'll post the results of the other tools later.

      hope all is well with you - cheers!

      Delete
  4. Jambaloney and Sweet Kymber,

    I always love all the beautiful sky pictures of "Oh Canada"!!!!!
    Wish I lived up there :-)

    Jam, my husband likes what you've done with restoring the saw. He's going to keep this vinegar idea to use on his tools a little later. That is after he get's his tools in order again.

    Your Friend,
    Sandy sending hugs to the both of you.

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    1. hi there sandy!!

      i am gla dyou love the pictures of "oh canada" - nice view and nice place to live ;-))

      i am really glad that your husband is keen on the idea - tell him there are more pics coming - it really works well!

      thanks for the hugs, right back to you!
      your friend,
      jambaloney

      Delete
  5. Those tools look great. I suppose I should get started on my old tools and a few of the new ones. I always wondered why my tools were so greasy when guys used them at my house. A friend was oiling my old tin snips. I tried not to grit my teeth when I asked. He explained that oiling things kept them from rusting. I felt silly after all these years wondering how guys got my tools nasty. I like tools that don't get oil or whatever on me. Silly me!

    It appears that once a certain type ad gets onto a blog that they bombard the blog. Moderating is a pain since I get comments by eamil and on the comments page. I usually forget to look on the comments page, so some comments never show up on the blog. I always worry I will offend someone.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. hey practical parsimony!

      well... live and learn. i rode a bike to work and back forever... keeping it lubricated was a must. same with tools. rust destroys all things iron so you have to take precautions!

      yeah this spam is a hassle... we will keep it open for now and delete.

      cheers to you and best wishes!

      Delete
  6. Hey J - Huzzah to those sky pics ! Heavenly, as Jane stated. That stretch of road is missing bumper to bumper traffic - only kidding of course as it sure looks peaceful just the way it is.

    Your experiment with the vinegar was a smashing success as the saw blade looks fantastic. Great job ! I hope the vaporizer dude will go away and self vaporize - bahahahah !

    Hugs to both but a extra biggie to lil mole - thank you.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. helga!

      nice pics - huh?? ;-) i only had the bumper to bumper experience once in sydney - though i would implode! most of the time the roads are your own here... that and the scenery makes driving tolerable!

      thanks - maybe i should use the vinegar on the vaporizer dude..

      hugs right back to you , mole gives you a big squeeze!

      Delete
  7. Beautiful Sky photos! Nice job with the restoration...we used to use coke. Eats the rust right off letting it set a few hours or overnight.

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    1. greetings katidids!

      thanks - i have heard that coke works, but i wanted something i could leave around for weeks... coke would attract the bugs and get sticky... although it is probably cheaper ;-)

      i am patient this time of year so i can wait day no probs ;-)

      cheers to you!

      Delete
  8. Jambaloney, I am always finding old rusted tools cheap or free. Thanks for this article. Give my regards to Madame Kymber. the rat

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    1. hey there mr rat - hope you are well!!

      i am glad you found it useful - i have more pics of results coming soon!

      i have passed your regards on to kymber - all our best to you friend!

      Delete
  9. looked like when new at least a few hundreds in dollars sitting in that tray

    did you remember to wear gloves when handeling laxitives?

    anyhow good to see a good harvest of steel tools be restored and put back to use

    Wildflower

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    1. easily, i have some power tools up next i found in the garbage if you can believe it !! ?

      i washed up really well ;-))

      if feels good to give them new life - this method works better than grinding them to dust.

      my best wishes to you wf!

      Delete
  10. I have used WD-40, but the vinegar as a prelim. looks more effective.

    For some reason I particullarly liked that set of bookended sky-pics.

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    1. hey Russell!

      i was looking for an alternative to navel jelly which works to eliminate rust but is expensive and corrosive. wd 40 is a good remover too, but again, expensive and flammable. the vinegar prelim works well.

      i am glad you liked the bookend pics, i had to pull over, they sky was too amazing!

      cheers!

      Delete
  11. I am so glad you posted this about the vinegar. We dug out the table saw to begin building some bee hives. The salt air does a number on our tools here and the table top on the saw had a thin layer of rust. We were ready to use it that day so I did not have time to let it soak in vinegar so Papa Bear rubbed it with the finest grit sandpaper we had on hand which was 220 and then I followed with a rag soaked in vinegar. We were very pleased with the results.
    PS..Beautiful sky pictures!

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    1. mamma bear...

      i am really glad that it worked for you!! soaking is great, but if it just a thin layer of rust the vinegar would still help.

      best of luck with your new beehives!

      cheers!

      Delete
  12. Using mineral oil was a pretty nifty trick. Whether it's a hand tool or a power tool, oiling is a good practice for maintenance. Not only does it help in preventing rust; it also ensures that the parts work properly. Great job on the tool restoration! -Tanner@Tulco.com

    ReplyDelete