Wednesday, February 13, 2013

hand tool restoration - part 1

jambaloney here!

we had a couple of days of real blizzard - yowzah!!! no power loss though - i hope everyone else fared as well!

hey helga - here is a great sky!


okay - on to toady's topic - rusty tools!! i have a pile with the flood 2 years ago, the damp basement and some tools i found in the trash... my most prized tool is this old-fashioned hand mitre box and saw i got from my step-dad, ted:


it goes back to a time when things were made to last...


even through the rust, you can see the quality of the machining in the mitre box..


i FINALLY found blades for this saw - it is a very thin mitre saw that was left here by the previous owner - good for trim..this is an aluminum base, so it was easy to clean up.. not as fine a tool as the big saw, but nice to have for free...


here is the bottom, of the mitre box...


and the saw itself - this a  long box saw - 2 feet overall - i had to remove the handle first..


because the big issue is the rust, i looked and looked on the internet - white vinegar will remove rust, apparently all you need to do is  be patient and soak it - so here is my getup... 4 litres of vinegar, a bin, 2 old pillow cases and a garbage bag..

first off - fill the bin..



as the saw and box are too big for the bin, i had to "bathe them in the vinegar... i also soaked the pillow cases..

here is the mitre box being bathed..


and then wrapped in a vinegar-soaked pillow case, this is to keep the vinegar form drying out


i wrapped the saw in another pillow case and then wrapped it again in a garbage bag... the bin with the mitre box is covered with a garbage bag... the key is, apparently, to wait for the mild acid to do it's work - i left these as-is for 4 days... stay tuned to see what happens!! (i'll give you a hint, go get some vinegar - this is worth doing!!!)


and don't forget to store the pieces you removed from the saw in their own container ;-))


cheers all!!

(kymber edits: sorry i haven't been posting much lately...i've been busy with the super fun jobs of sorting seeds and planning this year's garden! i promise to be back to regular posting shortly.)

28 comments:

  1. I love old hand tools. Daddy had lots. I always wonder what happened to those after Mama died. There a few old rusty tools around here that I have collected over the years. When you have success in rehabilitating these, I may follow suit with mine.

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    1. Hey Practical Parsimony!

      i did have success - i will post the results soon - hand tools are an awesome thing to have - older tools are usually better quality - i'll bet your father had some fine tools!

      cheers!

      Delete
  2. cola soda also works on rusty tools

    sometimes it takes days to restore a well made tool

    newer stuff is harder to restore

    Wildflower

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    1. hi wildflower!

      i have heard that too - i chose vinager because it was listed on most sites and wouldn't leave any residue.

      it is winter - there is time ;-)

      newer stuff is lass well made and as you mentioned, harder to restore...

      cheers!

      Delete
    2. is kymber sauffering from rust too?

      Wildflower

      Delete
  3. Jambaloney,

    I'm happy to hear you were able to revive your Step Dad's tools.
    Older tools last a life time, those are the type of tools you always want to keep around.

    White vinegar, is a fix all for all kinds of things.

    Thank you for sharing this with us!!!

    Your Friend,
    Sandy
    P.S. Give Kymber a hug from your Okie Friends

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    Replies
    1. sandy!

      hope all is well in ok!!

      i did want to clean up the tools and then keep them in good shape - i did a fair bit of looking - vinegar kept popping up - it's pretty cheap too ;-))

      i am always happy to share! kymber has your hug!

      your friend,
      jambaloney

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  4. Vinegar is wonderful stuff. Thanks for showing us. I have a file or two which got damp in the garage when I forgot to put them in plastic freezer bags.
    I know you'll be back soon, but Framboise Manor is a devotion, and it takes time too ! Love to you both,

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    1. hey jane!

      it sure is - tools, food, windows ;-))

      it works on files too, stay tuned - i have pics of that as well plus how to keep them rust-free!

      cheers and thanks for stopping by!!!

      love from us both to you!

      Delete
  5. I don't think it even has to be white vinegar.

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    1. hey gorges!

      there are a lot of things that will work, i chose the vinegar because it is relatively cheap and i need to soak a lot of stuff.

      what else do you know about??

      cheers!

      Delete
  6. Old tools are cool. I have a electric drill, that belonged to my grandfather. He bought it at Sears, or Wards, back in the late 50's or early 60's. It still works! I use it now and then.

    Now that you have the saw project going, I might have to try this on some of the older stuff from my Great Grandfather.

    Course, if I clean up some of them, then I will have projects to do around the house. I have told Kathi, that I can't do some of them, because the tools are rusty, and they just don't work quite right. But don't tell her.

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    1. flier - old tools are awesome - power tools too!

      i have my step-dad's radial arm saw and an old drill press i found in the garbage here (really!) to do when the hand tools are all working.

      hey, when you get the tools fixed up, you might be inspired to do the projects anyway ;-))

      thansk for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. Neat. I didn;t know that about white vinegar. Awaiting the final product. I have some old tools around myself that can use a good clean up.

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    1. pioneer preppy - good to hear form you!

      i didn't know about the white vinegar either - works well and is cheap compared to commercial cleaners. just need to be patient.

      cheers!

      Delete
  8. I'm glad NOT to see my initials stamped into that saw handle. Some vermin decided he HAD to own my tools and I lost many fine ones from my father.

    And with this move from there to here I have had some acquire a coat of rust. Thanks for the tips.

    Winston

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    1. w!

      sorry to hear you got burned - especially when you lost irreplaceable tools!

      the vinegar will work on anything rusty - give it a try!!

      all my best!!

      Delete
  9. Hey J - Oh wow, that is a lovely sky pic for February ! Thanks for the perk me up. We aren't cold here but the days are still dull and grey with the sun only poking out for a bit here and there.

    It's got to be so satisfying to see such effective results on rust with just plain old vinegar. Such a useful tip and your saw will be gleaming like new.

    Hugs to you and Lil Mole. Sorry to say that I ate an entire bag of those Swiss chocolates by myself in three days ! Good intentions were there but you know how it goes sometimes .... and that was supposed to be your bag. Bahahahah !

    Have a great Valentines Day together !
    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
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    1. hey helga - glad you enjoyed the pic (and your chocolates ;-))

      nice sunny pics are better than nothing - we have a had a lot of gray lately too.

      it really works - i will be posting the results soon!

      no sweat on the chocolate - i gave the little mole your hug - happy belated valentines to you!

      Delete
  10. Very interested to see how the white vinegar idea works. Even if it doesn't, it will be one less for me to try. The humidity in the South makes rust on tools a constant headache.

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    1. hey russell - it does work!

      getting the rust off is only half the battle - my next couple of posts will address the maintenance aspect too...

      we are close to the ocean - it is really humid here as well.

      cheers!

      Delete
  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  12. I have some old tools of my Dad's that are in storage. Once we get a barn built (hopefully this fall) I'll need to get them out and sort through them. I'm sure they will definitely need to be cleaned up and made to look good. Thanks for your tutorial!!

    Y'all stay warm up there!

    Hugs to you both!

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    1. hey 1st man - good to hear from you!

      i am glad you found this useful - those old tools will be worth the effort - they were made so much better back then!

      we are staying warm - you stay snug down there yourselves - cheers!

      Delete
  13. Vinegar is a beautiful thing!!!!

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    1. donna...


      isn't it though??? ;-))

      cheers to you - all our best!

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete