finally. I belive I’m going to wait untill I go to my cousin’s house to work on his construction company to get the tools. But I have a question. these wont be antiques, so sould I rejuvinate them into pristine condition, if so how. or should I leave them rusty and weathered looking?
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
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Replies
Some older tools have what looks like black paint on them. It is not always paint, but what is called "Japanning" A type of lacquer I believe. Removeing it will de-value the tool to a true collector. So, don't do that.
I find a good going over with oiled rags or scotch brite or steel wool is often all ya need to do, and then wax with your friend the paste wax.
Remember to dispose of oily rags properly!!!!!! In a bucket of water or set em outside and burn them in a safe place.
It depends on what tools you are fixin to fix up, and what shape they are in when you recieve them..if it is hand plane with a rusty sole, you can damage the plane by beltsanding the sole improperly. Handsaws benefit froma good sanding with 220 or higher and then waxing, and of course resharpening ( send them to a shop for that, they are not something you need to be messin with yet).
I like an air powered rt angle die grinder with the metal finishing ( scotch brite or woven abrasive) discs..that really cleans up stuff without grinding away metal.
edit for doofus spelling.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Edited 2/10/2008 8:26 am ET by Sphere
I'd give them a good cleaning and whatever else. Your Grandpa would be glad you did. I hope someone takes good care of mine, I spent a long time picking out the best ones I could get.
Andy,
It's going to have be your choice here.
You're going to remember your grandpa either way.
If you prefer the tools you use to be look "like new", by all means.
If the look of the tools as they are now evoke strong memories of the man using them to you then you may want to leave them as they are.
I'd probably take care of the rust but not restore them otherwise.
Be well,
Marc
Remove the rust and sharpen them as needed.
Once you've had them a while, you can decide if you want to go further.
What knid of tools will you be getting? Planes, saws, chisels? Something else?
Andy, I'm the keeper of the tool archives in my family - I just got another load this last Christmas -
FWIW, my philosophy is to rogue out poor quality tools - I don't need pliers that don't work, broken screwdrivers, hammers with broken claws, saws rusted beyond redemption -
what I keep needs to be in working condition - edge tools need clean sides and sharp edges - and unlike Sphere, I think sharpening hand saws is just what you need to learn to do -
broken handles are a big deal, chipped/missing paint is not -
make sure you have a place to keep them where they won't deteriorate waiting on you to use them (toolbox) -
paste wax is your friend - it bothers me greatly when thru my negligence I lose an otherwise useful tool (or anything else for that matter)
let us know what you score, and if you need one, I have an extra saw vice (holds the saw during sharpening) - I'll send it and a photo copy of sharpening instructions if you want them -
David,You reminded me of this saw guidebook:http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/77712508/index.htmIt is aimed at large felling saws, but still a nifty resource.
Funny...i was reading through your post and thinking i'd give young Andy MY extra saw sharpening vise!Great minds...or cluttered shops...
well, the one I was/am gonna give him has to have a little piece of sheet metal under the cam action to get it to hold tight enough - - I used it for 20 years before I scored one that works without issues - beats the hell out of none at all - - how about yours?"there's enough for everyone"
Never used it. Something Ian picked up at a garage sale. Later...i just went down to the shop to check on it. Cam's good, but there's a crack in the casting, natch. I wonder what it would take to get yound Andy to the Fest. I dare not suggest the Mommy Vanner's pick him up at the airport...
"I dare not suggest the Mommy Vanner's pick him up at the airport..."leave home a boy and come back a man? - - don't they write songs about that? - - eh - those guys talk a good game - I trust them enough to invite them to the superhero retreat - "there's enough for everyone"
Superhero retreat...Sounds grander than 'golfing', eh?
oops - - we always speak in code words - maybe no one will notice..."there's enough for everyone"
Hey, keep in mind I said he needn't be messin with saw sharpening YET.
I agree he should master it, but thats not a high priority what with the Japanese pull saws being so far superior (IMO).
Learning what constituts sharp and tooth geometry is a valuble addition to any beginner tho.
So send him yer saw wrest already...LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I got a lot of family tools, mostly mechanics stuff. Old wrenches and saws can be looked up on the net, even if the company no longer exists. Dated some wrenches from the 20's as well as an old Atkins saw. People collect and trade all sorts of stuff. Kind of fun to look up family history this way.John
No young man should be exposed to the inner sanctum of the mommy van. I'm speaking as a verified mommy van passenger. All details of the trip have been blocked from my memory to protect the guilty.
Andy ,
Check out this link.
Great resource and a lot of history all in one location.
Look at the right side of the home page and you will see a list of subjects including repairing and restoring old tools.
http://www.wkfinetools.com/index.asp
Andy,
When I was in a similar place I was all excited to get my hands on my grandfathers tools..
My dad never liked to work with his hands so Dad just didn't want those old things..
However reality was far from my dreams.. Grandpa had worked for Electric Boat Company that used to make submarines.. he had access to all of the tools they used and I'd dreams of getting my hands on them.
The reality was the tools grandpa had were discarded from the company when they were no longer useful. Grandpa had jury rigged them to work,...... sort of....... and the result was a clobbered together bunch of junk rather than anything I could reasonably expect to use.
I should have known better..
I got my grandfathers tools. Boy was he a poor cheapskate. I didn't get his broadaxe, he was known for his skill using that. Great grandpa owned a sawmill, so grandpas house was roughsawn and broadaxed together. He had a saw, a hammer and a couple screwdrivers. I have the hammer and it's seen a lifetime of use, The claws are worn down, one's longer than the other, the handle is cracked and taped together with friction tape, the head's concave and mushroomed. I like to pound in a nail or two in my projects for ol Tom Lee with it. He got electric when I was a young shaver, still heated with a coal burning warm morning stove untill he gave up on life. So no electric tools entered his life ever. Not even a little drill.
I got his mechanics tools too, a monkey wrench and a pair of worn out slip joints. Doesn't take much to keep a wagon working. He had a mule team he worked, and a wagon to haul with, no motorized vehicles either.
He was a moonshiner, got caught and was made to ride his mule with two barrels strapped on it around town all weekend once.
Edited 2/10/2008 1:50 pm ET by MarkH
MarkH
Tools worn down by a lifetime of use have all those memories and are worthy on their own..regardless of conditon..
save as they are and cherish..
However cast off worn out junk that's boogered back together with whatever is handy and free isn't something to be charish or preserved. It's just junk that needs to have been disposed over 70+ years ago..
I keep every little item i can get my hands on , Theres no such thing as a tool thats junk, In fact i keep all sorts of other peoples cast offs dry and warm in my sheds and keep the modern stuff outside in the rain, Hey wait a minute something may be wrong here????;}
You guys have to insist on doing the downer thing???
Bobby's
I used to keep every bit of scrap and old cast off part too, then just before I started this house I went into the shop and looked at all the stuff I had saved for decades, even gone so far as hauling the stuff across country. They were all still in the same ammo boxes I'd put them in decades before.. sure every decade or so I dig thru the ammo boxes looking for an old cast off only upon looking at it closely decided why I'd discarded it earlier.
Aircraft quality hardware was so beat up as to be unuseable, and not worth the effort required to repair it in order to get any use out of it.. time, rust, and neglect meant I had X tons of scrap metal.
I loaded the truck up and made a few trips to the scrap metal dealers. I didn't get enough fromthe cost of scrap to pay for my gas but it was gone..
I now had the space needed to build my house.. that taught me a valuable lesson..
IN my garbage can today there is all sorts of scrap pieces of Black walnut, some 4 or 5 feet long.. there is also some white oak and a few other nice pieces of hardwood..
In the past I'd try to give these away eventually all my friends and those with interest in woodworking at work had all they could take.. I used to take it over to a guy by the truck load but he got so fussy about the wood he burned that I was throwing much of it away anyway..
So now wood cut offs go into the trash and my house is slowly getting finished..
"sould I rejuvinate them into pristine condition, if so how. or should I leave them rusty and weathered looking?"
Really, it's up to you. If the tool is a good enough tool to restore and use, then it probably is worth doing. If the tool is a real cheapie and not a real user, then you may not want to take the time to restore it. But if you want to remember your Grandpa by restoring and using these tools, then by all means you should take the time to do it.
Restoring a rusted or damaged too to good use can take some doing and you should find some guidance on how to approach it. That's very important, otherwise you may do more damage to it than good.
I have many tools that were my Grandfathers, some I have restored, and the others are waiting to be restored. I have quite a collection of hand planes some of which are mint, and others are beat up and 100 years old but after they've been tuned as a working tool, they can't be beat.
You may find like I did that once you get the hang of restoring old tools you will actually enjoy the process.
Also once you learn the process, you will find what to look for when browsing yard sales or flea markets and you can really get a good deal for a few bucks. Learn about the labels & stamps on tools, who the makers were and what their value may be.
go try to find a gallon of Evaporust at your local auto parts store. Take the plane apart and soak all the parts in Evaporust overnight. When you take them out of the solution wash them off in the sink and let them dry. Evaporust does just an incredible job you probably won't have to sand any rust off as it will already be removed. Once the parts are cleaned, spray them with Wd-40 or some kind of oil and put the plane back together. http://www.evaporust.com