Old Tool Restoration

imakebiodiesel

Wonderful machine, and it looks like its in working order and ready for spindle turning. Do you have a belt for it?

jack of all

I've never used, or seen it being used (it's probably 50 years since it was last used). I've no belt for it but I'm sure if it was cleaned up and fettled it could be used. Ipresume the original belt would have been leather, joined with "staples"?

imakebiodiesel

It would make a great restoration project, especially since it seem almost complete. Flat belts can be made up but as a stop gap you might be able to source a suitable large vee belt from horicultural machinery suppliers. The threaded section just behind the prong chuck is for fitting other chucks and face plates. If you measure the outside diameter and the pitch ie the number of turns per inch I might be able find a source of accessories.

jack of all

@imakebiodiesel

Thanks for the info. Here's another puzzle for you, any idea what this tool is? It is marked "Booth Brothers" and stamped with the number "4". My guess- a punch or swaging/ seaming tool for sheet metal work? A tool for an anvil hardie hole?

imakebiodiesel

The shank of the tool seems uniformly square so would not sit into a hardy hole.
I think it may be a round nosed scraper for a metalwork lathe.

imakebiodiesel

My son has just made a short video of me cleaning up and sharpening a nice old cast steel chisel
https://youtu.be/V6gaodQ8kio
Enjoy

Zebbedee

imakebiodiesel wrote: »

My son has just made a short video of me cleaning up and sharpening a nice old cast steel chisel
https://youtu.be/V6gaodQ8kio
Enjoy

Suberb video. I have a box of those old chisels requiring similar attention.
Now I have an idea what to do.
What is the wood you used to make the handle?

imakebiodiesel

That handle is hickory which i find is a great wood for tool handles, tough , dense and hard to split. I also use beech, ash and boxwood when I can get it. The wood must be thoroughly seasoned for tool handles, otherwise the wood will continue to shrink around the steel tang and eventually will split.
Where possible I will reuse the original brass ferrule but in this case I used a short piece of 3/4" copper pipe. just as strong and looks good too.
Drill out the hole and widen it at the top to accept the tang. The tang should be hammered home the last 10mm, any more and you risk splitting the handle.
Its really satisfying to use chisels that you have rescued and the prewar cast steel these chisels are made of has only recently been equalled by the likes of Hock, Lie Neilsen and Narex.

imakebiodiesel

Just a comment about cleaning up the blades of old chisels. The disc I use in my hand grinder is a very gentle scotchbrite pad that removes dirt and surface rust but will not scratch metal. I personally dont like to see blades buffed to look like new, and too much buffing could overheat the surface and ruin the temper of the steel.
And speaking of overheating, in the video you may notice I keep my finger right next to the place on the chisel where I am grinding. As soon as I feel any significant heat in the metal I dip the blade into cold water to cool it. Many might consider this a dangerous practice and you certainly do not want to get distracted when you are grinding metal. Another possibly safer method is watch the water on the back of the blade and as soon as you see bubbling or steam stop grinding and cool in the water bath.
If you do accidentally over heat a blade and ruin the temper dont despair, steel blades can be rehardened and tempered again. its relatively simple but I wont go into it now.

MattH4M

How have people got on with vinegar for rust removal? I I tried it once and it darkened the steel quite a bit, is there a way to prevent or reverse this?

imakebiodiesel

Acids will leave a dark deposit on the steel. After the acid has dealt with the rust and dirt it goes to work on on the surface. Fine wire wool will remove it. Avoid leaving the item in the acid too long and rinse it thoroughly with plenty of water. I prefer to use a stronger acid, sulphuric, treat the metal quickly and then rinse without delay.

Light restoration on one of the Stanley #5's

Before:



After:

This is the current work in progress. Well, one of many. It's a late 40's made in England Bailey #7c

If you're a purist, now is a good time to look away.

Too much missing japanning to ignore or touch up and it was absolutely caked in rust. Gave it 24 hours in some vinegar, rust wiped right off with a well used nylon pot scrub. Nitromors (new formula, meh) took care of the remaining japanning. I stripped the handles with meths (nitrile gloves, outdoors), restained them and they've now had about 8 coats of shellac. They look fantastic. I'll put up pictures of that later on.

Anyway, here's how it looked after stripping and cleaning:



The after pictures will go up once it's finished.

EDIT: The keen eyed amongst you probably spotted that's a Miller Falls 2 3/8" blade. I'm on the lookout for a flat top Stanley blade to replace it. It's full length, but I'd prefer the original Stanley item. Swaps, anyone?

magicbastarder

pics aren't displaying for me, unfortunately.

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

pics aren't displaying for me, unfortunately.

Now?

magicbastarder

all good!
looks like a full restoration rather than a light one though?

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

all good!
looks like a full restoration rather than a light one though?

On the #5? Nah, that was just a clean up and flattened the sole.

Ye should all get yourselves some gun oil for your planes and old handtools lads. Perfect for the job. No silicon, teflon or graphite. Absolutely ideal.

https://www.sportsden.ie/brunox-turbo-spray-300ml-gun-oil.html

magicbastarder

ah, i mixed up the #5 and #7 posts.

Here's a few snaps of the 7c after some more work on it:

Picked this up on eBay in really knackered condition.
Rusted and pitted plate, badly filed etc. Cleaned it up as best I could and had this as a starting point for some more work on it later.



Not looking to make it like new, but I'm happy with this and will get around to recutting the teeth in the coming weeks.

I've taken a liking to these old Thomas Flinn saws. The handles are a great fit in my hands, so I picked up a 12" tenon saw to go with the 10" pistol grip dovetail saw above. That's rust, resin, oil and grime giving that almost black coating on the saw plate.



After some elbow grease and soaking the handle in meths and a rub down with steel wool, it looked like this:



Then stained the handle, a coat of shellac, cut back with 0000 and then some wax and new saw bolts from Flinn-Garlick. I like it. I'll touch up the teeth and set whenever I get to the other one.

This is a set (almost complete) of standard cutters for a Stanley 55 which I picked up to use with my Veritas combination plane.
They were in fair condition but after a degreasing I cleaned them up with a very mild mix of CRC rust remover and a 3m nylon pad.
Now they're in excellent condition, ready for a couple of evenings attending to sharpening. Not a bad result.

I'm also delighted to be finished all the horse trading and to have assembled the set of Stanley bench planes I wanted. I've still a little work to do on the #6 and a bit of work on some of the totes and knobs, but it's a very solid set.

There's a #3, #4, #4 1/2, #5, #5 1/2, #6, #7 and a #10 carriage makers rebate plane there. I have a couple of others in reserve, but that's the set that will have dedicated spaces in the tool chest and cabinet.

Collibosher

JayZeus wrote: »

This is a set (almost complete) of standard cutters for a Stanley 55 which I picked up to use with my Veritas combination plane...

These were found among my fathers stuff, he inherited them from a relative of his who bought them new in the USA many years ago.

Collibosher

Collibosher wrote: »

These were found among my fathers stuff, he inherited them from a relative of his who bought them new in the USA many years ago.

That’s a pretty valuable set (with good boxes and clear labels) but aside from that, a very useful thing to have and nice to have some family history. They’ll work with a Stanley 45, 55, the Record equivalent or with the Veritas Combination plane or Veritas Small Plow (their spelling, not mine!) with the wide conversion kit etc. A very tidy 45 from the UK including postage for about €100 would be a great addition if you don’t have one. They often come up without any cutters or the limited standard set. Thanks for posting!

Collibosher

JayZeus wrote: »

That’s a pretty valuable set (with good boxes and clear labels) but aside from that, a very useful thing to have and nice to have some family history. They’ll work with a Stanley 45, 55, the Record equivalent or with the Veritas Combination plane or Veritas Small Plow (their spelling, not mine!) with the wide conversion kit etc. A very tidy 45 from the UK including postage for about €100 would be a great addition if you don’t have one. They often come up without any cutters or the limited standard set. Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the info, luckily there was the Stanley 55 plane there too.

Collibosher

Collibosher wrote: »

Thanks for the info, luckily there was the Stanley 55 plane there too.

That's a cracker.

How’s this for an oddball! It’s a Veritas scraper insert that came in a nice Stanley #4 which I fitted to a late-ish (late 70’s or 80’s I think) Stanley 5C (restored by me) fitted with an early frog as the original was damaged. I’ll be using it on some heavily figured masur birch for a project next weekend and as it turns out, it works beautifully. Much easier to use than the Stanley 80 scraper for this particular task. Though ye might like to see it.

Collibosher

Bit of an odd one this, a Stanley 97 cabinetmaker's plane.

Made from around 1900 to the early 1940's, this is the later version with some strengthening to the body where the side cut outs are.

Unusual apparently to find one without damage to the leading edge from chipping or wear to the corners.

This example came back from the USA with a relative in 1949, and was never used again.

The japanning to the top of body and lever cap has survived pretty well, and it's just going to be gently cleaned, and lightly oiled to protect it.

jack of all

Collibosher wrote: »

Bit of an odd one this, a Stanley 97 cabinetmaker's plane.

Made from around 1900 to the early 1940's, this is the later version with some strengthening to the body where the side cut outs are.

Unusual apparently to find one without damage to the leading edge from chipping or wear to the corners.

This example came back from the USA with a relative in 1949, and was never used again.

The japanning to the top of body and lever cap has survived pretty well, and it's just going to be gently cleaned, and lightly oiled to protect it.

Lie Nielsen remade it, it's a chisel plane (I have one), used for planing flush to a surface (protruding dowels, wedges etc). Nice speciality tool.