Your favorite restoration materials and "tricks"

[Mike Holbrook]

I have been a little depressed that I do not have something dramatic to post on the "your favoorite restoration" thread yet. So, I thought I would console myself by goading more information out of others.

So here are some of my favorites:

-soaking in kerosene and WD-40

-Krud Kutter- great stuff dissolves all kinds of "krud" and "environmentally friendly" too.

-for rust- Naval Jelly

-removing the tough stuff- dremel tool with brass/stainless steel brushes, also brass/nylon brushes

-tin cooking pans to soak, spray things in....yes sometimes I miss

-cotton shop rags, the ones like T-shirt material

Other things: Three in One oil, MEK (super acetone), Goof Off, BLO, sand paper, sanding pads, belt sander (leather belts with buffing compound and 3M Trizact flexible belts 1000 grit >, pin punches (my set jumps from 1/16 to 1/8 missing the size I seem to need most), set of micro pliers, set of micro files, containers with lids for soaking things.

How about you?

[Don Rogers]

Actually I am looking for a restoration trick to derust a brace without ruining the crank handle wood.

As far as I can tell, the wood crank handle is assembled onto the crank before it is bent into it's "U" shape. If so, it cannot be replaced and must be protected somehow during derusting.

Can the entire crank be immersed in citric acid and, if so, how can the wood handle be protected?

DonR

[Matt Evans]

I just got Evapo-rust, and man does it work! I am really impressed with it. But I don't know about how it affects wood yet. I will let you know in a few days, after I try it out on an old try square.

[Mike Brady]

My opinion regarding derusting of braces is that if the crank part of the brace is rusted to the point that it needs soaking in citric acid, then you might as well forget the soak and use something abrasive to remove the rust. The nickel plating will most likely be mostly gone because of the rust anyway. If the rust is light, you can wrap the metal part of the crank with a cloth and pour citic over it to saok the cloth and avoiding the wood. I have submerged rosewood in citric (restoring a Stanley #45) without any damage. Some of the soft woods, and their film finishes, used on brace handles might not fair too well in a water-based soak of any kind. You would have to strip and refinish the wood.

[Mike Brady]

Add PB Blaster to the list of favorites. It is the first thing a put on a rusted tool to free up the parts for disassembly. It is kind to wood and japanning as well. Not great smelling, however.

[Bob Strawn]

I rather prefer the manual labor approach for a part like this. I would use ballistol and and fine steel wool. The ballistol is a good general solvent and a great metal and wood protectant(is protectant a word?) and lubricant, so it will do no harm and great good. Fine steel wool won't leave big scratches and is softer than nickle, so unless the nickle is ready to flake off anyway, it is unlikely to remove the nickle. If the nickle is ready to flake off, and you plan to use the tool, you are better with it gone since the steel beneath it is already primed to corrode.

I would avoid using an acid to loosen the rust on a tool you cannot take apart entirely, since it is hard to remove entirely.


Bob

[Shawn Patel]

A great trick is to get a $5.00 wire cup for your drill press. It'll get off most rust pretty easily. Hard to get into tight spaces, though.

I've also used a stationary belt sander for plane cheeks and initial sole flattening on smaller planes.

I've used a lot of citric acid lately. It's good stuff. The thing is, you have to watch it. It can cause deeper pitting that ruins the surface. I wouldn't use a stronger solution than 10%. The proper (for me) technique is to soak the piece in the acid/water solution for 30 minute intervals. Between each interval, scrub it with a brass or stainless steel wire brush.

When it's done, just rinse the piece thoroughly with fresh water. Then towel dry it, and blow compressed air on it. Those little computer duster cans work great for getting into screw holes.

You can scrub out any flash rust with steel wool later on.

To get paint off of bad places, the best is to try to abrade it off with a wire brush. If that doesn't work, then use a chemical stripper.

I wouldn't submerge wood in citric acid. It's not the wood that's bad - it's the water. I've had tote knobs swell just enough so they won't screw back into their sockets.

To refinish wood parts, I find the easiest is to 'paint' the piece with a light coat of chem stripper or acetone, let it sit, and then use the wire brush to sand off the top coat. Then it's ready for a fresh shellacking or whatever.

[Mike Holbrook]

Great tips!

I am new to all the chemicals for rust. The Navel Jelly is just that, jelly like. It apparently gets used frequently to remove rust from charcoal grills. It sticks to surfaces it is brushed on, avoiding other surfaces. I got it at Lowe's.

[Don Rogers]

Thank you all for the information on derusting a brace with a wood crank handle. It looks as though I better work on that area of the brace with abraisives rather than citric acid. Otherwise I may end up trying to replace the crank handle with two half pieces glued together.

DonR

[Harlan Barnhart]

Don't forget toothpaste with hard and soft bristle tooth brushes. I has the right combination of "grit" and "soap" for light rust on metal and is especially good at cleaning up finished wood without destroying the finish. I brushed up several wood folding rules that were nearly too dark to read and they really cleaned up nice. Always try toothpaste first. If that doesn't work move to the more aggressive solutions.

[Adam Woznicki]

Don, I'm a big fan of electrolysis.

I would try submerging the brace up to the center handle let the electrolysis to its thing. Then remove the top knob and do the same with the top end.

Use a spring clamp to hold the brace to the side of the bucket keeping it at the depth you want.

Wrap a plastic bag around the handle and secure with a rubber-band between the shaft and grip then tape the seam to help keep it dry.

If you go the abrasives route remember to tape over the wood so you don't scratch it up.

[Bob Easton]

Try plain ole vinegar!

So many of the solutions above are very strong and some are caustic enough to be avoided. I've used many of them and dislike handling the caustic varieties.

I was very surprised recently at how effective vinegar is. It is gentler, not harmful to handle, and easier to dispose of than many of the chemicals mentioned above,

The only downside is that it is slower. You wont see results in minutes or hours. Overnight soaking, supplemented with brushing with a brass wire brush (again gentler than steel), will get the job done. You'll have less damage to yourself and other components such as the wooden parts of a brace. Patience has its rewards.

[Mike Brady]

Shawn, I can't agree with your wire cup recommendation. If you want that flea- market- quicky- cleanup look, that is the way to get it. Wire cups are way too aggressive for purpose. Maybe a Scotch-Brite hand pad or fine steel wool and mineral spirits. Think of remanufacturing the tool, and what the factory would have used, and then factor -in some age and patina. A small brass wire brush is very helpful and leaves no marks behind. The best restorer I know, who sells hundreds of tools per year, uses lacquer thinner and steel wool. He then washes all the metal parts in Amazing spray cleaner, oils the moving parts, waxes the entire plane, sharpens it, and sells it. His tools look like they were carefully used and put away each day since they were made.

[Shawn Patel]

I guess I should have clarified. I don't mean a braided wire cup (the rough kind). I mean the finest one you can get. It spins slow enough in a drill press that it works without scratching the surface. It actually gives it a good rough polish.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am wondering what the trick is to get tools to the state of perfection that places like WK seem to achieve regularly? I am guessing that they first start with items in better condition.

In terms of their process, some sort of stripper and/or high/low speed abrasives must be in play. I have seen some amazingly bright metal in photographs showing what old metal looked like after a stripper treatment.

Truth is I probably do not need that dramatic a change for tools I am going to be putting into use.