Buried Treasure

[dxdexter]

I was on a job site today and the contractor dug up this adjustable. The strange thing is this development was a mile in the woods only a few months ago, so I think it may have fallen from a drill rig that did the bore holes years before.
No one wanted it, so by default it was mine. The guys actually laughed at the fact that I wanted it. After an hour of work and I now have another 15" adjustable. The wrench is an IREGA made in Spain. I belt sanded most of the pitting out of the open end and wire brushed and emery clothed the handle.

 

[T56 Impala]

Take it back to work with you. The guys will never believe its the same wrench!!!!! Nice work BTW.

 

[DarrenF]

lucky *******

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Damn, that sure cleaned up nice! excellent work.

i agree, take it back and show them!

 

[wilbilt]

DON'T take it to work, or somebody's gonna want it back!

Nice job. I have rescued a few buried treasures myself.

 

[Ducroix]

Did you soak it in anything?

 

[Kevin54]

Did you soak it in anything?

Cider?

Nice job on cleaning it up Who'd a thunk it that it would have cleaned that well?

 

[T56 Impala]

I wish I had taken pictures, but......

Nothing as nice as yours. My lawn guy tossed an old razor knife up on the deck a few weeks back. It was a Stanley fixed blade like this http://www.stanleytools.com/default...;+Swivel-Lock®+Fixed+Blade+Utility+Knife It had been in the ground since the house was built I would guess since it had a carpet "hook" blade on it. I oiled it up and took it apart. Cleaned it, lightly sanded it to remove the pitting, and painted it. It looks, and functions like new. Not a big save but still a nice blade to have in the box.

 

[lbgradwell]

Who'd a thunk it that it would have cleaned that well?

Not me!

So what's a 15" Channellock worth around here, Dex?

 

[l_bilyk]

Take it back to work with you. The guys will never believe its the same wrench!!!!! Nice work BTW.

I don't think I even believe it's the same wrench! wow. sure cleaned up nice

 

[dxdexter]

Did you soak it in anything?

I soaked it with WD40, but surprisingly the screw from the thumb wheel came loose relatively easily. I had to run a drill into the top of the hole to clean up some peening in order to remove the screw.

 

[GDA]

Stunning restoration! Your guys at work obviously underestimated what some work can do to change things

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

My second cousin years ago brought a 5 gallon bucket full of tools to our house when he was going thru a nasty divorce from his crazy wife at the time. Well he feared that she would find them at our place, so he hid the bucket in the cab of this old wrecked 75 ford truck behind our shop.

That was about 13 years ago, my cousin he passed away in the middle of last year and never came and got those tools back after he was divorced even though he came out on the winning side of it.

Well about a month ago I was just looking around the trucks out boredom and I found the bucket again. Had several adjustable wrenches covered in leaves, dirt, mold, and etc. Also found a Williams combination wrench, some cheap combo wrench made in Spain, a pair of slip joint pliers, and 4 punches.

Well everything cleaned up pretty well. My dad is now using those tools. Buried treasure is always a sweet find

 

[dxdexter]

Not me!

So what's a 15" Channellock worth around here, Dex?

Believe it or not around here a 15" IREGA adjustable goes for around $50 to $70 depending on who is selling it. The funny part is that I once lost and adjustable exactly like this and was extremely PO'ed. It was hundreds of miles from this site. I finally got one back.

 

[lbgradwell]

Believe it or not around here a 15" IREGA adjustable goes for around $50 to $70 depending on who is selling it.

Oh, I believe it!

I've just never seen an Irega-branded wrench; only the ones they make for Channellock...

The funny part is that I once lost and adjustable exactly like this and was extremely PO'ed. It was hundreds of miles from this site. I finally got one back.

It's called karma.

 

[billymade]

Just for fun; here is their website: http://www.irega.eu/

 

[lbgradwell]

Just for fun; here is their website: http://www.irega.eu/

Wow. This site has been "Under Construction" for 2+ years! I've never seen it work before!

 

[billymade]

Here is a pic of a brand new one!

 

[chad s]

Well done. Hard to believe its the same wrench.

 

[SocketDeviler]

Wow, amazing job on that adjustable, dxdexter.

 

[bchee]

THAT CANNOT BE THE SAME WRENCH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dxdexter]

I don't think I even believe it's the same wrench! wow. sure cleaned up nice

Well done. Hard to believe its the same wrench.

THAT CANNOT BE THE SAME WRENCH!!!!!!!!!!!

I know you guys are joking, but yes, it's the same wrench. You can see the pitted areas are in the same location. I was unable to remove all the blemishes with the belt sander unless I removed lots more material.

 

[Merkava_4]

EXCELLENT WORK!!!

 

[eschoendorff]

Believe it or not around here a 15" IREGA adjustable goes for around $50 to $70 depending on who is selling it. The funny part is that I once lost and adjustable exactly like this and was extremely PO'ed. It was hundreds of miles from this site. I finally got one back.

Hmmmm... Karma?


Nice job on that wrench. I can hardly believe it's the same on either....

 

[justinmc]

WOW... makes me think I need to spend a little time cleaning up some of the crusty stuff I've got in my box o' junk tools. There is some quality stuff in there but they are just crusted up because I've found them in various piles of junk, etc. Hmmm good stuff! I'm really surprised it cleaned up so well and you didnt' lose any of the stampings/markings in the process.

 

[Uncle Buck]

DON'T take it to work, or somebody's gonna want it back!

Nice job. I have rescued a few buried treasures myself.

Agreed, never, ever let work see how it came out, or share with them how well it came out, or that may never happen again! In fact, you would be better letting it be known it was in fact trashed and you pitched it, trust me, I am speaking from experience on this!

 

[hguerrero]

funny thing is i lost an Irega-branded wrench at that very spot many years ago...
i wonder if that's my wrench...hmmmmm

 

[rsanter]

tell them you hung it on the fence as a souvineer. tell them that you have a whole collection of rusty tools hanging there for the fun of it and if they want to give you any to add to the collection you would be happy to hang them on the fence as well

bob

 

[kythri]

You ought to send pictures and your story to the Irega headquarters - if there's someone savvy in marketing, they'd latch onto this - and you might get some free swag out of the deal...

 

[Uncle Buck]

You ought to send pictures and your story to the Irega headquarters - if there's someone savvy in marketing, they'd latch onto this - and you might get some free swag out of the deal...

Like Timex, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking"

 

[lbgradwell]

You ought to send pictures and your story to the Irega headquarters - if there's someone savvy in marketing, they'd latch onto this - and you might get some free swag out of the deal...

You know, that's not a bad idea... And they now have a website that works, so...

You might get featured in "Adjustable Wrench Monthly" magazine.

 

[Coach James]

A+!! job on the wrench. Seriously, I wonder how the quality of the steel affected the clean up? I wonder if a HF 15" wrench would have ended up looking?

Coach

 

['69 Super Sport]

dxdexter , I have a few questions for you :

-what did you soak it in and for how long ?
-what worked best in cleaning the adjuster screw ?

I want to do this to my father's old Blue Point (made in the USA) adjustable end wrench .

can these be dated ? no part number , It has a H on it

 

[chad s]

can these be dated ? no part number , It has a H on it

No date code that looks like an H (except a sideways 1961 I date code). Most blue point stuff was not date coded.

 

['69 Super Sport]

No date code that looks like an H (except a sideways 1961 I date code). Most blue point stuff was not date coded.

I also have a 12" Adjustable end wrench that need the same to it also . It is made by J.H.Williams & Co. AB-12 "SUPERJUSTABLE" (made in the USA) which I will be do in next .

I Locked his toolbox up about 10 yrs ago when he died , and just know moved it to my garage and and starting to go thru it . I believe I might have found a GOLD MINE .

 

[chad s]

I also have a 12" Adjustable end wrench that need the same to it also . It is made by J.H.Williams & Co. AB-12 "SUPERJUSTABLE" (made in the USA) which I will be do in next .

I Locked his toolbox up about 10 yrs ago when he died , and just know moved it to my garage and and starting to go thru it . I believe I might have found a GOLD MINE .

You can post pics of the snap on stuff, and I can help you if you have any questions.

 

[dxdexter]

dxdexter , I have a few questions for you :

-what did you soak it in and for how long ?
-what worked best in cleaning the adjuster screw ?

I want to do this to my father's old Blue Point (made in the USA) adjustable end wrench .

can these be dated ? no part number , It has a H on it

After bringing the tool home and gave it a good spray with WD40. I hit it several times with a brass hammer to try and get the jaw to move and allow the oil to penetrate. It was then sprayed again with lots of WD40 and the rust was pouring from the thumb wheel area. Then I got a slot screwdriver and with only a little effort the screw moved. The top of the screw hole was a little banged up, so I ran a drill into the hole to clean up the top. I loosened the screw and pulled it the rest of the way out with vise-grips.

Once the thumb wheel was removed, the jaw was banged back and forth until it was knocked out of the guide (brass hammer). A wire wheel on the bench grinder cleaned the handle nicely, followed by a light sanding and wire brushing. The handle had WD40 applied while wire brushing. The thumb wheel was cleaned the same way

To clean up the head, a belt sander clamped in the vise was used. This gave a flat surface and straight grinding lines as opposed to a swirled look from a circular grinder.