Minor restoration of old rusty tools

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Minor restoration of old rusty tools/update APRIL22

...I decided to make it a longer thread and instead of creating new ones for just the pictures of updates, I will add pictures to this one. Please look towards the end for new pictures.
PLEASE GO TO THE END OF THIS THREAD FOR UPDATES (I do not know how to add them on top...)

Updates:
April 19
April 22

Good morning.

I am a relatively new member and still do not have a restoration or expertise of the members of GJ. However, I would like to share some of the restoration projects which I did recently.

#1 Billings & Spencer CO (typeA) and J C Speirs & Co adjustable (WHITTEN GODDING CYCLE CO) wrenches.

Speirs & Co is from Worcester MA produced for WHITTEN GODDING CYCLE CO, PROVIDENCE RI)
Came completely rusted and frozen. Billings still needs some minimal sanding as it sticks during the last 5 mm (had a hard life... I can see a small area of shiny metal on the inner rod near the top)

I will add combined picture of both below

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Together...

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

I also got several frozen pliers during the same run. The light colored Indestro Super 3436 is for color comparison.

After a lot of brushing and eventually evaporust to break the deep rust keeping them from opening I got the following:
- Craftsman Vanadium
- Bonney
- Fuller (England)

southalabama · Apr 15, 2018

Looks good, making them usable again.

Shiftless · Apr 15, 2018

You’re off to a great start. :beer:

Begin with simpler stuff and pretty soon you’ll be restoring vises, then drill presses, and then ???

BTW, what is the going rate for solidly rusted up pliers and wrenches in Massachusetts?

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Another rusty old wrench.
After some cleaning it ended up being COES Wrench Co Worcester MA

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

And the last one for the night.
An old rusty frozen C-Clamp. Took a lot of elbow grease and close to 2 days in Evaporust to break the rust bonds... Hargrave C clamp Cincinnati appeared from under rust... A lot of pitting, but it just adds the character to this one. It was black at some point, then blue - I guess it served people well!

I am planning to eventually either paint or may be BLO it.

Shiftless · Apr 15, 2018

Shelbylex:
What you have there is a COES wrench.
Too bad about the one side of that wooden handle. That would be tough to repair properly.
I’d vote for the BLO instead of paint. Use it on the wooden handles as well as the steel parts.
Depending on the temperature and humidity, it will take a while to dry and harden. But the final result IMHO looks the best. It will darken the wood and steel and yield a handsome appearance reflecting its age.

Here is a Bemis and Call wrench from the 1930’s I picked up at at a neighborhood estate sale last month. It got a thorough scrubbing, light sanding of the spine and once dry, a few coats of BLO rubbed in with white scotchbrite pads.

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

I would like to thank all the members of GJ for their inspirations, advises and expertise!
My work is not related to this hobby - I guess I am starting from where I left some decades ago...

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Shiftless said:
You’re off to a great start.

Begin with simpler stuff and pretty soon you’ll be restoring vises, then drill presses, and then ???

BTW, what is the going rate for solidly rusted up pliers and wrenches in Massachusetts?

Thank you, Shiftless. The price of all the tools was free - this is all a part of my free pick up from thread "Monday Luck"
I tried to convince two people to sell me Billings (or similar style) rusty wrenches separately from the collections of rusty and/or old tools that they had on CL, but got no luck...

The handle is going to be a problem. I think I am going to leave it for now. In theory, I should be able to make it myself, but putting a metal pin to hold it would require some reading and trials so it would look circular and good.

Once I am done with a lot of rusty tools I have now (still have some interesting things to restore), I might try to do it. Though I would probably have to travel to my friend who has a nice collection of woodworking tools - doing it old style with saws, knives and files as I did for my balcony door (held by screws though), would take too much time...

Shiftless · Apr 15, 2018

Why don’t you just leave that handle alone for now?
Move on to something else that doesn’t need wooden parts reproduction. Getting a replacement piece of wood that would even closely match the rest of the handle would be VERY difficult.
A guy could more easily fabricate an entire new handle out of new wood if he was so inclined but it wouldn’t be a whole antique anymore. But do what you want with it...it’s not like you’re working on an incredibly rare and valuable museum piece.

Ole Slewfoot · Apr 15, 2018

building the wood up with something clear would be an interesting in-between.

Those knife handles are trickier than they initially appear. my knife builder buddy tells me most of the time it makes more sense to epoxy the handle on, and make the rivet cosmetic. for a user tool it makes a lot of sense, as moisture getting behind the wood ruins everything.

SAA44-40 · Apr 15, 2018

Shelby- I had a comparable clamp. I was very pleased with the BLO results

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Shiftless, Nice wrench! BLO gives a nice "warm" glow to the wood. I think I will follow your advice and leave it alone.

SAA44-40, do you have a picture of that Clamp? I wonder what shade it gives to metal (I never used it before and will need to read how to do it). Stupid questions: do you just apply it with a brush? Thin or sick coat? I read it dries forever. Does it smell while drying? (Wife might not like it..,)

Zrxrunner · Apr 15, 2018

Hey guys, I've been picking up a bunch of old tools as a winter project n need to start cleaning em up too. Jus been using wire wheel, parts washer n aerokroil so far. I see lots of people talking about BLO tho. What is it and where do u get it? Best uses for it? Thanks

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Another observation: after I clean the tools with Evaporust and then manual soft wirebrush some of them get yellowish color. Unclear if sucha quick flash rust can appear or it's related to evaporust. A little it more of wire brush makes it subside.
Does anybody have similar experience with it?
What do you do to prevent it?

JMLangford · Apr 15, 2018

Clean 'em up and post 'em over here:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377463

.

Shiftless · Apr 15, 2018

Zrx:
Boiled Linseed Oil is available at just about any hardware store. Just buy a quart...a little goes a long way. Sometimes I smear it on straight and other times I dilute it 50-50 with Turpentine, also available at hardware or paint stores. The Linseed Oil mix results in a thinner coat so it hardens faster. I brush on and wipe off.
Warning! Wadded up rags soaked in Linseed Oil or any other organic oil will self ignite due to spontaneous combustion (exothermic reaction caused by the curing of the oil molecules)
When finished with rags spread them out single layer outdoors until dry and hard, or soak them in a bucket of water. If you think this isn’t serious, watch a few YouTube videos. GJ members have experienced shop fires due to this. No ********.

Ole Slewfoot · Apr 15, 2018

Shelbylex said:
Another observation: after I clean the tools with Evaporust and then manual soft wirebrush some of them get yellowish color. Unclear if sucha quick flash rust can appear or it's related to evaporust. A little it more of wire brush makes it subside.
Does anybody have similar experience with it?
What do you do to prevent it?

Are you getting transfer from a brass brush?

post 1976 here, has some pics and bit of discussion around 1990
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7082061#post7082061

Shelbylex · Apr 15, 2018

Thank you, Ole Slewfoot. You are right - did not think of something obvious - this is brass brush

Thank you for BLO images. I quite like them. I think I will consider trying it.
I wonder if letting it dry vs baking it (which I can not do) will live a slightly different shade. I read somewhere that it gets darker if treated with high temperature vs. letting it dry at regular remperatures.

JMLangford, thank you for suggestion to post them at https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=377463. I thought about it, but my skill level does not match the level of this thread even closely. May be after another 50-100 tools when I become good at it. Still have long way to go to get that good.

Shiftless · Apr 16, 2018

shelby:
Be aware of the fact that baking the BLO realease what most everybody considers strong and unpleasant odors. Definitely don’t use your kitchen oven.
Some guys use an old electric meat smoker out in the back yard. Not too hot... around 200 degrees if I recall.
I haven’t done it but I am on the lookout for a dirty old electric smoker in the free section of Craigslist so I can give it a try.

In my experience, just the gradual air drying of the BLO yields darker colors. But you gotta be patient!

Shelbylex · Apr 16, 2018

Thank you, Shiftless. I guess I will have to wait a little till it gets warmer in MA and dry everything outside.

Shiftless · Apr 16, 2018

Shelbylex said:
Thank you, Shiftless. I guess I will have to wait a little till it gets warmer in MA and dry everything outside.

It doesn’t have to stay outdoors. I don’t mind the odor inside the shop. Just don’t heat it in your living space. If you thin BLO with turpentine, it will dry in a day or two in my area where temps in an unheated, uninsulated garage bottom out in the high 50s. Naturally, results will vary depending on other conditions like how heavily it was applied. Wipe on...wipe off.
As you gain more experience, you will develop a feeling for how BLO behaves.

larry_g · Apr 16, 2018

Shelbylex said:
Good morning.

I am a relatively new member and still do not have a restoration or expertise of the members of GJ. However, I would like to share some of the restoration projects which I did recently.

#1 Billings & Spencer CO (typeA) and J C Speirs & Co adjustable (WHITTEN GODDING CYCLE CO) wrenches.

Speirs & Co is from Worcester MA produced for WHITTEN GODDING CYCLE CO, PROVIDENCE RI)
Came completely rusted and frozen. Billings still needs some minimal sanding as it sticks during the last 5 mm (had a hard life... I can see a small area of shiny metal on the inner rod near the top)

I will add combined picture of both below

I have one of these style wrenches and in the refurbishing process I filed off the burrs on the jaw edges to give it a cleaner jaw. Not a lot, just enough to remove what is sticking outside the jaw plane and remove the sharp edges. Not sure what the 'restorers or collectors' do but it sure makes for nicer handling of the tool.

lg
no neat sig line

Ole Slewfoot · Apr 16, 2018

I use a trash picked toaster oven for baking coatings and such. if you have a water heater closet. heat the BLO and it smells really funky for a little while, air dry and it smells a little funky for a day or few.

SuperCat · Apr 16, 2018

Has anyone used another "clear" coating to protect restored tools? I like the look of the BLO but I worry about the fire hazard. :wtf:

Shiftless · Apr 16, 2018

SuperCat said:
Has anyone used another "clear" coating to protect restored tools? I like the look of the BLO but I worry about the fire hazard.

Nothing to worry about. The amounts used to wipe down a wrench are really small. Any oil soaked rags or paper towels should be laid out flat until dry. Then treat as normal trash. To me, that is not very hard to do. Many other things we do in the shop are far more dangerous.
Does anybody use teak oil or tung oil on their furniture? Same hazardous category.

Shelbylex · Apr 19, 2018

Couple of more items completed...
W. Schollhorn Company/ W.A. Bernard

I did not make before picture: the rust was not as impressive as on other pictures and was mainly inside (piece was completely frozen...)

Please see a great collection of articles Woody 73 put together on this thread:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344360

Shelbylex · Apr 19, 2018

Subsequently after reading the link provided by Woody 73 I found another piece by Schollhorn / Bernard in my rust pile
This one took 24 hours of Evaporust to be partially opened and another 24 hours to get to condition that I could make it open and close. Now works almost like new : )
The third image (with the sign July 19, 1892) had too much rust and pitting. However, upon very close look it says the following:
"Bernard" on top
PAT MAY 6 1890 on the bottom above July19, 1892

Shelbylex · Apr 19, 2018

And the last one for the night - I forgot to make a picture of this one in rusty state. It was opening, but just had too much rust on it...
And a question: what is the original purpose of this blueburd pliers (and what is this tool called if the name is different)

Ole Slewfoot · Apr 19, 2018

Battery pliers
J. E. BERGMAN 1,775,270

Shiftless · Apr 19, 2018

Gotta love those old mechanical drawings. Back in the 60’s when I was in high school, there was a mechanical drawing class. Here is an expanded one I found of those battery pliers.

Shelbylex · Apr 19, 2018

Thank you, gentlemen! Those are some impressive drawings!
In my school we were required to take technical drawing class. Still remember it - had a smoked through tough woman for teacher who was fair, but always corrected your mistake with a pen (we were required to draw everything by pencil including the borders on the A4 piece of paper). This made you think 5 times and check everything before submitting (otherwise you would be drawing everything again). For the final we were supposed to give a 9 technical drawings including 3d, manufacturing 3 view and other things. Aced it! (I doubt I can do it now, though...)

Shelbylex · Apr 22, 2018

Got a little bit more done over last several days

Wrenches:
Rusty no name wrench which I postponed restoring ended up being L.COES
One side has a stamp COES, WORCHESTER, MASS; another L. COES PATD. JULY 6,1820;JULY 1894
the second is 9 IN AUTO

Bunch of no name pliers, some frozen.
found named:
1. SAMSON made in USA WWO-6
2. NEW YORK TOY - this one was so rusty and bad I thought about throwing it out. Then decided to do it just for the sake of it.
3. ACIER FONDU - have no clue what it is and where it came from. Probably from France (means molten steel)
...No, not that smart, googled it

Conclusion: even if it does not have a name and looks crappy, give it a chance and you might get surprised

Fretters · Apr 23, 2018

SuperCat said:
Has anyone used another "clear" coating to protect restored tools? I like the look of the BLO but I worry about the fire hazard.

Don't chuck loads of oil soaked rags in a pile. Using any of the oils is quite safe if you use (nowadays largely un)common sense.

Shelbylex · Jun 3, 2020

Decided to add couple of more (I always keep forgetting to make before and after pictures...Kleins were a pleasant surprise - did not even see a name under rust. They have some pitting on inside, but I guess the rust level protected the inside grooves - they are like new. Suspect that they were not used much by the owner...)

Minor restoration of old rusty tools

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