Restoring a Nicopress Cable Crimper

Picked these up at a flea market for .50 cents. They were very sad. Rusty and crusty and totally locked up.

I could not get the jaws to move until they had soaked in WD-40 for a day or so...
Starting the disassembly.

One of the bolts was rusted in place (can you tell which one... ). I destroyed the head of the bolt to get it out. I'll just replace it with a regular bolt when it goes back together.
Took some effort to drive out all of those pins. Everything was so rusted together I am very surprised I got the rest of it apart without destroying any other hardware.
I got the parts cleaned up with a wire brush in a drill motor and then soaked them in Eastwoods Acid Etch for an hour or so. This removed all of the rust and got the parts pretty well clean enough for black oxide. Sorry I took no pics during this process. things get kind of busy doing this and I didn't take the time to do photos...
This is a pic after the loose parts were black oxided.

They look pretty good for what they started out as...
Getting the tool put back together.

Reassembled and ready to get back to work. This works so easy now, I can't wait to use it.






Thanks for looking!
Mark

I think it looks good. Nice job. This Eastwood's Acid Etch that you used... Is it something I could find in a big box store such as Lowe's or HD? Based on your results it looks like it could be pretty useful to have around to clean up some tools I've picked up at flea markets.

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Thanks, I am pleased with the results. Didn't know how savable the crimpers were but, for .50 cents, it wasn't much of a gamble.
The Fast Etch is available thru Eastwood.
https://www.eastwood.com/rust-remover-eastwood-fast-etch.html
It works very well to remove surface rust on projects just like this. It is geared toward auto restoration which is where I started using it but It works well on any project that needs de-rusting. It leaves a phosphate coating which stops re-rusting after yo get it clean.
Mark

Thanks for the link. I'll have to get some. Anytime u can get good American made tools for 50 cents is a deal. Yeah you had to put some time in bringing it back to life but that's part of the fun. Plus those crimpers will outlast us all.

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I don't think acid etch will be feasible for me at the moment. I do know muriatic acid will work on rusted metal but that it can rust anything in the vicinity as well. Have you ever had any experience in using it? Apologies for all of the questions I just don't trust the internet when I find ten different answers for a question. So I'd rather ask people will real life experiences. Thank you and I Appreciate any advice/info you have.

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Muriatic acid is cheap and it will work, you just need to keep the containers closed as you are using it. As you said the fumes will corrode anything around that isn't plated or painted. It will destroy aluminum very quickly. Have not had that problem with the Fast Etch.
Mark

Nice find, I have an import cable crimper I've used a lot but this (restored) looks a lot more robust!

astroracer said:

Muriatic acid is cheap and it will work, you just need to keep the containers closed as you are using it. As you said the fumes will corrode anything around that isn't plated or painted. It will destroy aluminum very quickly. Have not had that problem with the Fast Etch.
Mark

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

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