BEFORE & AFTER....A Tool Polisher's Haven

[steaks&anvils]

I went to an estate sale today, everything was 50% off. I found several items but the one I'm going to share is this shear.

uuummmm was that $15?!?!?!?

even $30 is a you **** price!

Cool shear and that handle will work great too!

 

[harley jim]

Yep, 15 dollars
I got a good fit on the handle to the pivot casting.

 

[don long]

I finally have something to add to this thread
I picked up this jack for $35.00 and was grateful to the seller for shipping it to me from Ohio



After a few weeks of hard work getting it apart, sand blasted, smoothed and polished I now have a piece that I can proudly display in my garage







The handle has yet to be worked on.

 

[jhn9840]

Nice as always Don. Thanks for sharing.

jhn9840
John

 

[tarmy]

That is friggin’ awesome…beautiful find…and resto effort. Well done.

 

[don long]

Thanks guys
FYI Everything that is shinny is polished steal, not chrome

 

[Old Radar]

Amazing! I hope you sent the PO a picture!

 

[don long]

Amazing! I hope you sent the PO a picture!

Yes I've text him those same shots

 

[catalytic]

^^Tell us more---who made this jack? What model? What year? I haven't seen one quite like that!

 

[don long]

^^Tell us more---who made this jack? What model? What year? I haven't seen one quite like that!

I hadn't seen one quite like it either that's why bI had to have it.
It looks like the other mechanical jacks from the early 1900's
This piece is on the front of the jack. It is an Elite jack model #85

 

[Offcenter12]

While they sure didn't look that good new these are the tools people used to accomplish their everyday work and probably rarely gave a second thought to how well designed and manufactured the tools were. Designed by mechanics and engineers in horn rimmed glasses and 20 mechanical pencils in their pocket protector with a brush cut and some ideas. There's a reason these tools are still around. Thank you all for preserving these gems. Even if they're not used they're still cooler to look at than most anything made to do the same job today.

 

[stokefire7]

I want that !

 

[stokefire7]

Let the recovery begin !

 

[Bears Fan]

Stoke

Cool piece of steel! What are you going to use it for?

 

[larry4406]

Stoke

Cool piece of steel! What are you going to use it for?

Maybe copy Royce's layout/bending table?

 

[harley jim]

I haven't seen Royce in a while, is he ok?

 

[bonneyman]

2020-10-03 18.40.42 by don long, on Flickr

Just looking over some previous pages and saw this. They look like something out of a Flash Gordon movie! lol

 

[harley jim]

.

 

[steaks&anvils]

Stoke

Cool piece of steel! What are you going to use it for?

Coffee table!

 

[don long]

Just looking over some previous pages and saw this. They look like something out of a Flash Gordon movie! lol

Bonneyman those grease guns are mounted on this grease rack

 

[Old Radar]

I got a little over-enthusiastic the other day cleaning this L.S. Starrett No. 39 12" Lock Joint Inside Calipers. It wasn't too bad as found, but there were several small pitting areas as well as an engraving to the right of the Starrett stamp that someone subsequently blotted out.

Nothing to compare with Don Long's work, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

The polishing did reveal a mark (K4002). Nothing comes up in a google search so I assume it is from a previous owner. It is light but professionally done.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Just looking over some previous pages and saw this. They look like something out of a Flash Gordon movie! lol

Bonneyman those grease guns are mounted on this grease rack

Way more recent than Flash Gordon.

Your comment and Don's picture immediately reminded me of "Men In Black." Remember the secret "weapons wall" in Jeeb's pawn shop? You could put these grease guns on that wall and not a single person would know they were grease guns and not alien weapons.

 

[bonneyman]

I figure Mr. Gordon upgraded from ray guns to grease guns around 1940.

MIB. Good one!

 

[stokefire7]

Stoke

Cool piece of steel! What are you going to use it for?

Fab table.

 

[JMLangford]

Hey Guys,
I haven't posted much in awhile so I thought I'd do a quick little "Before & After"

I've got this extremely neglected 3/8" Proto ratchet (#5249) that I picked up for a buck....


Started by lightly wire brushing the outside, then I started inside.....almost thought I'd break off the screws they were so rusted!


Once inside I couldn't believe how neglected it really was....this thing looked like it had never seen any lubrication


So, I got started piece by piece.....


Finally got all the old rust gone!!





.

 

[JMLangford]

Then I lubed her up and she ready to go back to work again.....


This ratchet was locked up tight when I got it but now it works buttery smooth

 

[harley jim]

Nice save

 

[don long]

Been working on restoring my Alemite handy cart and the grease guns that go with it
Here is one of those guns that I cleaned and polished.

Before


After

The paint peeled off the one panel and I need to finish painting the pistol grip handle So no issue fixing the problem.

 

[harley jim]

I got two hammer handles for Christmas,


Had these two old sledgehammer heads we found in a trailer we bought.


Got out the grinder and sized the handles to the heads, one is 10lbs the other is 12lbs. Gave them a couple coats of BLO.

 

[Bowtie4life]

I have two of those sledgehammers myself. I need to throw some paint on them like yours.

 

[don long]

Ok let me revise my latest polish post.
I finished the screw ups on my paint work on the gun and I finished painting the handle.

Again
Before



And the final product

 

[2oolhound]

I’ve been hoarding scrap lead for years. Not really much at all but I’ve always kept wheel weights, battery clamps and any other bits of lead thinking I’d melt it down and make something. There was a thread here several years back on a guy who made lead hammers with tin can moulds so that’s been on my mind. As my little garage gets more and more crowded I keep tripping over the stuff so I’ve been on the lookout for a lead pot for quite a while. The 1st one I saw at the swap meet I bought even though I know I over paid for it, $40.



It came with 3 cast pots and a ladle which is what made me pull the trigger. It needed a clean up so I tore it down and wire wheeled everything.I burned out my makita 5" grinder on this.



I didn’t want to ever kick it when it was full of molten lead so I painted the base bright yellow and everything else high heat flat black.





Then wouldn’t you know, the very next week I found it’s cousin at the swap meet for $5! Yeah, I had to buy it. This one has an open front to the burner and my buddy told me it’s designed for heating those old solid copper soldering irons.



To ad insult to injury (paying $40 then $5) the following week I found a nice lead hammer for $5. Even though I realized this would be the smart way to get a lead hammer instead of doing all the work, NO WAY did I buy it after all this work I’d done restoring the burner. I’ve never yet fired either of these up but when I get around to doing a hammer I’ll be sure to post a photo.

 

[harley jim]

I dont think 40 was over paying if you got all of that extra stuff with it, nice find, nice save.

 

[don long]

From another thread here on the GJ I was challenged to restore a draw knife that was sent to me
Here is what I got in the mail last month



and this is what I used to get the knife polished up to a bright shinny finish


Then I went to work on making the missing handles
First I pulled out a piece of nice hard maple wood and cut 4 pieces off of it being about 2"wide and 5" long
Then I glued 2 of the pieces together for one handle and glued the others for the 2nd handle. Then clamped the 4 pieces together and let them sit for a couple of days.



I took one block and rounded one end with a belt grinder so I could chuck the block in my metal lathe
and started turning the block into a shaft and creating a handle



When I was finished with the 2 handles I put them on the knife and gave them a little stain and some urethane.
and here is the knife tonight

 

[Bears Fan]

Holy ****! that draw knife came out beautiful Don

 

[Jeff Ivers]

From another thread here on the GJ I was challenged to restore a draw knife that was sent to me
Here is what I got in the mail last month



and this is what I used to get the knife polished up to a bright shinny finish


Then I went to work on making the missing handles
First I pulled out a piece of nice hard maple wood and cut 4 pieces off of it being about 2"wide and 5" long
Then I glued 2 of the pieces together for one handle and glued the others for the 2nd handle. Then clamped the 4 pieces together and let them sit for a couple of days.



I took one block and rounded one end with a belt grinder so I could chuck the block in my metal lathe
and started turning the block into a shaft and creating a handle



When I was finished with the 2 handles I put them on the knife and gave them a little stain and some urethane.
and here is the knife tonight

Beautiful job, Don!

 

[don long]

Holy ****! that draw knife came out beautiful Don

Thank you Tony

Beautiful job, Don!

Thanks Jeff
It was a fun lil project and I wanted to try my luck at turning wood (my first time)

 

[Bowtie4life]

Man, that thing is beautiful. You do some excellent work!!

 

[don long]

Man, that thing is beautiful. You do some excellent work!!

Bowtie
I do enjoy watching a piece of rust turn into a shining jewel It is a little hard on the fingertips sometimes though

 

[Bowtie4life]

Bowtie
I do enjoy watching a piece of rust turn into a shining jewel It is a little hard on the fingertips sometimes though

I can only imagine what it will do to your fingertips. However, it's a labor of love though.