Killing Time with a Rusty Breaker Bar

[jreb10]

Among many useful items from a lot of "Misc" I bought at an online auction, I found this real rusty 3/8" breaker bar:



Normal people throw this sort of thing away without a second thought. I took the time to scrub it with a brass brush to see if I could find the maker's name. Lo and behold, I found it:



Having some spare time, I thought I would see how good it was under the rust. I started by putting it into the electrolysis tank overnight. The next day, It looked like this, with the rust converted to black oxide:




After washing it off with water and scotchbrite, it looked a bit better:



So I decided to finish it, as seen in the next thread.

 

[jreb10]

First step was the wire wheel:




That's not too bad. Now I get to use my new deburring wheel on the buffer:





I think I will keep it!

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

Great job! I like seeing things like this come back from the dead and be revived so they can go on to live a useful life.

 

[CNGsaves]

Nice save on classic underline C old C-man breaker bar.

 

[jreb10]

Scimonetti: Yes, no chrome in the e-tank. If I see chrome I use the brass brush and then steel wool to keep what is left intact. Don't want to create an hexavalent chromium.

CoPilot: I did not know New Britain made this vintage Craftsman for Sears. I like the few pieces of New Britain stuff that I have.

I once had a Craftsman 1/2" breaker bar of the same vintage. It was thick and really strong. Eventually it broke trying to turn some frozen wheel adjustment bolts on a 1957 John Deere 520. It broke my heart to lose that bar. I still miss it.

 

[pendragon1998]

I think I'd have stopped after the water and scotchbrite and hit it with a coat of floor wax, but it looks good shined up too. It's amazing what a little electricity, water, and washing soda can do, isn't it?

 

[ADSR]

great job!

 

[Nermal43]

Looks great. You have opened my eyes to rusty garage sale opportunities.

 

[ken w.]

I too will buy rusted tools like this. You would be amazed at how well older good quality tools will clean up. Nice job.