Preserving makers mark

[Porkis]

Oh man, I'm really nervous posting this one. So, be gentle I have a hammer with a fading stamped maker's mark and I want to know how to preserve it, maybe even bring back some of the already disappeared logo. I know what a lot of people are going to say- "just leave it alone," but I'm not selling it and I just love the idea behind the snail brand tools from Birmingham England. Does anyone know how that could be accomplished? Again, I just want to restore part of the stamped mark that has corroded or been worn off by time. I know it's a noob question. It may even offend a lot of you. For this, I apologize.

 

[four.cycle]

Leave it alone.
The "Snail" logo on Thomas Smith & Sons tools may or may not have been clearly stamped on the piece from the beginning.

Smith / Thomas Smith & Sons Ltd. of Saltley, Saltley Mill, Birmingham / "Snail" brand tools / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/03/vanished-makes-snail-brand-tools.html /

 

[four.cycle]

as an addendum... after re-reading your post and thinking about it.... I do not recall seeing many hammers posted here on which the maker's herald mark was stamped in such a manner as to make it clearly visible and distinct.
there was a "Hubbard" hammer posted just a couple days ago, the mark on which was only about half visible - obviously that's how it was stamped at the factory.

purely speculative on my part, but I'm guessing the hammer head is hardened prior to that mark being placed on it. (how far off the mark am I on that one?)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Try an engraver, or any Dremel or rotary tool with a fine attachment. I have never felt the urge to fix or complete a worn or mis-stamped logo, but I can see how someone might want to, and, if done right, carefully, and conservatively, it's well within the realm of tasteful preservation, on a case by case basis, in my opinion.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

If you don’t think you can preserve it properly, send it to me …

 

[RTM]

If you don’t think you can preserve it properly, send it to me …

Come on, you have no intention of preserving that. don't try to fool us

 

[RTM]

I'm in the leave it alone camp. Maybe trying to fill it with color via sharpie or wax stick, a reversible process.

I would not try to deepen the stamp, fill in missing area, or anything like that that is irreversible.

¢¢, but its not mine, so do as you please.

 

[Porkis]

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to leave it alone. I'll just try to be conservative when grinding the rust away.

 

[four.cycle]

that's not "rust" - it's "patina"

wire brushing on vintage tools will render them valueless to some collectors.

Don swears by "Evaporust" -

I'm in the "do NOTHING" camp. (I don't even clean off the grease.)

just sayin'

BK

 

[leg17]

Avoid, or at least minimize the 'wire brush' on the first go round.
Some suggest a real brass wire brush as being less harmful.
(Watch for brass plated but actually steel wire brushes)

 

[RTM]

I use a Sandflex block (comes in 3 grits) depending on the value of the tool when I need to remove gross rust.

Grinding is way down the food chain, well below wire wheel as far as conservative (conservator of the tool) rust removal. If you are going to grind, go ahead and use the electric pencil too.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Grinding the original finish off tools, and meticulously enhancing a logo on a well-preserved tool, the way a professional conservator might restore a heraldry symbol on an heirloom chair arm cap that has worn with use and age, are not the same thing. Beyond merely conserving the original materials, professional conservators working for some of our finest public and private institutions often repair and complete worn, broken or missing components of antiquities, when their reconstitution is critical to the piece and its overall purpose. And reconstitution is the technical, professional word for it.

I would never dream of touching a vintage tool with a grinder for de-rusting, and I would never even think about completing all the logos on all of my tools that are worn with an engraver, as a regular practice, which seems crass in the extreme. That should go without saying.

If I had a special hammer with special logo that I planned to frame and display, some kind of keepsake or connection thing, and the logo was central to my purpose, but worn, I wouldn't hesitate to re-constitute the logo or hire a professional to do so. Especially if it was easy to do without corrupting the originality of the piece. Like the lines in a snail outline. Or some of the lettering and parts of the anvil below, for example. If the OP was asking for advice on how to treat all his vintage tools, generally, as a practice, if he even has any other vintage tools, that would be different. I am sympathetic to the idea, circumstantially, which, again, does have a place in the conservation world.

Just in case you guys thought I had been possessed or suddenly developed split personality disorder overnight.

 

[toolmiser]

I've had luck a few times using gun bluing.