Removing owner initials...

[astrodoggie3000]

I bought a nice used F936 off of Ebay, only to find there were initals carved into the handle! It is only 2 letters... i think it is all the way through the chrome. What i want to know is, what can i use to lightly buff down the chrome with to maybe lessen the apperence?

 

[Zebu Fellenz]

IMO it's probably easier to change your name to match the initials than it will be to make them go away.

I wouldn't mess with it, if it really bothers you sell it and keep looking for one without any markings.

 

[Slowboat]

I was lucky enough to score a Starrett level on ebay and the guys last name was the first part of my middle name - I added a few letters and I was all set.

I know this was no help at all.

 

[catsteve]

If someone went to the trouble of etching their initials into a tool. then they never planned on selling it. IMO
ever.

 

[Rickster]

+2 on changing your name.

 

[Steve_P]

since the chrome in "chrome plating" (which is 99% nickel by thickness) is <.0001" thick, anything scratched in is thru the chrome

 

[mikevango]

If I get a tool that is engraved, I just engrave "is gay" under their initials. That'll teach those fuckers.

 

[kyleholmes]

just give it a light polish with some 36 on a grinder.

 

[mrholeshot]

get a refund from the seller.

 

[trout]

I've had good luck with this:
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=425

polished an entire torx set, no one could tell where it used to be engraved.

 

[toymn6366]

i'm to lazy to look but somebody on here buffed engraving from a old mac ratchet in another post a while back

 

[oldwino]

If someone went to the trouble of etching their initials into a tool. then they never planned on selling it. IMO
ever.

Most guys that USE tools don't plan to sell them...people die, or come on hard times and have to sell tools, but TOOLS ARE A LIVELIHOOD, not just a collectors fetish!

 

[whelenfan]

If I get a tool that is engraved, I just engrave "is gay" under their initials. That'll teach those fuckers.

good one!

 

[trexdoink]

I've used a 3M Roloc 3" polishing disc on an air angle die grinder/polisher and had good luck getting allot of it off. They come in different grits (blue, maroon and brown) and aren't so abrasive as to grind away too much too quickly. The chrome tools i have removed markings from will rust if the marks are deep but if kept dry and oily they are fine. You can see the chrome layers as you buff so you can control the size and depth of the damage. Good Luck!

 

[Chris Adams]

If someone went to the trouble of etching their initials into a tool. then they never planned on selling it. IMO
ever.

Sad fact, I have hundreds of engraved name tools. No, they didn't plan on selling them ever.

I buy estate sales, which is where about half those tools come from.

Others come from guys who were injured and thus were no longer tool users.

Plans change for all of us.


Those tools should still be used by someone, not thrown in the trash or enshrined.

 

[Wrenches of Death]

I bought a nice used F936 off of Ebay, only to find there were initals carved into the handle! It is only 2 letters...

Wasn't that your old army or fishing buddy JW (fill in the two letters) that died a few years ago? If I remember right, his son gave you that ratchet to remember old JW by. He saved your life one time in a bar fight in Juarez back in 1972 by killing those two bikers...

Wait a minute, I was wrong, that's the ratchet you took off of that drunken idiot that tried to stick you up last year wasn't it?

I've got a number of tools around here with initials that I either inherited, found, bought, etc. I wouldn't even worry about it.

WoD

 

[Kirbot]

Anything you do to remove the initials is going to remove the plating.

If it's worth it to you, fine sand paper and a vertical belt sander do a fine job of grinding it off.
Finer and finer grit, followed by a buffing wheel, and it will look just about new.

Until it rusts that is...

 

[Gregg33]

Like others have alluded to, I'd just leave it. It adds character imo. However if it was something of much more value, I'm sure the plating could be removed, the initals filled, then the tool rechromed. However unless you have access to free plating, you could probably buy a few new Snap On's for the price it would cost to rechrome it.

 

[Torque1st]

Back in the old days a machine shop I worked in REQUIRED us to engrave our SSN into all of our tools.

 

[ramtuff]

Personally, I don't mind owner engravings. It's a part of the history/story of that tool. It adds to the character.

 

[Sick Puppy]

Is there any kind of chrome filler? I mean, we're talking about varying levels of scratches here, some deeper than others. Is it possible to remove the edges and fill it in, like with body work on a car?

 

[Torque1st]

Buff it out and use clear lacquer maybe to resist rust?

 

[hofferwood]

Try this
Here's the linkhttp://www.onlinemetals.com/cutaway.cfm

Chuck

 

[mkdive]

Thats awesome.....Love the [SIZE=+1]MetalDhruker also!


[/SIZE]

 

[drummingpariah]

I'd just add my initials under theirs, it'd end up looking like a library card (you guys are old enough to remember those, right?) after a few owners.

 

[Wrenches of Death]

Try this
Here's the linkhttp://www.onlinemetals.com/cutaway.cfm

Best laugh I've had so far this year. I've already forwarded the link to friends.

Thanks!

WoD

 

[Aberdale]

What's wrong with having the prior owner's initials on tools? Basically it's an identifier, just like your own initials would be. If it's ever "borrowed", and not returned, the prior owner's initials are just as much a proof of your ownership if you can identify it.

BTW, 80% of my SO wrenches have "BS" etched into them because I bought them at Bob Sexton's auction when he retired.