The Bolster Method on an Ugly Flare Nut Wrench

[Bolster]

Here's my method on how to refurbish a vintage wrench:

1. Troll the aisles of garage sales, swap meets, pawn shops, and flea markets. The desirable tools are seldom in plain view, they're hidden at the bottom of bins, camouflaged by a layer or two of cheap Chinee tools. And the bin is on the ground, not on a table. So bend and dig through the layers of grime-coated tools. Bolster carries a set of nitrile gloves for this purpose.

2. Find the wrench you seek and bargain with the seller for it. This one cost me $2.

3. Give it a bath in mineral spirits, and hand scrub with a brass or stainless brush, depending on how hard the finish is. This chrome flare nut wrench had nice hard chrome, and was filthy, so the stainless steel hand brush was in order.

4. Give it a bath in EvapORust for the portions where the chrome has worn through, and more scrubbing. See the rust peeking through in this shot:

5. Give it a light buffing on a slow-speed buffer.

6. Spray with 409 cleaner and scrub it again. Dry it and add the wrench to your set, which has been missing THIS PARTICULAR WRENCH for about two years. Finally, stuff it into a tool roll and put it in your tool box.

Make a mental note that the variant you found doesn't match the others, so now you'll have to assemble complete sets of the variants.

 

[Bull]

Good God man! I am bookmarking this post. Beautiful results. The polishing is clearly one element I am missing from my routine. I need to set up a wheel of some kind.

 

[Bolster]

Be warned, Bull, you will then be called (and for good reason), a "Tool Polisher."

Which on this board is lower than the scum that forms on ***** worms who live in the dirt underneath Harbor Freight stores.

 

[A_Pmech]

You missed a spot...

*points*









Nice work Bolster!

If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were NOS.

 

[Bull]

Be warned, Bull, you will then be called (and for good reason), a "Tool Polisher."

Which on this board is lower than the scum that forms on ***** worms who live in the dirt underneath Harbor Freight stores.

I'll join your ranks happily. We can cast ourselves as an elite tool commando unit: small in number, highly specialized, well trained, producing amazing results. Who cares if the masses are against us?!

How about a picshur of that thar polishin' wheel ya got?

 

[Bolster]

Walp, ain't nothin special. It's thisear Baldor except it's the 1800 rpm, 3/4 hp model.

...with plane jane buffing pads on it, and the appropriate buffing compound. My tough cases get black emery, but the aggressiveness of the compound varies by the condition of the tool. Some get the white bar instead.

As I mentioned, the buffing is very light, and is done in a few seconds without a lot of pressure. Just a kiss.

 

[olds394]

Dry it and add the wrench to your set, which has been missing THIS PARTICULAR WRENCH for about two years.

I bet you were trying NOT to let him know you wanted that wrench.

 

[Elroy]

Elroy says nicely done

Most excellent

Now about that duplicate 7/8 there.................

 

[Bolster]

Now about that duplicate 7/8 there.................

Oh that's the beginning of the second set...

 

[arkangel06]

Very nice!

 

[Bull]

How much mess does the polishing process create? Can it be done in a basement, or is it best left for the shop/barn/garage?

 

[X1 Mike]

I have to admit that I'm not the biggest vintage tool fan but those things are sweet.

 

[sk farmer]

those are outstanding bolster! as you know i am a huge fan of the proto pebble line wrench. the bad thing you have found out is that there is at least three if not four distinct versions of them not including the plomb models. plenty of them to find plus you need some larger sizes yet. have fun and great set!

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Ummm... Do want

Adam

 

[Stick Figure]

How much mess does the polishing process create? Can it be done in a basement, or is it best left for the shop/barn/garage?

polishing can be MESSY. I doubt a light buffing like descrbed will create much mess, but a full on polish job will leave you with fibers in places you didn't know you had. In my old shop we had the polishing wheel tented off to keep the compound and fibers from the wheels from making a mess.

Bolster nice looking set and great job on the clean up.

 

[lauver]

Bolster,

Love your methodology; simple and effective!

But, I'm thinking you left an important step out... the final step... after the 409 and wipe. You know, the WD40 dip and yet another wipe down. So you don't have to clean surface rust and/or corrosion off again in a few months.

 

[Lump]

Wow, nice work, Bolster! I have lots of uncommon old wrenches with chrome plating in most areas, but serious rust in others. So, is that an accurate description for this wrench before you started? Are you able to polish the bare steel where rust corroded away the chrome, so that it looks shiny also, and looks CLOSE to the chrome finish? Or did you polish away the chrome, and end up with just shiny polished steel?

In your photos, this wrench now looks absolutely brand new, as though the finish has a consistent appearance throughout.

Great work, man!

 

[Bolster]

SK, awesome set. You lead the way, man!

But, I'm thinking you left an important step out... the final step... after the 409 and wipe. You know, the WD40 dip and yet another wipe down. So you don't have to clean surface rust and/or corrosion off again in a few months.

Excellent point. Either WD40 for light protection, or Chevron 30W for heavy protection. I'll do it tomorrow!

I have lots of uncommon old wrenches with chrome plating in most areas, but serious rust in others. So, is that an accurate description for this wrench before you started? Are you able to polish the bare steel where rust corroded away the chrome, so that it looks shiny also, and looks CLOSE to the chrome finish? Or did you polish away the chrome, and end up with just shiny polished steel?

This particular wrench had 95% or more chrome intact so it was actually an easy restore. However I know egg-zaktly what you are talking about, with patches of chrome missing, and YES you can polish the bare steel so it does look close...or at least, does not catch the eye from a couple paces away. What you get is basically metals of different color (the chrome often goes blue, the base metal, yellow/brown) but if you are persistent you can blend the areas so it's not offensive. At least not offensive to my eye, but I'm forgiving of old tools and allow that they will have less than perfect finishes.

The above applies, provided the chrome STICKS. I've had tools that would just continue to flake chrome as you worked on them, sort of like when you're sanding paint and it refuses to feather...know what I mean?

A blending buff could entail enough buffing that you're seriously altering the finish, in some cases. Buffing is like artificially aging the tool. I tend to go light on my buff, I don't want anyone to look at one of my tools and say, "Well, now, that's been buffed." I just want the high points to shine a bit more, so it looks like a tool that's been handled. Just using a tool and touching it enough, will give it the look of a buffed tool. Like the wonderful patina you sometimes see on hand rails near stairs. Or on Moses' toe if you happen to visit the Vatican and see Michelangelo's magnificent statue. Moses' toe has been worn away by people's lips!! Kid you not.

Pocket knives with bone or stag handles for instance. I often buff them, and it makes them look like they've been carried in the pocket for 5 years. That's a look I like.

No, I would not try to polish away chrome, would be better to get the chrome removed if that's what you wanted.

Anyhow the issue you raise is the very reason I follow the mineral spirits with an EOR bath (must dry between, don't want any spirits in your EOR)...to get the spots of raw metal close in color to the chrome. When I have a piece with good chrome throughout, I skip the EOR bath, not necessary, except I could swear EOR cleans even chrome tools up a bit.

Oh yeah: Remember, boys and girls, wear a mask or respirator when buffing!

 

[tonydanzah]

looks very good, but did you polish those polish those?

 

[Teken]

you need some larger sizes yet. have fun and great set!

You show off . . . I am not much of a fan for other brands, but these one's and the one Bolster redid are simply outstanding!

 

[DavidB]

Awesome job! Thanks for the how-to!

 

[woody 73]

Very nice job,I think I might be turning into a tool polisher myself...

 

[fatfillup]

Bolster, they look nice. did you use any polishing compound or just the buffing wheel?

 

[rhastings80]

Very nice job!

How are you able to make sure that those wrenches are not Cadmium?

I would love to do that to my pebbles but always thought that they might be Cadmium.

 

[z28snksknr]

I'm impressed by the results. Great job!!

 

[Bull]

Very nice job!

How are you able to make sure that those wrenches are not Cadmium?

I would love to do that to my pebbles but always thought that they might be Cadmium.

This is a good question, and something I am concerned about when cleaning old tools, too.

Isn't cadmium a duller, grayer finish?

 

[SocketDeviler]

Very impressive Bolster. You've made my clean up jobs look amateur in comparison. I doubt that I will go that extra buffing mile. On some tools I have experimented with a wipe on/off metal polish. Had some very nice results. Gives the steel a smooth unique shine.

 

[Bolster]

True, you don't want to buff Cad plate.

This is from my research, but make your own determination:

Old undisturbed cad looks grey and matte, almost dusty. It won't shine after a mineral spirit bath. If someone has shined-up cad, it's harder to tell.
Cad used as a substitute for chrome during WWII.
Most Plomb WF items will be Cad plated.
Proto-era is thought to have largely avoided, or perhaps completely avoided, cad.
Use a respirator in any case!

See cad plating here:
Cee-Tee Pliers
P&C DOE
Bluepoint DOE
Indian Wrench