Vintage Tool Folks ONLY

[Bull]

Fair warning: if you don't like (love?) vintage tools, stop reading. Going further will be a waste of your time.

One guy at the flea today had a couple boxes of rusty tools for sale, all $1 each. I spotted and snagged this Herbrand S-9 long handle. It's not a common find, and most Herbrand ratchets tug at my heart strings.

The poor thing was a mess: heavily corroded and frozen solid. I had no idea whether the guts were even functional or if they were stripped and worn.

I spent more time than I care to admit today, cycling it through the ultrasonic, bathing it in the vinegar tube, and tapping it with a tiny ball pein hammer to loosen everything up. I finally got it 100% stripped down, got 99.9% of the rust out of the pits and crevices, got the internals lubed and functioning, and gave the head and shaft a quick sanding with 220 and then 400 grit paper, followed by #0000 wool.

The result? A still-ugly ratchet, but one that does look better than when I started and that has been saved from an ignominious demise to fight another day alongside its comrades.

If I had a proper polishing setup, I am sure I could get more shine out of it, or if I wetsanded the head further. But really, I have to accept the tool's limitations!

Behold, my Lazarus!

Before:

After:

 

[hguerrero]

wow, you brought that thing back from the dead...
did you soak the entire thing in vinegar?

 

[JSBriggs]

...Herbrand S-9 long handle. It's not a common find...

And yet you have THREE! Too funny. Nice rehab btw.

-Jeff

 

[Bull]

wow, you brought that think back from the dead...
did you soak the entire thing in vinegar?

Vinegar tube, baby! Oh yeah

It's a piece of 3" ABS tubing with cleanout fittings on both ends. The bottom fitting is sealed, the top is just loosely screwed on. It allows me to soak very long tools, and multiple tools at once. I retrieve them with a telescoping magnet.

I plan on making another one from 4" ABS for wider tools or small tool boxes (like from socket sets.)

I went back and forth from ultrasonic to vinegar on this one, depending on what I felt it needed next.

And yet you have THREE! Too funny.

Yes, and that is from luck. Two came up on eBay within twelve months, and I made sure to get them. Lazarus here is the first I've ever seen locally.

I saw one Bonney variant on eBay once, and that was it.

Like I said, uncommon.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Nice job, Dave. I think you did about as much as you can on it, and it looks good. Is it fully functional?

 

[Scout Driver]

Very impressive! Great job, Bull.

Scott

 

[DavidB]

Nice work Bull!! We're sick people. It's not "I wonder if I can get this working again?" but "I wonder if I can get this looking like new again and working would be nice?"

 

[Bull]

Nice job, Dave. I think you did about as much as you can on it, and it looks good. Is it fully functional?

Thanks, John. Fully 100% functional, yes. I got lucky.

Very impressive! Great job, Bull.
Scott

Thank you for the kind words, my good man

Nice work Bull!! We're sick people. It's not "I wonder if I can get this working again?" but "I wonder if I can get this looking like new again and working would be nice?"

Or at least: 'I wonder if I can get this looking significantly better than when I started" right?

But yes, we are sick. That's ok; we could be out spending our money and time on hookers and blow!

 

[Fedwrench]

So do you use these resurrected tools after their vinegar bath and lubing? or are they just collected?

 

[Bull]

So do you use these resurrected tools after their vinegar bath and lubing? or are they just collected?

How did I know this question would come up? I know you yourself aren't a collector, right? All-business?

I have a '69 GTO, '95 Firebird, '05 Silverado, and the wife's '05 Malibu. I also have an older Bolens diesel G192 tractor. There is always something to be worked on, from minor **** to more involved stuff. So yes, to answer your question in a general sense, I use my tools.

Now, do I use every single ratchet that I play with? No. Anything over a few ratchets in the three drive sizes is overkill anyway, right?

 

[Brad54]

What do you do to keep tools and steel from flash-rusting after coming out of the vinegar?

-Brad

 

[Bull]

What do you do to keep tools and steel from flash-rusting after coming out of the vinegar?
-Brad

Rinse with plenty of water, rub some baking soda on there, then dry, spray with WD-40, let sit a while, then wipe and put away.

Not a perfect method, but it's the best I have so far.

 

[heelsroll]

Thank you for saving that ratchet. Well done!

 

[Bull]

Thank you for saving that ratchet. Well done!

As a guy who likes history and old stuff, I enjoy messing with and saving old things. Just feels good. We can't reverse the effects of aging on our bodies, at least not by ourselves and not drastically, but we all have the power to make old objects appear years younger. I find it to be immensely satisfying. Just like I felt when I took my dad's neglected '96 Impala and made it shine like the dickens last week, or when I took my immobile Firebird and swapped in a six speed trans to make it live again. It's all the same basic principle and motivation.

 

[bchee]

I thought the whole point of the vinegar was a LONG bath, but it sounds like you did all of this today.

 

[Bull]

I thought the whole point of the vinegar was a LONG bath, but it sounds like you did all of this today.

In my experience, some items take a while in vinegar, others less so. It helps a great deal (a great deal!) if you remove the tool periodically and scrub it with a wire bristle brush or something similar to remove the corrosion that the vinegar has loosened.

I would estimate that this ratchet spent no more than two hours total in the vinegar. And yes, it was all done today. Picked it up at the flea at 6:30am, put it in the toolbox next to its friends at 9 or so PM, with plenty of other things going on throughout the day.

 

[old salvage]

Wow, you really got deep into those pits with minimal use of abrasive. What a job !

 

[lbgradwell]

Good save Bull!

 

[DanCo]

Dave that looks great, considering what you started with. Now when you use the ultrasonic bath what cleaner do you use? And what is the size of it. Do you just bathe the internals of the head or is your ultra sonic machine big enough to do the whole thing?
And by the way I love vintage tools. Great job!!

 

[Packard V8]

Yep, if I had only two Herbrand long handles, I'd spend all day resurrecting another even more rusty third one!

BTDT with all sorts of hand and machine tools. I just finished a sixth and seventh drill press.

jack vines.

 

[Lump]

Bull,
NICE save. Well done!

By the way, another PM sent.

 

[mjozefow]

Nice! Why not just put the vinegar in the USC and save a step though? Works for me..

And great score!

 

[Bull]

Thanks, Dan. Here is the cleaner that I have:

The dimensions on it are great for cleaning old tools. The inside tank dimensions are 19.5"x5.5"x6". So, it's long enough for 15" 1/2 drive ratchets and you can even do 3/4 drive rats if the heads come off or if you do 1/2 the tool at a time then flip over. Most of the cleaners I looked at were not suitable for large tools unless I was willing to shell out $700. Mitch/mjozefow linked me to this one and when I saw the 19.5" length and the $400 price, I was sold. Actually "only" paid $380 since the seller was slow to ship and so refunded me $20 as customer satisfaction money.

I have Simple Green and water in there now, maybe a 50/50 or 60/40 mix. I am going to try the generic citrus degreaser from the local dollar store since it's dirt cheap. The Simple Green mix is already looking quite brown from all the tools I have done, and I am afraid to run the machine with sediment on the bottom. So, I see frequent tank cleanings and fluid changes in my future.

Dave that looks great, considering what you started with. Now when you use the ultrasonic bath what cleaner do you use? And what is the size of it. Do you just bathe the internals of the head or is your ultra sonic machine big enough to do the whole thing?
And by the way I love vintage tools. Great job!!

 

[hofferwood]

Rinse with plenty of water, rub some baking soda on there, then dry, spray with WD-40, let sit a while, then wipe and put away.

Not a perfect method, but it's the best I have so far.

Try a baking soda&water solution (spray bottle), rinse, wipe, then WD.
The bi-carb solution is to neutralize the acid residue(vinegar), and bring the PH back up to about 7-8.
Great job on the rat
Chuck

 

[Bull]

Nice! Why not just put the vinegar in the USC and save a step though? Works for me..

I was doing that with my old HF ultrasonic for the month that it was alive. It was working well, that's true. But, I just sort of decided to have a full-strength cleaner and a full-strength rust-dissolver, rather than trying to have an all-in-one this time around.

Try a baking soda&water solution (spray bottle), rinse, wipe, then WD.
The bi-carb solution is to neutralize the acid residue(vinegar), and bring the PH back up to about 7-8.
Great job on the rat
Chuck

Ok, I will try that. Does it matter what the ratio of soda to water is in the bottle?

 

[jabberwoki]

You a soft hearted ******* bully i also saved a fine tooth herbrand ratchet beautiful action. I got a chemical that green keepers use to take the iron stains out of concrete when they apply moss kill does a great job on rust.

 

[hofferwood]

I was doing that with my old HF ultrasonic for the month that it was alive. It was working well, that's true. But, I just sort of decided to have a full-strength cleaner and a full-strength rust-dissolver, rather than trying to have an all-in-one this time around.



Ok, I will try that. Does it matter what the ratio of soda to water is in the bottle?

Bout a tablespoon to 8oz, like when ya got a belly ache
Thats what I use when I'm outa TUMS.
But ya gotta shake it, the b.soda will kinda sink after a while.
Chuck

 

[bmwpower]

I gotta do this. I have a **** load of big 'ole wrenches with rust like that.

I don't see why you could not just rinse them with water afterward, then WD. Or has that not proven effective?

 

[Bull]

I gotta do this. I have a **** load of big 'ole wrenches with rust like that.

I don't see why you could not just rinse them with water afterward, then WD. Or has that not proven effective?

Ya know, I have done that and sometimes still do that. Rinse with water, pat with a towel, lay on some cardboard on the basement floor and then hose with WD both sides. Sometimes, I still seem to get rust.

 

[toolmutt]

Nice work there, Bull. Looks great.

 

[DanCo]

Thanks, Dan. Here is the cleaner that I have:

The dimensions on it are great for cleaning old tools. The inside tank dimensions are 19.5"x5.5"x6". So, it's long enough for 15" 1/2 drive ratchets and you can even do 3/4 drive rats if the heads come off or if you do 1/2 the tool at a time then flip over. Most of the cleaners I looked at were not suitable for large tools unless I was willing to shell out $700. Mitch/mjozefow linked me to this one and when I saw the 19.5" length and the $400 price, I was sold. Actually "only" paid $380 since the seller was slow to ship and so refunded me $20 as customer satisfaction money.

I have Simple Green and water in there now, maybe a 50/50 or 60/40 mix. I am going to try the generic citrus degreaser from the local dollar store since it's dirt cheap. The Simple Green mix is already looking quite brown from all the tools I have done, and I am afraid to run the machine with sediment on the bottom. So, I see frequent tank cleanings and fluid changes in my future.

-**** Dave! You don't play around. Even that USC is bad-***! I was thinking about the HF machine but after seeing yours I'll save my $

 

[Bull]

-**** Dave! You don't play around. Even that USC is bad-***! I was thinking about the HF machine but after seeing yours I'll save my $

lol, that's pretty funny. I actually DID start with the HF machine, and I loved it while it was working. It died, which might even have been my fault. The "basket" they give you for the thing is a piece of webbed plastic that sits flat on the bottom of the cleaner. When these are running, you can't have tools sitting directly on the bottom or you are going to burn out the transducers. My theory is that with heavy ratchets and whatnot resting on that thin plastic, they were as good as sitting on the bottom of the cleaner. With the Crest, the basket is much more awesome and suspends the parts about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the tank.

I also think that Crest might make these in the US, which would be a bonus if true. I could be wrong on that one, though.

If you decide to get one of these, let me know and I will clue you in to the eBay vendor. He has the best prices for them that I found. He's an authorized Crest dealer.

 

[Lump]

Dave,
I read on the site of the mfr of your USC that they recommend filling a second container with a different solution, and carefully lowering into your cleaner with another basic solution in it. That way you can be cleaning two different parts with more than one solution in the same USC at the same time...as long as you keep the solutions isolated from each other the sound waves work on both different solutions simultaneously. Cool, huh?

 

[Bull]

Jim, I'm feeling dense now. I can't visualize this. I'd have a tank within my tank, so to speak?

The directions that came with the unit didn't mention anything like that, but then again, they were pretty basic setup instructions.

Dave,
I read on the site of the mfr of your USC that they recommend filling a second container with a different solution, and carefully lowering into your cleaner with another basic solution in it. That way you can be cleaning two different parts with more than one solution in the same USC at the same time...as long as you keep the solutions isolated from each other the sound waves work on both different solutions simultaneously. Cool, huh?

 

[Lump]

Exactly. In fact, on the website it mentioned that you could put several containers of liquid down inside your tank (with the main tank being full of other liquid), and each of these separate containers could be undertaking a slightly different job. The sound waves will travel through each of them, doing their job with each different chemical in each different container...while your MAIN tank could be doing little parts at the same time.

I would ASSUME that this instruction was really intended for industrial users with really large tanks, but it stands to reason that you could use more than one chemical at a time, by putting one separate container filled with a chemical carefully down into the liquid of your main tank, and have two different operations happening simultaneously.

Jim, I'm feeling dense now. I can't visualize this. I'd have a tank within my tank, so to speak?

The directions that came with the unit didn't mention anything like that, but then again, they were pretty basic setup instructions.

 

[north]

Nice job bringing it back to life. Very smooth design on those ratchets. I can understand why you like them.

 

[heelsroll]

As a guy who likes history and old stuff, I enjoy messing with and saving old things. Just feels good. We can't reverse the effects of aging on our bodies, at least not by ourselves and not drastically, but we all have the power to make old objects appear years younger. I find it to be immensely satisfying. Just like I felt when I took my dad's neglected '96 Impala and made it shine like the dickens last week, or when I took my immobile Firebird and swapped in a six speed trans to make it live again. It's all the same basic principle and motivation.

YUP.

I always try to ensure that everything passing through my life leaves better than it entered. Can't bat 1.000, but it happens more often that it doesn't.

Cars, tools, people. It's pretty rare to find one so far gone that you improve at least a little.

 

[arkangel06]

Bull that looks great!

If you lived anywhere near me I would polish that thing up for you to the point where you would need sunglasses just to look at it.


I dont know if anyone said it yet but for a 1$ you ****!

 

[Bull]

Thank you, my good man.

How exactly would you get this solar-shine? What's your method?

Bull that looks great!

If you lived anywhere near me I would polish that thing up for you to the point where you would need sunglasses just to look at it.


I dont know if anyone said it yet but for a 1$ you ****!

 

[54FordPanel]

Bull, have you ever considered using something like Eastwood's electro-plating system for hand tools?

http://www.eastwood.com/specialty-coatings/electroplating/ew-electroplating-system-tin-zinc.html

I'm wondering how that would work. Maybe it wouldn't work good on stuff that was already chromed or nickel plated? Looks like it does a good job on bare rusty metal.
Like most stuff from Eastwood, it's priced like they are damn proud of it.