WxNerd's Tool Restoration Thread

[WxNerd2015]

Hello again and thanks for the welcomes to the Garage Journal forum! I am starting this thread to keep track of some of my tool restorations from tools that I have acquired that deserve to be looking good again!

Mainly, I am focusing on some various Estwing tools with the stacked leather handles, however I do have a backlog of tools which I am working on restoring! I have always loved everything old and rusty and seeing the awesomeness that is underneath and decided to start getting into these restoration projects over the winter and I have been having a blast!

The interest in the Estwing tools came from the first getting my Camping Hatchet from my wife as an anniversary gift and then wanting to learn more about the staked leather manufacturing process on the handle. My grandpa then gave me one of his old Estwing 28oz hammers (4/22/55 Manufacturing Date) and I was hooked and off and running from there!

So right now, I have 3 projects going with more on the horizon! And I will try to continue to come back and update this post for quick location of each of my projects! My three projects currently underway are:

• Estwing 28oz Hammer
• Estwing 16oz Hammer
• Carpenter's Square

 

[WxNerd2015]

So far, the biggest project I have undertaken is the 28oz Estwing Hammer. This was my Grandpa's hammer and started out as something fun to start play around with to go with my new Estwing Hatchet. But after trying to bring the leather handle back some, it was just too far gone...so I decided I would completely strip the handle and do a full restoration!

As I started pulling the leather, it was clear that it was a good decision as the leather just started disintegrating and was definitely done. Once the leather was gone, I removed the end plate and got to work sanding with a 1"x30" belt sander with various grits and surface conditioning belts. Then from there, I when to finer grit hand sanding working up past 1000 grit. Then using my Dremel I used a few various wheels to finish the sanding and then polished with small buffing wheels and Purple metal polish.

Next, I got to work reassembling the handle. I grabbed my leather punches, and got some 4mm thick vegetable tanned tooling leather and started cutting 1"x2" squares of leather and then punching out the handle shape in the middle of them. This process definitely took a good amount of time, but is a fun process to learn! I also decided that I wanted to add some color strips back into the handle like the original design, but I still wanted to make it my own. I found a material called G10 (plastic like, .060" thickness)) and chose to do a color pattern of White-Orange-OD Green-OD Green-Orange-White. And I stacked all of these onto the handle with a nice tight fit!

Once the handle was filled, I then peened the end cap back on using a Ball Peen hammer on both ends and a small butane torch to heat the ends of the rod slightly to make peening easier.

Then lastly came the shaping which was a variety of sanding, cutting, and sawing to get the shape where it is today!

I will finish the hammer in the lacquer finish which it originally came in, but I haven't quite gotten all the way to finishing the lacquer yet, but I am so happy with where it is currently and I can't wait to see it finished!

 

[bonneyman]

Nice work! Those layered leather ring handles are a bear to fix or restore.

Luckily the two Malco tinners hammers I've had didn't need leather restoration.

 

[JjKk40]

Nice work! I have one similar, maybe the same hammer my dad or possibly his dad used. Not in terrible shape either. I might restore it too after seeing how sweet yours turned out!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Nice work! Those layered leather ring handles are a bear to fix or restore.

Luckily the two Malco tinners hammers I've had didn't need leather restoration.

Thanks! Yeah, was definitely quite the process to get through! Not the simplest or fastest, but it was fun to figure out and makes the end that much sweeter with it!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Nice work! I have one similar, maybe the same hammer my dad or possibly his dad used. Not in terrible shape either. I might restore it too after seeing how sweet yours turned out!

Can't wait to see! Good luck! These hammers are just like a piece or art in my eye when they are done! But still so useful and can be used every day!

Keep an eye out for some more Estwing restorations from me soon on some more as well! I have a 16oz I am currently working on, then I have a Tinner's Hammer, 2 Rock Picks, and 1 or 2 more hammers on my schedule moving forward to do as well!

 

[WxNerd2015]

The other Estwing I am currently working on is a 16OZ Estwing Hammer seen in the pics below. This one came to me in an eBay deal with a couple additional tools and really wasn't in too bad of shape. The biggest flaws seen on this hammer are the cracks scars seen in the lacquer on the handle, the surface rust on the head, and strikes on the face of the head. All-in-all, a good hammer that has been used as it should be!

So I decided to just do a simple clean up on this hammer and see how it turns out! I spent about an afternoon so far, and that consisted light sanding on the handle to knock the old lacquer off and even out the leather and sanding/refinishing/polishing the hammer head with various grits and surface conditioning pads to bring some shine back! I still need to do some further sander with higher grits as well as a bit more polishing, but for only an afternoon of work, it has changed drastically, and the leather came back out nicely!

A few other things of note I have done, as well as noticed:

• The black colors rings seemed to only be painted on the very thin surface as the black color seems to be gone once I removed teh lacquer
• Lightly oiled the exposed leather handle to get it a little conditioning before the lacquer will be reapplied
• I cleaned and flatened the hammering face and reset the bevel on it as well

So I will continue to update once the sanding is finished and I dip in lacquer, but should be too much longer on this hammer either until it is complete!

 

[woody 73]

Very interesting well done!

I learned something new in that the handle was the point of the tool date something that I never knew existed...

How did you get the square so clean ? I have several and I am afraid to damage all the numbers.

 

[WxNerd2015]

Thanks!

As for inside the handle cleaning and the end cap on the end of the hammer, I use a combination of fine grit sandpaper (depending on the condition 400 grit on up) and then abrasive buffing wheels for my rotary tool, then polishing wheel with Purple Metal polish on my rotary tool. Just take your time and work through it and you don't take too much metal off! Mainly just take the rust and dirt off!

 

[bonneyman]

Yeah, my one Malco tinners hammer has the same amber looking varnish applied over the leather rings. And it's all cracked and chipped and looks like hell!
But I've never used it enough to wear that stuff off and have the leather conform to my hand, like it's supposed to do.

 

[WxNerd2015]

Was able to just about complete the 28oz Estwing Hammer this past week! Came out pretty nice! That is two coats of lacquer on the handle! The first coat really soaked in fast and left the handle rougher still, but the second coated smoothed it out just about right and the leather still has a nice grip and just that little bit of give that the leather handle provides for the shock reduction!

The lacquer process I used was pretty simple! I got a can of clear lacquer and a SmartWater water bottle. I cut the very top off the bottle and then poured the lacquer in, leaving enough space for displacement when the handle enters. I then dipped the hammer in a few times and let the excess run off, and then made a little drying jig with some extra wood and wire I had laying around! Worked perfectly and the end result is great!

 

[WxNerd2015]

I was also able to get the 16 oz Estwing close to completion as well! The metal itself still needs some more work, but the handle is now recoated and looking great! A bit darker than before, as I first treated it with a bit of oil to rehydrate the leather and then with it being older leather that had already been coated, it darkened up a good bit, but still looks amazing!