PEP BB tool.straw.removerust - Remove Rust, Clean, and Oil a Hand Tool

The past couple days I finally tackled a project I've been saying I should do for years now.  I got this crazy old metal forming, raising hammer for $5 at a flea market a long time ago.  It was in crappy condition, rusty, with a cracked handle, and broken hammer face.  I've fixed this up to working condition again and did a couple BBs in the process.  Repairing the handle will be a different submission for the make a wedge style handle BB.  For this submission I have refurbished the hammer head.

This involved a lot of rust removal initially.  I started with a diamond abrasive sanding sponge to get the worst of it, then moved to a wire brush on a flex shaft tool as well as an 80 grit radial bristle brush on my Foredom bench lathe.  

After this I set about refinishing the faces of the hammer.  They were deeply pitted which is not a good thing for the sort of metalwork I do.  Any mark or pit on the surface of the hammer face will get imprinted on the metal I'm forming with it over and over again.  Initially I tried just working with my coarsest diamond grit sanding sponge, but that wasn't getting me anywhere significant.  The hammer face was well hardened and deeply pitted.  So I did break out the 4.5 inch angle grinder and went to town on it, being careful not to overheat the metal while also keeping the proper head shape.  With the broken corner on the boxing face there was no real repair possible.  I opted to just blend that back a bit further, softening the edge, so if I do use that side I can hopefully avoid that corner making unsightly hammer marks from a ragged edge hitting.  Then I finished up the hammer faces with sanding sponges which conform nicely to curves and brought it down to a suitably smooth finish.

There was still some rust in crevices and the hole for the handle so I decided to try the vinegar trick which I learned reading the BB submissions of others!  That seemed to work.  Finally I applied a thin coat of some old, rancid canola oil I have.  Copying M Broussard's trick I then heated it up with a fuzzy torch until it just started to smoke to set it as a better finish.

Finally, once the handle was made I got it all mounted and restored to working order.  In cleaning this up I could see this is an old hammer that has seen a lot of use.  I have to wonder what its history really is.  What stories could it tell?  I doubt I'll actually use it much as it's designed for a style of raising I don't do, not to mention larger scale pieces than I generally do as well.  Still this was somebody's workhorse hammer at one point in the past.  Hopefully I've revived it well enough that it can be for someone else in the future after me.

klara stinders wrote:Cleaned this lovely old traditional belgian tool with vinegar and an inox sponge
Gave it a vinegar bath for a total of around 3 hours, without having the handle in the vinegar.
To get closer to the handle, I wrapped an in vinegar soaked cloth around the blade so it would also get the vinegar treatment.

I had no patience, so every now and again I went to do some scrubbing, but everytime I found out I was too early.
After those 3 hours, I was happy with the end result. Dried it with a paper towel, let it sit in the air for a while, and then oiled it with linseed oil.

Can't wait for this baby to be sharpened :-)

What is this Belgian tool used for? What is it called? Thanks.

Remove Rust, Clean, and Oil a Hand Tool

My hedge trimmers were left out in the rain. So much rust.

I soaked them in a tray of vinegar for 3 hours, scrubbed with steel wool, shined with a rag and linseed oil

I chose a small flat puddy knife that has seen better days. It is kind of my go-to default tool and it has seen primer, tar, paint, asphalt, masonry an more. It has been overdue for a cleanup


To get certified for this BB, post the following as pictures or video (<2 min):
 - rusty tool
 - rust being removed
 - clean and oiled tool
 - description of oil and cleaning method used

I decided on a 1 hour soak in household white vinegar followed with scraping with a puddy knife and pocketknife. This was followed by sanding to get it to a smooth shiny finish on the blade and make the handle smooth to the touch. When it was to my satisfaction I made sure it was dry and coated the blade in beeswax to protect it.

I used vinegar, wire brushes, steel pot scrubber, a file, and steel wool to remove the rust and protected with linseed oil.

Last fall we found a hatch on the side of the road - dinged up and rusty. We're guessing it fell off of a work truck after the turn. Our guess is that it had been there awhile because of the level of rust.

I have some wood working I want to do today so might as well clean her up!

The handle was still securely attached and I didn't want to take it off which made this a bit more difficult. Cordless drill with a sanding pad to get the worst of the rust off. I removed the rest by hand with sandpaper.

Spilled honing oil was used to oil metal and the wood.

Hello,

Your approach to tool maintenance is really ingenious! Using an angle grinder with a wire brush to remove thick rust seems to be an effective method, and using vinegar to remove the rest of the rust is an interesting trick. I'm particularly intrigued by your use of beeswax to protect the metal. It's a brilliant and environmentally friendly idea! The idea of melting the wax into the metal for long-lasting protection is certainly worth considering.

I cleaned and oiled a pair of hedge-clippers.
I used vinegar, steel wool, sandpaper, paper towels, and olive oil. (Thanks to Opalyn Rose above for the tip on using glass jars to displace the vinegar so I could more easily submerge my tool.)

The vinegar soaking took a few hours, but it worked well with the other steps.

We now have a usable pair of hedge-clippers! Could use some more sharpening, but that’s a separate task and it worked for some light trimming I needed done today.