Restoration WIPs... Off We Go!

[Scouse]

It's been a good few years since I did a WIP on tool restoration; I remember doing a few planes and this one on a Union pillar drill, but that was four years ago... Lordy!

Anyway, as noted previously, last year I didn't bother to put up any car boot finds, but I did find things at car boots and to be honest they are starting to build up and take up room, so I thought it was about time to fix 'em up and ... er, well that's it really. I would be surprised if there is anything of great historical significance, but I think most old tools deserve a second chance. There are planes, drills, chisels, vices etc, and I will have to get to all of them in the coming weeks, so I will keep the thread ongoing as I move through the pile; nothing ground breaking, you understand, I'm not doing one of Wallace's Wadkins, but still worthwhile.

So here is the pile up to now;



From the top, woody smoother, (ignore the chisels on the top shelf, got carried away at Aldi...). Next shelf, a box of various woodies, Stanley USA 50 which needs a few bits and a box full of chisels and gouges, mostly OBMs. Below are USA Stanley's; a 110 block plane, type 8 no5, type 18 no5, type 17 war production 4 1/2, type 9 4 1/2, type 16 no4, an early 98 side rebate and a 78 fillister.
Next, Records; war finish no4, early no4, 1960's no4, 1970's no3, 1950's no4 1/2, 1970's no5 1/2, brass GTL, a couple of block planes, 2506 rebate and a bull nose rebate. Not pictured are a couple of Record router planes, a WS A78 and a Woden no4 in its original box.

Deep breath, chisels;





And drills;



Millers Falls no77



Millers Falls no12 breast drill (honest)



North Brothers Yankee 1555... can't wait to start on that one.

Vices;



Record 23,



Record V175, fairly modern I suspect, and a Record 52P below.



I think that's it. Trevor the Sheep is understandably concerned, but he has gone to make cheese on toast and watch 'Bargain Hunt' so he can calm down a bit.



I confess I have made a start, the Millers Falls no 12 which arrived in bits, has had a bit of work. I forgot to take pictures of the work in progress, mainly because it required the assembly of two opposing conical thrust bearings, and a bit of a hissy fit in the process. Anyway, it now looks like this;





The frame had to be resprayed, but I have left the drive gear as found, partly because I liked the patina and contrast with the fresh frame, and partly because a good clean revealed the original green and gilt finish, being made before Millers Falls adopted their more familiar red. Needs a side handle, but I'm sure one will turn up.

So now I'm off to set up a couple of electrolysis buckets and decide what to do next...

 

[AndyT]

Well, this one should run and run!

Quite a lot of them look to be in perfectly ok condition - those mortice chisels for instance - though I do agree that old drills can benefit from a more thorough clean up.

The North Bros Yankee drills are excellent.


(As are the rest of those tools!)

 

[Scouse]

Well, this one should run and run!

Quite a lot of them look to be in perfectly ok condition - those mortice chisels for instance - though I do agree that old drills can benefit from a more thorough clean up.

The North Bros Yankee drills are excellent.


(As are the rest of those tools!)

Cheers Andy; I need to hang around the metalwork bit I missed your drill restoration post! It looks great, they are just bomb proof tools.

The Yankee drill is scary, and there is so little info on them, both the tools and the company considering their legacy, it's strange.

 

[AndyT]

The Yankee drill is scary, and there is so little info on them, both the tools and the company considering their legacy, it's strange.

Indeed - I used to enjoy servicing Sturmey Archer hub gears but I would hesitate to dismantle one of their multiple ratchets!

The only useful places I've got bookmarked are this page at WK Fine Tools

http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS-borTools/NorthBros/northBros-index.asp which is especially strong on original adverts,

and this one at George's Basement which has a more useful list of their patents - http://www.georgesbasement.com/yankeedr/patents/patentlist.htm - not that I make any claim to understand them!

(There is also this page that I'm sure you will have seen, but it's only some old geezer banging on about how good they are... :wink: )

 

[Scouse]

Right then, I've made a start, delayed by a new toy the need to source a new suitable power supply for the electrolysis. I had been using a model railway power controller, but it gave up the ghost so I have now resorted to a CB power supply from the boot sale



I've covered electrolysis before here (half way down the page), other rust removal procedures are available, but for a faff free, cheap and effective system which has no effect on healthy metal, it works for me. So I filled a bucket with water and washing soda mixture, wired it up (-ve to the rusty tool, +ve on the sacrificial steel), dunked a bit in and after a while had a bucket of scum.



the first victims were a Record 4 body



followed by a Stanley type 12 no3 which I picked up at the bootsale this weekend and which jumped the queue for a bath by virtue of being cute and solid and rusty



While these were cooking I restored a siezed Jacobs chuck which came in a box of bits with my lathe.





Awkward things to get apart, requiring a vice or jig to support the ring of the outer case, a big 'ammer and a bit of bottle to give it a good whack.

You will notice the jaws have their own bowls full of degreaser; this is due to them being assembled in a particular order in the chuck body to allow the split nut to engage them all at the same height in their range of movement. On bigger chucks they are numbered, on smaller ones apparently not.



Here is the picture during the taking of which I realised I had forgotten to keep them in order. Re-assembly is ongoing.

As to the planes, I have given them a scrub with a Scotchbrite pad and wrapped them in oily rags for a couple of days which worked to allow the oil to prevent flash rust and give a protective coat. I will take them out in the morning and report on the results.

 

[jimi43]

Great to see you're back posting on UKW Scouse!!

We missed your WIP work!

I too look forward to this one with great interest.

It's these type of thread which encourage others to get really great tools and bring them back from the old shed via the bootfair to life again!

Bravo mate! =D> =D>

Jimi

 

[bugbear]

Record #23 vise is a classic - very nice. Just the right size.

BugBear

 

[Scouse]

Great to see you're back posting on UKW Scouse!!

We missed your WIP work!

I too look forward to this one with great interest.

It's these type of thread which encourage others to get really great tools and bring them back from the old shed via the bootfair to life again!

Bravo mate! =D> =D>

Jimi

Thanks Jim, you are very kind. I didn't realise how long it was since I had worked on any tools; actual work just sidetracked me completely, but it's nice to get back into it and I hope a few can see that good tools don't have to cost the earth and are rarely beyond putting back to work. As I said though, nothing ground breaking, just basic recommissioning, unlike the infill plane you are working on, that's a level of skill above and beyond. My hat's off to you.

Although I might try a few resto techniques to keep from repeating pictures of a frothing yellow bucket...

 

[bugbear]

Although I might try a few resto techniques to keep from repeating pictures of a frothing yellow bucket...

An awful lot of things, not just tools, are restored by the classic sequence or dis-assemble into bits, clean the bits, re-assemble the bits!

BugBear

 

[Scouse]

Record #23 vise is a classic - very nice. Just the right size.

BugBear

Ah, I'm glad you mentioned that. I'm not very familiar with quick release mechanisms, and it would appear from this video that there is an element of tension in the spring.

The video, however, demonstates a lack of control in releasing the tension and only covers disassembly

So my question is how much tension does the spring need when being refitted and if there is a particular technique involved?

Apologies if this would become obvious as I work on it, but I confess that I haven't yet had a good look at the mechanism in person. I am using the vice in its rusty state, so I would need to strip it and reassemble in order to be back to work within a fairly tight timeframe., and I am a bit nervous of being left with no vice and no clue!

 

[bugbear]

Lacking detail, but long on inspiration, a Record #23 restoration:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/show ... p?t=150676

Edit;

disassembly. The video shows one essential - remove dings and burrs where some silly person thinks the exposed end of the slide would make a good anvil. Do this before you try to pull the slide all the way out.

Make a note of which way round the "bridge" that holds the quick release half nut goes. A digital camera might also be useful (as it is for many disassembly tasks).

As you note, the only tricky part is getting it back together with the q/r tension right. This is essentially an "octopus" job. You have to hold the screw and front plate with the q/r trigger together and under tension whilst inserting the two screws that hold the plate to the main slide, and the two bolts that hold the q/r bridge and half nut in place. This is done by winding "some tension" onto the q/r spring, inserting the screw, and then juggling...

Getting the tension right is fairly easy, and done by trial and error. Since you can only adjust by whole turns, there aren't many options (probably 3 at most). So just wind the trigger anti-clockwise (counting carefully) do a trial assembly, and (if needed) try again, with 1 more turn, and so on.

Unless they're very bad, don't bother removing the jaws. The screws can be a "bit interesting".

Oh - general hint. Vices are horrible things to lift and manouvre, because there c-of-g is funny. Be careful.

BugBear