Eric The Viking
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- 19 Jan 2010
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Embarrasment - there ought to have been pictures, but the job itself was embarrassing enough without stopping to document it:
I have one of those Rutlands, Boggs-pattern spokeshaves. Mine's an early one - steel body, not bronze, but as someone who normally finds spokeshaves quite uncomfortable and awkward, this one has been wonderful. It even came in a wooden pencil box, but that was probably the cause of the problem. Sitting on a high shelf in the garage/workshop, which can get very damp, the soft white wood of the box seems to have absorbed a lot of moisture, and yes - when I came to look recently it had rusted on the iron and the sole.
I turned-to with the steel wool, and then, remembering an old wives' tale, scrubbed all over the damaged areas with scrunched-up foil off the roll in the kitchen. Final step was Briwax, put on fairly liberally and polished off.
It hasn't got rid of all the evidence, but it has apparently removed all the surface rust, fairly well. There's pitting, thankfully at a microscopic level, but it will live to fight another day, and probably take a very good edge again (it sharpens wickedly well), although I'll probably end up flattening/polishing the back of the iron again near the edge.
I don't really know if the foil did any good or not: was there a chemical reaction (aluminium is very reactive, especially with iron oxides)? Was it just mechanical abrasion having an effect? Was I covering up the remaining rust with aluminium oxide?
When I put the wax on I got black coming off on the cloth, not the brown I normally get from cast iron tables even when they look rust free.
What does the team think - just an old wives' tale, or is there something more to it than that?
E.
PS: That's aluminum or Bako-foil for those who get up in the morning long after we do here.
PPS: I'm kicking myself, as I have anti-rust paper under the planes and other steel tools, but didn't think to put any in that particular box.
I have one of those Rutlands, Boggs-pattern spokeshaves. Mine's an early one - steel body, not bronze, but as someone who normally finds spokeshaves quite uncomfortable and awkward, this one has been wonderful. It even came in a wooden pencil box, but that was probably the cause of the problem. Sitting on a high shelf in the garage/workshop, which can get very damp, the soft white wood of the box seems to have absorbed a lot of moisture, and yes - when I came to look recently it had rusted on the iron and the sole.
I turned-to with the steel wool, and then, remembering an old wives' tale, scrubbed all over the damaged areas with scrunched-up foil off the roll in the kitchen. Final step was Briwax, put on fairly liberally and polished off.
It hasn't got rid of all the evidence, but it has apparently removed all the surface rust, fairly well. There's pitting, thankfully at a microscopic level, but it will live to fight another day, and probably take a very good edge again (it sharpens wickedly well), although I'll probably end up flattening/polishing the back of the iron again near the edge.
I don't really know if the foil did any good or not: was there a chemical reaction (aluminium is very reactive, especially with iron oxides)? Was it just mechanical abrasion having an effect? Was I covering up the remaining rust with aluminium oxide?
When I put the wax on I got black coming off on the cloth, not the brown I normally get from cast iron tables even when they look rust free.
What does the team think - just an old wives' tale, or is there something more to it than that?
E.
PS: That's aluminum or Bako-foil for those who get up in the morning long after we do here.
PPS: I'm kicking myself, as I have anti-rust paper under the planes and other steel tools, but didn't think to put any in that particular box.
