So, the next exhibit from my new box of toys, sorry tools is this handy beech brace.
Like so many old tools, it's been kept in a shed or garage next to the tins of paint, and the painter has been of the Jackson Pollock school.
It's even got a little bit of green paint. (Have you noticed how all old paint was either cream or green?)
The cream drips are thick enough to have gone wrinkyly as they dried, so the first step is to carefully pare away at some of the thickness, thus removing the exterior glossly layer:
After that, I used an old green scourer from the kitchen with some turpentine. This is just enough to soften the paint and lift off grime but leave the surface colour intact. You could probably get the same results with white spirit but real turpentine is so much nicer to work with.
I should stress that with this sort of damage there is no need for any sort of paint stripper or heat.
The turpentine also cleans up the brass just a little bit - one of my pet hates is tools with brass on where a misguided owner has attacked every little bit of metal with Brasso - see eBay for a stream of examples.
As the paint softens, I pick away at it with a thumbnail, or a bit of an old credit card cut up - that seems to be about the right stiffness. Small dots will just flick away; big areas will need a bit more of a rub. I wipe away the bits with a rag to see how it's going. These are before and after shots:
There's some loss of colour, but that will soon disappear with use, fresh linseed oil, or wax.
There are some traces of paint deep down in scratches on the left hand side; I am happy to leave them as they are.
I'm pleased with the way that the beech has come up, and the rosewood near the top is even nicer.
There is one obvious problem with this brace - the top, which was loose, is really quite crude in comparison with the rest. It's got some quite bad tear-out on the side grain and no colour or finish. Here I have sanded it a bit to get it smooth enough to use:
I think it is probably a user-made replacement, not the original (otherwise I would have been gentler with it.)
I've not done anything with it yet, but my current plan is to darken it down with some Van Dyke crystals, then finish it with some Tru-oil and use it. I doubt that I would make a significantly better one and it fits ok.
What does the collective think? Does anyone have one with a similar design at the top? In this case, the cap covers over the nut that holds the axle:
where others have a one-piece top with a central plug.
Like so many old tools, it's been kept in a shed or garage next to the tins of paint, and the painter has been of the Jackson Pollock school.
It's even got a little bit of green paint. (Have you noticed how all old paint was either cream or green?)
The cream drips are thick enough to have gone wrinkyly as they dried, so the first step is to carefully pare away at some of the thickness, thus removing the exterior glossly layer:
After that, I used an old green scourer from the kitchen with some turpentine. This is just enough to soften the paint and lift off grime but leave the surface colour intact. You could probably get the same results with white spirit but real turpentine is so much nicer to work with.
I should stress that with this sort of damage there is no need for any sort of paint stripper or heat.
The turpentine also cleans up the brass just a little bit - one of my pet hates is tools with brass on where a misguided owner has attacked every little bit of metal with Brasso - see eBay for a stream of examples.
As the paint softens, I pick away at it with a thumbnail, or a bit of an old credit card cut up - that seems to be about the right stiffness. Small dots will just flick away; big areas will need a bit more of a rub. I wipe away the bits with a rag to see how it's going. These are before and after shots:
There's some loss of colour, but that will soon disappear with use, fresh linseed oil, or wax.
There are some traces of paint deep down in scratches on the left hand side; I am happy to leave them as they are.
I'm pleased with the way that the beech has come up, and the rosewood near the top is even nicer.
There is one obvious problem with this brace - the top, which was loose, is really quite crude in comparison with the rest. It's got some quite bad tear-out on the side grain and no colour or finish. Here I have sanded it a bit to get it smooth enough to use:
I think it is probably a user-made replacement, not the original (otherwise I would have been gentler with it.)
I've not done anything with it yet, but my current plan is to darken it down with some Van Dyke crystals, then finish it with some Tru-oil and use it. I doubt that I would make a significantly better one and it fits ok.
What does the collective think? Does anyone have one with a similar design at the top? In this case, the cap covers over the nut that holds the axle:
where others have a one-piece top with a central plug.
