I posted last week about my haul from the fall tractor and engine show. It was a saw, drill, side rabbet plane, scissors, rasp, chisel, and wooden molding plane. All in decent but not great condition. I went through and reconditioned all of them in the past week except the side rabbet plane. It was in great shape and didn’t really need anything.
Scissors
These wiss scissors were probably not that old, but had a little rust starting. I just gave them a scuff with a scotch brite pad, then did a little edge work to get them back in good cutting condition. I used Paul Seller’s method of sharpening. It may not be different from everyone else’s method, but credit due, that is where I learned it.
Molding Plane
This was another one that looked a little rough, but only really needed sharpening. I re-flattened the iron, sharpened it up, and stuck it back in. Depth setting is a little tricky, but I managed to get a nice looking round over on this piece of maple. I might have to become a fan of wooden planes now!
Mortise Chisel
I didn’t have any mortise chisels so this was a nice find for only a few bucks. It had seen a lot of use, but would still work with some love. I removed the handle and gave it a good sanding. Boiled linseed oil is my finish of choice for tools. It is cheap, easy to apply and does a decent job of soaking in and protecting wood.
I hit the iron with some brass brushing near the socket to clean the junk off. The rest got flattening and a 35 degree edge for doing heavy mortise chopping. I did a few test hits with it and was happy with the results.
Rasp
Another cheap buy to help fill my collection. This one is huge and aggressive compared to my other rasps. I didn’t bother with trying to do anything to the surface, I just made a handle for it. I bought some brass tubing a while back for just this purpose and put it to good use. I turned the shoulder long expecting to trim off any excess when I pressed the brass down. Once the brass was flush with the end I couldn’t get it down any further. Oops, next time I will cut the shoulder to length. I drilled out for the tang and pounded it home. The handle is a little shorter than it should be for a rasp this big, but it beats the heck out of no handle.
Egg Beater Drill
This is a lovely Millers Falls drill. I would label it a medium size, but these are not my area of expertise. A little scrubbing for rust and oil for movement was most of what this guy needed. Just for grins I decided to try and repaint the center hub. I used a foam brush to apply primer and red paint to all the insides.
It is a great looking drill and should give me a lot of years of service.
Rip Saw
This was purchased mostly for practice. I want to start sharpening saws, and am not willing to experiment on my expensive and still sharp lie-neilson back saws. Big cheap panel saw to the rescue!
I started by pulling the handle off and scrubbing off as much of the rust and junk from the saw panel as I could. Here is a close up of what I had to start with. Unfortunately, I don’t think the logo is going to survive the cleaning in tact.
After cleaning (forgot a shot of that when I was finished) I moved on to sharpening. I have never sharpened a saw before, so this was very new territory. After watching some how-to vids and mustering up some courage I jumped in. You can see a new metal shine starting on some of the right most teeth. It is kind of hard to shoot. If they look really oddly sized it is because of the set (teeth are bent left and right to cut a wider swath) in this camera angle.
I took a 2×4 and tried to rip it before sharpening and afterwards. The before wandered a bit and was tough work. The afterwards took about half the time and went straighter. I had a lot of trouble sharpening in places because the saw was much taller than my vice. It would rattle and vibrate as I sharpened. I need to make a clamp fixture that goes up and supports just under the teeth. I have seen plenty made in the past, I just need to get around to doing it. Till then, this saw is in good working order. The handle was in really good shape, so I didn’t touch it.
Kilted Craft Works 