General Workshop Hacks

[Tim Mellor]

Tips and Tidbits you have learned or in some cases forgotten as the Brain Ages but others might gain from. General maintenance repair refurbish or tool usage and see where the thread goes but I will start it off with something I learned many decades ago from the former owner of the Bastard File in use. Thanks Granddad

Take some old flat bastard smother in your favorite Lube and apply to your Chef abused Silicon Carbide Stones. Suffering from vege oil, plain water, water and soap and general abuse at the hands of a former employee

This had about 3mm of dish in both the smooth and course sides so the normal wet and dry on glass would have taken forever or more likely got chucked and buy a new one. The File was a fairly scungy old one of my Grandfathers but still very flat. The Carbide and WD40 forms an abrasive paste that is moved around by the file speeding up the cut. Seemingly the File is now as sharp or sharper than it was so a win win.

Tidy up tomorrow on the Wet and Dry.

** Don't do this on Natural or water stones it most likely won't end well!!!! Better yet never let your stones get this bad.

[Tim Mellor]

What to do with your newly flattened stones

Buy a cheap evilbay honing guide and file it to a usable state (true and square). Buy a secondhand set of horribly sharpened really nice Sheffield steel Chisels and put it to work.

On the stone slab and down to 800 grit wet and dry in the photo below and tomorrow 1200 and see how they feel to use. Still have no idea how you get a depression in the face of a chisel from sharpening

Not necessarily a recommendation either for the guide as they need a bit of work but much more accurate for those of us not sharpening chisels often. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainless-S ... 2692561756

[Tim Mellor]

Continuing on with sharpening and renovating today's project is an inherited collection of files. These are a mix of my Fathers and Grandfathers that have been hiding in a box for a very long while and have lived beside the ocean for most of there lives. Some surface rust, pins (lumps of metal wedged in the teeth), old two part body filler in the rasps and other associated detritus from decades of existence.

** don't use a powered wire wheel and avoid file cards generally. Scrape along the bottom of the blades or away from the edges only avoiding the tips. Brass brushes are generally ok as is using a blade to scrape the bottom of the valleys or even an Awl tip for the rasps.

First cleaning was with industrial degreaser for a short soak. Second is a really good wash in strong detergent and hot water to remove any of the degreaser which often has some nasty salts as part of the mix. Rinse and dry really well immediately to prevent any surface rusting.

Last cleaning step is dunk them in a weak acid solution. Straight Vinegar is nice and safe and cheap and is a slow reaction on the metal, depending on the state 12-24 hours will be fine. Keep them raised off the base of the container (chopstick in the bucket) and rotate them a few times. This process as well as taking off the remaining surface rust will also chemically etch the points of the chisel and so effectively resharpen them. This is not something to do often but for a once a decade job well worth the effort.

To ensure you have removed any remaining acid compounds time for an alkali bath. Bicarb or Baking powder in hot water followed by a hot rinse and immediate drying.

** DO NOT OIL YOUR Files ever! Keep them dry, clean and preferably stored separately to avoid dinging the edges and at least keep the fine ones away from the heavy course ones.

Heavy files are waiting for the vinegar bath.

[Tim Mellor]

Plane old Therapy.

I picked up a very abused #5 Stanley a few days ago and pulled out my Fathers 40-50 year old #4 for a little TLC while I was at it. Dad's old one was used in an Electrical contracting business and generally not treated all that well but the #5 was a horror show by comparison.

There is plenty of good videos on youtube on refurbishing Planes and sharpening but like most gear sharp, straight and clean with a few spots of oil gets you a long way down the track. The Sole on the planes got hit with some 180 grit Aluminium oxide to remove some of the scratches and in the case of the #5 actually make it flat and remove the original mill marks (it was toward 0.010" out in places) Break the sharp edges on the rails and front an rear to avoid damaging yourself or your jobs later.

Tidy up all the mechanics flatten the Frog so the blade sits flush and take the curve out of the chip breaker on #5 so it will actually sit flat against the iron It's former owner was a butcher!

fryingpan.gif

Then recreate some proper 25 and 30 degree bevels and spend 30 minutes testing on a very gnarly aged Redgum fence post. Time for a Beer after all that hard work

[Gene Uselman]

I share your love of tools, Tim. I was a mechanic/bodyman for most of my life and have a lot of tools. With a small amount of care a quality tool will outlast a person.

[Tim Mellor]

Nicer to use them when in good condition too. Just shooting the edges with the #5 on a new accurate tracksaw cutting bench before adding the hardwood edges to cleanup the Router and saw marks as it is much more accurate than those or sanding. Finished job 600x600mm +- a gnatsfart corner to corner and nice accurate square faces

Datum points will be the MDF corners and the hardwood capping is just for protection. Cutouts on the base are to fit to an existing tilt up table base I have.

[Tim Mellor]

This tool has outlasted several someones @Gene

By the patent and details the youngest it can be is 96 and oldest at 110 https://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/route ... _71.5.html

Time for some elbow grease and loving then put an edge on it and put it to work

Edit several hours later. First pass clean with vinegar/acetone scrape and Linseed oil on the handles. Still needs an edge but it works and the basics are ready for the second century.