Many old planes and tools featured brass elements such as screw caps, adjustment wheels ext ext. In most cases you cant even tell that its brass because of how dirty it is. Most all of the old Stanley planes have brass nuts on the knob and tote and a brass adjustment wheel. There are other makes that featured brass nuts and wheels as well.
If there is one area of the cleaning/restoring process where you spend a little extra time and effort this is it. When polished and cleaned the brass elements stand out over everything else. Sure it has no effect on the use of the tool but it makes it look great when its sitting on the bench, wall or shelf.
In my opinion Brass is much easier to clean and polish then steel. I use nothing more then some brass polish, fine grit sand paper and some Q-tips. I personally do all of this work by hand. I like doing this kind of thing in my house at the kitchen table or even in the recliner as I am watching tv. As time consuming as this stuff can be its much more comfortable doing in the house while you are relaxed. If you want to speed it up a Dremmel tool with a buffing attachment works fantastic for this also.
In most cases I can get the brass cleaned without sanding it at all. If I do need to sand I just cut a small square of 2000 grit wet/dry paper and sand the brass with the polish on it. I use Q-tips to polish the small parts as they just work best for me. Apply the polish and clean with your pad or Q-tip. The trick to a great shine is to just keep repeating this process until your pad or q-tips no longer turn black when buffing.
I will show finished pictures of the planes at the end of the blog series. However here is a before and after of an old Disston hand saw that I restored. I used same process on the brass for the saw and it really stands out over everything else.
Thats all for todays blog. I am doing this blog in a series as it takes a bit of time to load all the pics and resize them. In my next blog of the series I will discuss re-painting and sanding/polishing the plane soles.
Thanks for reading!
-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"
18 comments so far
Dennisgrosen
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10854 posts in 1280 days
#1 posted 869 days ago
huu niiice looking saw there :-)
I know some wuold say overdone ,lost its value etc.etc.
but when it comes to a user tool it doesn´t matter ,what matters is that it a joy to take
the tool from the shelf and have a good feeling when you use it
and if thats meen you have to have a new shinny good looking tool …....then go for it :-)
I think we have seen some great shinny restorings the last year on L J
take care
Dennis
Kent Shepherd
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#2 posted 869 days ago
Good information
Thanks
-- She thought I hung the moon--now she just thinks I did it wrong
Dan
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#3 posted 869 days ago
Dennis- you are correct… Restoring tools is a hobby on its own. I find it challenging and very rewarding to go over board and make a hunk of rust look new. Some of them I use and some I may never use. I just enjoy the work of doing it.
-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"
A10GAC
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141 posts in 1243 days
#4 posted 869 days ago
Not to take away from the planes, but…did you put a new blade/backstrap on that saw? If not, how did you sharpen & recut the teeth on the blade? It almost looks like you changed it from a rather coarse cut to a fine cut.
The saw looks great BTW, looking forward to the finished plane.
-- A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. - Mark Twain
againstthegrain
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117 posts in 1917 days
#5 posted 869 days ago
I’m loving this. Keep it up please!!!
-- Anchul - Warrensburg, MO: As a Pastor, I am just trying to get closer to Jesus. He was a woodworker too.
Dan
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3479 posts in 1045 days
#6 posted 869 days ago
A10GAC- I must not have noticed but it looks like I posted the wrong before picture of the saw. I restored a few old Disston saws that I had and I guess I didn’t look close enough before putting the pic up. I did not sharpen it at all. I plan to have them sharpened soon though. I don’t trust myself to do it myself. Here is a picture of the saw before, its the one on the top not the bottom.
-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"
A10GAC
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141 posts in 1243 days
#7 posted 868 days ago
Stiil, nice work, I love to see old tools put back into use. The backstrap and tooth pattern had me a bit confused; it cleaned up very well.
-- A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. - Mark Twain
bigike
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4023 posts in 1454 days
#8 posted 868 days ago
wow that brass polish works, cool.
-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com
Dez
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#9 posted 868 days ago
Nice restoration work!
-- Folly ever comes cloaked in opportunity!
Dennisgrosen
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#10 posted 866 days ago
Dan instead of using the expencive Brass polish and all that albow grease :-)
then let the chemi rule and try some of theese recipies
1.
1 teaspoon citrus acid
1 spoon dishwash soape liquide
1 Liter boiling water
put the brass in 2-4minuts and you shuold have clean brass
pure some clean water over the items after cleaning to stop the acid
2.
cover the item with a layer of yughurt , wrap them in some plastic kitchenfilm 2-3 hours
and wash them normaly and you shuold have clean brass
3.
cover the item with Ketchup ½ – 1 hour
and wash them normaly and you shuold have clean brass
one question ?
what do you use to polish that saw with after the evapro-rustremover
take care
Dennis
Dan
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3479 posts in 1045 days
#11 posted 865 days ago
Dennis- Thanks for the recipes I will try them. I am interested to see how they work.
I polished the saw with a metal polish that I got in the automotive dept of a store. I cant remember the name right now but it was just one of the many metal/steel polishes that they had on the shelf. I got one in the mid price range. I just rubbed it in and then buffed it by hand with a clean buff pad. I repeated that process a number of times until I had a good shine.
-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"
Dennisgrosen
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10854 posts in 1280 days
#12 posted 865 days ago
thank´s Dan I will look in those kind of thores here in Denmark and see whats possiple to get :-O
the recipies I havn´t tryed them myself yet but have heard about them many many times over
the years from housewife´s ….LOL
except for the citrus acid threatment that was from this site , its a great site for galoot´s …lol
http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/jThompson/howTo/rust_CitricAcid/rust_CitricAcid1.asp
take care
Dennis
Dennisgrosen
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10854 posts in 1280 days
#13 posted 865 days ago
sorry Dan the link I gave you was for rust on iron and that reciepee is a little different
but the recipie you got first with citric acid works for brass
Dennis
Beginningwoodworker
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#14 posted 865 days ago
Nice looking saw.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
Brett
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#15 posted 776 days ago
Cotton string works well to polish the two grooves around the rim of the brass adjusting nut. Rub some polish in the grooves with a Q-tip, loop the string around the rim, and rotate the nut while keeping the string tight.
-- More tools, fewer machines.
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