Another tool - rescued Irwin

Well done, nice looking tool, you should take before and after pictures.

-- Vince

I have several of these type screwdrivers and I had one that I made new handles ( or say I tried ) for but I did not get the fit tight like you have it. Excellent restore !!!

-- Mike, Missouri --- “A positive life can not happen with a negative mind.” ---

”—We’ve got enough youth. Let’s search for a fountain of smart.” ROFLMAO !!

Great rebuild ….it came out fantastic : )

-- When did quiet and quite become the same word ? I'm guessing about the same time as your and you're did.

Hullo – I make all my own tools also. You get a great tool that perfectly fits you hands. You did a wonderful job on the restoration of the screwdriver.

-- RusticJohn

It’s a thing of beauty. Great tool CPR.

-- There are times when a mistake is remembered as your best work.

That’s great looking, and the tool design has a natural flow to it.

-- Martin ....always count the number of fingers you have before, and after using the saw.

A work of art!

-- Todd http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid6255915

Great restore. I love restoring old tools.

-- A childs smile is payment enough.

That the prettiest screwdriver I’ve ever seen.

-- Kayvon

Thanks to all for your very nice comments!

Vince, You are correct, I should take before photos but I tend to just pick up an item and just start fiddling with it. Next thing I know, I’m half done with a restoration… Too late now…

-- We've got enough youth. Let's search for a fountain of smart.

Dano. I have a few of these and would love to restore them as you have. Is this real difficult to do? I was wondering if you could list the steps you took to replace the handle, replaced the rivets, and what you used to sand and polish the steel.

J,

Restoring these “perfect handle” tools is not hard at all, just takes a little patience and sandpaper. Here’s a link to a good “How To”: http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/jThompson/restore/perfHandle/perfHandles1.asp . Polishing the steel… well, I started with a wire wheel on the drill press to get the rust then went over the whole thing with sandpaper starting with 220 and working up to 600 grit. From there, on to the dremel with a buffing wheel and lots of polishing compound. I used this stuff, http://www.harborfreight.com/14-piece-aluminum-polishing-kit-98707.html (the rouge, not the wheels) from Harbor Freight. It says it’s for Al but worked fine on the steel.

As for the handles, I traced out the shape and left myself plenty of room, especially on the thickness. The trickiest part is getting the bevels just right. It took me a lot of “sneaking up” on it. The link is right on the money. My handles were not interchangeable from one side to the other. Once I got the handles to fit the bevels and the bottoms, at this point I hadn’t trimmed anything but the ends and the bottoms, I taped one side to the screwdriver and drilled for the rivets. Then I taped the other side on and used the first set of holes to “match drill” the other side. Next I cut two pieces of the steel rod that I used for rivets about a half inch longer than the thickness of the assembled handle. I epoxied the handles in place and used the steel rod pieces to ensure that the handle holes stayed perfectly aligned when I clamped the whole things up. Once everything is clamped up and secure, pull the rods out before the epoxy sets up!

Once everything is set up good and stable, I started shaping with rasps, files and the belt sander. Then, when the shape was close, I cleaned out the holes and put in the rivets. I cut the steel rod about 1/8” longer than the thickness of the handles. I coat the rivets and the holes with epoxy then center the rivets in the handle and peen the ends with a regular old 16 oz hammer. be careful not to over peen the rivets. They will expand and split the wood. From there, I use the belt sander to grind the rivets flush and then just go to town with the sandpaper to finish the whole thing up.

I hope this helps!

Let me know if I can answer anything else for you,

Dano

-- We've got enough youth. Let's search for a fountain of smart.