Thank you Marn64 and JayT for your responses.
I don t think I ll be going as far as to make up some proper japanning although I d definitely consider it if I had a lot of tools to do at once or something that was a bit rare.
Your comment calling it Pontypool Japanning did encourage me to do a quick Google search as I had never heard it called that before.
I was interested to find that an awful lot of the early Japanning done outside Japan was done not far away from where I live in Birmingham where sadly the knowledge no longer exists as the recipes were kept so secret.
I look forward to hearing how your touch ups go, Marn64, I have a fairly steady hand but it s not something I d attempt so good luck.
Thanks very much for the link to your blog, JayT, I have started reading it with great interest.
Funny you should mention aerosol based paint strippers as I ve actually been looking and they don t seem as common in the UK and the ones that look like they would do the job are about twice the price of the bottled stuff.
I don t know if you have Hammerite where you are but it s a brand that do various finishes and it was their smooth gloss black I am considering not the hammered effect finish.
I am terribly indecisive and currently have it narrowed down to three options, the first of which is to just leave it as there is still quite a lot of japanning left and just hope it s not covered in rust when I next need it.
I ll try to sort some pictures of its current state for you to check out.
The other two options are a conventional spray paint and an engine enamel, links to which are below.
HYCOTE XUK0121 Engine Aerosol Spray Paint 400 ml - Enamel Black
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003AN5VBC/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_BC-nxbGT0BHD9
Hammerite 5092965 Metal Paint: Smooth Black 400ml (Aerosol)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0041WCPL0/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_gQ-nxbD8FVWKJ
From what I ve read I think the Hammerite is probably the better quality and most rust preventative and the engine enamel is likely to be the closer match to Japanning but that s mostly just a guess.
Anyway I ve rambled on enough so thanks for reading and any suggestions.
- tcmw