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Chisel Patina - Corrosion

700 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  ArlinEastman  
#1 ·
My daughter in-law's mother had to clean out her father's home (Korean War Marine - currently in assisted living) and sent me his chisel collection. She also sent a "Standard No. 6" hand plane.

Would like inputs on:
1. A broken carving chisel; can I simply re-grind the point or toss it? I'm thinking I can re-grind it; slowly to minimize heat build up / loss of temper.
2. How would you remove the patina / corrosion on them?

Given how lite it appears, I'm thinking I could buff them and use paste wax to coat them.

Thoughts?
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#2 ·
I'm not sure, but it looks as if the ones that look this, the factory clear lacquer was never removed.
Mine looked like that and I stripped the finish, wire brushed them, and buffed them on a buffing wheel. (and, it's rust - not corrosion).
Do you have a wood lathe by chance ??
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#6 ·
I first removed the factory finish with a solvent, which is probably lacquer of some kind. Then, I put a drill press chuck in my wood lathe and chucked up a medium 4" wire brush to remove the loose rust. Then, an assortment of 6" cloth buffing wheels with lots of elbow grease. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive project, but well worth the effort in the end. That is just half of the project. The other half is getting them properly shaped and sharpened.
Please post some photos when you get started.
 
#7 ·
On the broken gouge it looks like soft metal and I would cut the end off with a hacksaw and then regrind with a cup of water to keep it cool or you will burn the edge. On the rest of the chisels they look like the old chromiumsteel plated ones which would rust in a second if not taken care of.
Put them in a lacquer bath and use 0000 steelwool to clean them off and then if you have a wirewheel take the rest off with that. Then take your time in flattening the backs and then sharpen the edge of the blade. After it is all done then put a thin coating of 3&1 oil in them to keep from rusting again and put some diccent bags that soak up moisture instead of the chisel's