SPECIAL PROJECTS
A project close
to my heart...here's the No. 12 scraper as purchased. I don't
know how these things end up this way...it really is a sin to
waste such a good tool.
doesn't look like
much...but the "bones" were good. At first I thought..."maybe
just the handle and the brass bits...good for parts.."
Nothing moved...all
was rust frozen in place..not a likely candidate for re-hab....but
I have a stubborn streak at times. Especially for scrapers.
Here it is stripped...by
hand, taking a few weeks of part time work..used a few small wire
brushes chucked up in my cordless drill..a dremel tool, some sandpaper..Q-tips
and paint remover, a few gun cleaner brushes, a propane torch
and more than a few dental pics. This part of the project took
the longest...and was the most boring part..
took a while to
free up the frozen bits...and quite a while with sandpaper and
a wire brush to get the rust off. Stripped the rosewood handle
and hand-sanded it down to bare wood to get the nicks out. The
inside of the blade holder was interesting..had to use folded
sandpaper and a flat stick to get the crud off..might still be
some in there but I did not want to try to punch out the pins...same
with the complete blade assembly..the angle adjustment screw was
nerve-wracking enough...
I was actually considering
leaving it as it is...shiny silver scraper-don't see that anywhere.
But, tradition got
the better of me...I just had to bring it all the way back..
used the traditional
japanning, buffed the brass bits, and hard-wax buffed the handle.
Took the sides and sole down with a stationary belt sander, up
to 220 grit..then polished with some white compound. Way over
done...but an interesting exercise.
while the japanning
looks good...I still think that the Stanley method of dipping
the bodies in the japanning was the best method..but I wasn't
about to get gallons of japanning to try it. Might want to try
spraying the japanning though, if I can thin it out enough to
work in my little air sprayer...and it still has the right consistency..food
for thought...
still...looks pretty
good...a complete coat of hard paste wax completed the job
Way too tricked
out for collectors value...but an excellent top shelf user who
now has a new life of another 100 years or so...All told, I probably
have 15 or so hours into this project, but I think it was worth
it.
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you'll see this
one on ebay from a local Connceticut dealer...it didn't work worth
a dam* when he brought it in to me, now works like a top
I'm sure he'll end
up getting a bundle of $$ for this one...probably very rare
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Wish I had some
"before" pictures of this one, it was a total ball of
rust when I got it.
It came out of a
bucket of rusty pieces..blade was rusted frozen to the depth adjuster..no
cap and no front knob. But it was a Sargent 507...very rare and
I didn't have one.
Took this one down
to bare metal...belt sanded the sides and sole...was worried about
the thickness of the sides...very tricky leaving enough for strength
but still getting the massive amount of rust off...
had to recut the
grooves on the depth adjuster when I finally freed the blade up...might
have altered the angle a little in the process
Found what I hope
is the proper cap and knob...at least they fit properly
at least there was
a fair amount of blade left..sharpened up..it works like a charm...
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