into the world of antique tools

[Cloudy]

]
Just bought an engraver's tool box, dated about 1911 -LOTS of punches and other fun things! Now to clean them all up!

 

[Dulltool]

Hey Cloudy,
Big time score ..... Try using a soft wire wheel in a drill press for removing the rust.

 

[Marrinan]

Quit a nice lot of chasing tools there Cloudy. You can have a lot of fun with those. Congrates. Fred

 

[Sam]

My goodness look at all those punches! I love that magnifier on the stand!!

 

[fegarex]

Lotsa cool stuff there! Not sure what all of them do but cool!

 

[silverchip]

great collection of chasing tools-I was looking at some for sale new and they were over 100.00 for 6 !!!! great find!!

 

[g.rohrbaugh]

Those are so cool!
Gary

 

[Dave London]

great find have fun restoring them

 

[rod]

Congratulations, Cloudy,

So pleased this treasure chest has been acquired by you, as someone who really appreciates what you have here!

I used to scour the old shops in Glasgow and elsewhere for antique tools, and was lucky enough to buy an engraver's set of well worn gravers. That was before forums, such as this and others, were online. In those days engravers were reluctant to show anyone the important information or demonstrations that are now happily exchanged from master to beginner in our present era. The real find for me was to carefully examine the graver points, and try to glean what I could about the sharpening geometry. Although it looks like you have a treasure trove of punches in that box, be very careful with the cleaning of the tools, because if you have some old gravers mixed in with the punches, you do not want to degrade any remaining crispness in tool points, in order that they once more look good. That would be kinda like eating the menu and not the meal. One suggestion was wire brushing, hopefully brass not steel brushes! What about getting some input from those who restore old guns, they may suggest a more benign dip or soak to remove rust without surface degrade?

Certainly, you will be cleaning up the tools in some way, and museum staff can be very helpful with procedures.

May we look forward to a few photos when they are all laid out in order?

What great examples you have there, besides the magnifier, a beautiful ( looks pristine) advanced design of
a screw drill, with its 'knuckle duster' handle and lovely hand operated rapid pitch screw, secondly, a bow drill with four jaw 'chuck' to clamp drill bits, with drive pulley to take the 'wrapped once around' bow drive, and wood handled thrust bearing to take the downward force. Very nice indeed!

well done!

Rod

 

[DKanger]

What about getting some input from those who restore old guns, they may suggest a more benign dip or soak to remove rust without surface degrade?

Cloudy,
I would suggest that you obtain a bottle of "Steel White" from Brownells. Part #082-055-032
It's a concentrate mixed 5 to 1 with distilled water which should be available at your local grocery store. It removes only the rust and doesn't harm the metal. I use it on old rusty gun locks and such. It works great!!

 

[Willem Parel]

Oh wow, congratulations with this treasure, must be à great feeling to find something like this.

 

[tbear]

You can use EVAPO-RUST. I use it to restore antique woodworking tools. You can purchase it at Harbor Freight. It does not pit the metal. I would be careful using wire brushes etc. as they can really screw up a surface. As for the brass there are a lot of brass cleaners that work well. Have fun restoring them.

 

[TyG]

Catherine, if you want to clean them up gently, molasses water does the trick beautifully. Mix up 75% water tyo 25% molasses and set your metal in it for a couple of days, the mixture takes away the rust and leaves you with nice black steel again. I have used this many times and the hardest part of the procedure is rinsing and drying after. Ty

 

[Mario Sarto]

Catherine, it is really a treasure box! May i request some pictures after you rescued them? It looks like there are a lot of interesting punches in it.

Ty, i have to try your advise - "sugar in the morning"

 

[Neo Dutch]

Soak over night in Citric acid.

 

[mtgraver]

Katherine,
I use vinegar to remove rust on things, usually overnight, rinse in water with a scotch brite pad to remove any of the stubborn stuff and oil once dry. I will warm up the piece under a incandescent lamp to dry them quick. I am not a proponent of wire wheels for any antique items, they look bad and the glint of time is gone. The tools look like they are not badly rusted so another way to keep them looking good is to use them, oil or wax them when done and only remove any heavy rust. You have an excellent find there and I would say a little on the rare side. Were you able to get any history of who had them and the work they performed with them? May be worth tracking down, which may also influence any historic value and also determine the direction of preservation.
Mark