Lever Cap Restoration Question

[Justin Green]

I've recently been thickening my herd of bench planes and need to spend some time this weekend doing a little polishing, sharpening, and cleaning.

I've cleaned most of the planes to where they work well, no gunk or rust is present. Moving parts are working smoothly. The blades and chip breakers are rust-free and in various states of semi-shininess.

I'm going to be working on the lever caps, knobs, and totes this weekend, in between gluing up the last sections of the bench top.

While there is no rust left on the lever caps, the nickel(?) finish is pitted, worn, and or otherwise in poor shape on many of the planes. Rexmill seems to say (although not directly) that they just sand off the entire coating and polish the metal beneath...

One of the #4s is a bit older, and was not nickel coated, so it's getting polished...

These are planes I intend to use, and would like to have them looking nice, although they seem to work fine as-is.

1) How do you guys clean up the lever caps?
2) What finish for the knobs and totes? BLO? I have BLO, Danish Oil, and Minwax Antique Finish oil on the shelf at home. I tried some Danish Oil on one knob that I sanded and it turned the knob really really dark, almost black.

Thanks,
Justin

[george wilson]

Old brazilian rosewood that I have,cut in 1960,can turn so black it looks like ebony. I recommend that you do not use any oil if that is your case. It would be better if you want to keep it looking like rosewood,to spray the knobs with lacquer,nitrocellulose if possible. Acrylic has a cold look about it because it has a blue resin. Nitro's is yellow. Deft is nitro celluose lacquer with some sanding sealer mixed in it. I have found that if I spray more than 3 coats of deft,it orange peels. You can order nitrocelluose aerosol cans of lacquer by Behlen.

An alternative I have found very useful is to use epoxy glue thinned out with alcohol. It is a great way to seal rosewood,looks great,and with only 3 or 4 coats of lacquer over it,it looks like a piano finish.

Take about 1/3 cup of alcohol,Take the 2 part 5 minute epoxy and squeeze out a double stream of it about 1" long into the alcohol. Stir it in well,till it is fully in solution. You have about 15 minutes of working time to brush the mixture on. Brush it on,and do not wait too long to sand it,or it will be very hard to sand. Wait till it is "leather hard".then,you can sand it with 220 grit garnet paper in about 2 hours it balls up and rolls off when it is leather hard,leaving the epoxy in the grain. Let dry overnight,repeat 2 more times. Then you could apply some coats of lacquer,or tung oil finish. You will have a very durable,smooth finish if you fully filled the grain with the epoxy. It's easy to tell,as the epoxy looks a bit cloudy when sanded.Not to worry,it goes back perfectly transparent when recoated. The finish you put over the epoxy cannot penetrate to the wood and turn it black.

P.S. The cast iron lever caps can be polished down with wet or dry paper. End up with 600,and really wear it out on the lever caps. Wrap it around a flat stick,or a smooth file. The cast iron can be made quite shiny,but it can rust,so wax it,and keep it dry.

[Justin Green]

Thanks George. I may try the laquer. I have had good experience with Deft refinishing two guitars. Yes, you get orange peel easily because spraying out of a can isn't ideal, but the orange peel can be sanded back flat and more and more layers built up - I may try that. Deft takes about 30 days to cure before you can really polish... I take it Danish Oil, BLO, etc., don't really build like laquer?

[george wilson]

Even if the orange peel was sanded flat,I always got more orange peel.

[Justin Green]

Yeah, it's easy to get. I kept putting coats and layers on and wet sanding in between them. Eventually built a nice clear coat up, wet sanded it, waited 30 days and then buffed it. More of a pain than I'm really thinking of for a knob and tote, now that I think about it.

[Jim Nardi]

I like to clean the lever caps up and take them over to the polishing wheel. A slightly shiny appearance seems to deter rust. Quick coat of wax. On totes that are damaged I prefer the feel of shellac and a coat or two of wax.

[Derek Cohen]

1) How do you guys clean up the lever caps?
2) What finish for the knobs and totes? BLO? I have BLO, Danish Oil, and Minwax Antique Finish oil on the shelf at home. I tried some Danish Oil on one knob that I sanded and it turned the knob really really dark, almost black.

Hi Justin

Johnny's suggestion for the level caps - sand them down and polish the metal - is what I would also recommend. I use a couple of deburring wheels (from coarse to superfine), attached to a drill press, and these can take a pitted surface to a mirror, if that is what you want.

I totally agree with George about avoiding oil on your totes and knobs. It will indeed turn the Rosewood black. Then its beauty is lost. Sand it down to about 400 and finish with blond shellac (for durability) and wax (for smoothness in the hand).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

The epoxy finish is one I have used many times on pistol grips,as a sealer on other finishes. If the finish might get sweated or rained on,it is the most durable finish.

I don't know how much effort you want to put into the lever caps,but to retain crisp corners,slots,etc.,buffing is something to be kept to an absolute minimum. I recomment tightly wrapping wet or dry around sticks of hardwood,and removing the surface with them,starting with 320,going up to 600. the nickle can be very hard stuff to sand off,depending on how much is still there.

I discovered by accident,that leaving nickle plated steel in Gunk brand parts cleaner will remove the nickle,or most of it if you leave it in the gallon can for months. Doesn't attack steel at all. I am not sure about cast iron. Brownell's gunsmithing supplies has nickle removing solution,I believe.

I've had to deal with removing nickle by mechanical means before, It is tough stuff!!One of the non woven scotchbrite wheels,a good hard #9 hardness fine grit wheel would do less damage than a cotton buffing wheel. If you are careful,you can retain the crisp edges. Be careful around the "keyhole" that you don't make a dip in the cast iron there,as the wheel will cut faster because there is less surface. These wheels aren't real cheap,but they might be your best bet overall,and they last a long time.

[Derek Cohen]

George wrote: I've had to deal with removing nickle by mechanical means before, It is tough stuff!!One of the non woven scotchbrite wheels,a good hard #9 hardness fine grit wheel would do less damage than a cotton buffing wheel.

Those are the deburring wheels to which I was referring.

The #9 is the hardest and will not round over edges. The one below is a #2, and here used on a round bar. You can see how it removes the rust (see end of bar) and buffs a shine on bare steel.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/For%20Sale/Deburringdisk1.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/For%20Sale/Deburringdisk-contrast.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

I should have been more specific: I was recommending a 6" dia.x 1" wide wheel. Fits a bench grinder.#9 hardness is inportant,and fine cut. You need the width to smoothly pass over those lever cap surfaces without leaving tracks,etc..

[Justin Green]

Thanks a bunch! I'm thinking about getting a bench grinder/polisher this weekend, I'll look for the wheels.

[David Keller NC]

Justin - If you want to remove the nickel chemically, you can use phosphoric acid. A convenient source for this is Naval Jelly from the autoparts store - it will take nickel plating right off. If you really want the lever cap bright and shiny (which I don't recommend - it looks out of place to me on an antique, and it will re-corrode very quickly), you can then hand-sand it with 400g, 800g, and 1200g paper, followed by auto body polishing compound.

Regarding the totes and knobs, Stanley used a finish that, in most respects, is very similar to shellac. It is ethanol soluble, and though Stanely advertised it as "laquer", it's not the same as the nitrocellulose used today (that doesn't dissolve in ethanol). I've restored two knob/tote combinations that had the original finish so deteriorated that it wasn't worth saving with shellac applied via a small "rubber" - a piece of linen with some lamb's wool wrapped inside. You can also use a t-shirt as the interior of the "rubber" - you can get lamb's wool in the drugstore next to the shoe pad stuff.

[Justin Green]

Thanks Dave... Some of the lever caps have most of the nickel, and I won't be touching those except maybe to polish the nickel, but a couple have the nickel mostly gone and are pretty ugly.

[Mike Henderson]

If you have a lathe, you can mount those deburring wheels on the lathe. It allows you to work with the wheel upright.

Also, if you have a lathe and the three buffing wheels that turners use, buff the tote and knob and apply wax (with the last buffing wheel). That will keep the color and figure of the wood and give you a hard wax finish.

Mike

[george wilson]

David,I didn't know Naval Jelly would remove nickel. I may use that info,though I seldom need to remove it.

I haven't used Naval jelly since the do gooders messed up the effective formula it was in the 60's. Not as effective now.

[David Keller NC]

George - You can, of course, use nitric acid to remove nickel, though it will etch the steel if you're not careful. You can also buy phosphoric acid by itself from most chemical supply houses (like Thermo-Fisher) and some industrial supply places that also sell welding gases, as it's the old-school method for prepping large amounts of steel before painting.

Obviously, be careful, wear a respirator and a face shield and chemical gloves if you choose to use concentrated nitric or phosphoric - it will burn skin instantly. Also, you must use these concentrated acids outside if using them on metal - they evolve copious quantities of hydrogen gas.

[Justin Green]

I think I'm going to avoid the skin eating, hydrogen gas-producing solvents for now! I bought one of the abrasive pads for the drill press. It wasn't 3m. Borg and HF don't seem to carry much in the way of various polishing or supplies, so I'm going to look for a source for them. I also bought a Delta variable speed bench grinder and some buffing cloths, moreso for getting into sharpening. I didn't find a place in Waco that carries nice sharpening wheels for the bench grinder, so I'm going to order those as well.

I plan on playing around with the pad and the buffer tomorrow, maybe I will have some before and after photos!

[David Keller NC]

Justin - Most acids in the presence of metals will produce hydrogen, but the rate at which it's produced depends on the metal, the identity of the acid (citric, acetic, nitric, etc..) and the concentration.

I wouldn't give up on the whole acid thing just because some hydrogen is produced - citric acid for removing rust is just way too useful. You just gotta remember to set it outside (you will anyway - the off-gas stinks).

[Justin Green]

I'll check around for the citric, it sounds pretty safe. Vinegar and evaporust have also worked well for me. I think I have the rust beat, it's just wanting to make the planes a little more presentable. I like antiques, as it runs in my family. Grandmother was an antique dealer and mom is one and has been since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Tools were never one of their interests, so I can imagine the planes and saws and drills and levels and other sorts of things that they passed along the way.

Thanks Dave and George, you guys are really helpful, as is this site.

[george wilson]

Justin,MSC company carries the non woven wheels. I haven't bought one for a while,buy I'm guessing you can expect to pay about $50 for a #9 hardness,fine grit wheel. That may put you off,but the wheels are good for a quick pre polish of knives and other things,too.