Not a typical question: restoring a steel square?

[jamie shard]

I found a craftsman (carpenter's) steel square that's in usable shape, but I'd like to remove the rust blooms and repaint the square. Removing the rust is the easy part... I have no idea how to repaint.

The challenge is somehow repainting the surface while somehow not filling in the incised markings. There must be some way to paint the incised letters and the surface without to do it line by sline???

Any pointers? Seems like there is probably a systematic way to do this.

-jamie

[george wilson]

Why must it be painted? If it must,just use a spray can lightly and it won't fill in those big fat grads.

Edit: Do you want to paint BOTH the incised lines AND the surface? Just spray lightly. I have found that Ace hardware spray cans(at least the gray ones I have used on machinery) leave a dry,but delicate surface for weeks. Then,it finally hardens up very hard. Lay the square side for a few weeks after painting if you use the Ace spray.

[Bill White]

Wipe on a light coat of whatever color you want. Then wipe off the surface leaving the paint in the markings. I did that to my dad's old Nicholson framer. Worked well.
Bill

[Jim Koepke]

I would try something like filling the incised areas with wax or chalk before painting.

You might also be able to first paint by using a squeegee to apply a coat that is driven into the incised areas but removed from the upper flat area. Try this on a small area first. It might be just as easy to use a rag instead of a squeegee.

jtk

[Bruce Page]

You’ll probably laugh at this; :rolleyes: I have darkened the lines with a black Sharpie followed buy a light buffing with Scotch-Brite. It is easy to do and more durable than you might think.

[jamie shard]

This is a little tricky... I'll try posting a picture later today.

The square seems to be made of a dark steel with a dark glossy paint. The lettering/lines were probably white. The challenge is I would like to paint the letters/lines with a light colored paint (within the grooves) and I would like to put a protective paint over the flat surface. Most of the lines have rusted within the grooves, so the light colored paint is mostly gone. There is some rust on the flat surface as well, so it isn't as easy as painting in some white enamel and wiping off the excess on the surface -- because some of the white enamel will get trapped in the surface rust.

I'm toying with this idea: derust everything, scrub out the rust from the lines with a steel (brass?) wire brush, lightly sand the flat surface, use bluing to maintain the dark surface, wipe in white fingernail polish into the grooves, wipe off excess, let dry, then lacquer the whole square (???)

I swear I've seen something like this described on the net, but my google-kung-fu is weak. :)

Any critques?

[Bruce Page]

OK, I’ll be the first one to ask... why not buy a new one?

You can buy a decent one for not much money.

[jamie shard]

Heh, "why not buy a new one?" is a fair question... No good answer, except maybe I will if I can't revive this cutie.

Anyway, here's the condition it's in. Not bad, as is, but I'd like to restore it:

210315

I like how this square has all the traditional marks, including 100s of an inch, 1/10 inch scale, 1/32 inch scale, etx.

[Pat Barry]

I don't think that is paint. Looks to be a plated finish

[phil harold]

Heh, "why not buy a new one?" is a fair question... No good answer, except maybe I will if I can't revive this cutie.

Anyway, here's the condition it's in. Not bad, as is, but I'd like to restore it:

210315

I like how this square has all the traditional marks, including 100s of an inch, 1/10 inch scale, 1/32 inch scale, etx.

that is a candidate for rubbing paint into the grooves...

there is also a twelfths scale on that square.
To get the most out of that square you should get the bible
http://www.amazon.com/Roof-Framers-Bible-Complete-Reference/dp/0964335433/

using a framing square is a dying art

[jamie shard]

I don't think that is paint. Looks to be a plated finish

Ah! So maybe it was plated, then stamped, then the markings were painted? That would explain why it seems to be preferentially rusting in the markings.

[Jim Koepke]

Not many squares with all the features of that one made these days.

If it were mine, I would also want to restore it back to its better days.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Looking through my files I have found this Sargent catalog from 1911 that has about 15 pages on squares and their use.

http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id141.html

I think I have a few others, but it might take time to find them.

I found one also at Rose Tools for the Stanley square near the bottom of this page:

http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id16.html

I know the Adel books have a section on using a square.

jtk

[Dave Ring]

I'm pretty sure that's a hot salt blued finish (as used on guns). After the square was blued, the paint would have been applied to the markings and quickly wiped off the surface. You should be able to remove the rust with WD40 and 0000 steel wool without much damage to the bluing.

[David Keller NC]

Dave is correct - that's bluing you see on the surface, not plating. Almost all steel squares were blued in the early to mid 20th century as a way of corrosion protection. After about 1960 or so, the manufacturers switched to chromium, cadmium or nickel plating and in recent years have been experimenting with all sorts of polymeric coatings.