Masking ground areas when refinishing old tools (i.e. mitre boxes)

[Bill Fleming]

Not long ago I refinished a MF mitre box. The vertical portion of the platform that holds the work being cut contains several flat areas that are machined flat. When I repainted my box I painted over these and then after the paint cured I can back and sand the paint off and polished these surfaces by fixing sand paper to a flat surface. This worked ok but seemed like a pain to un-do what was done.

A friend is getting ready to do a similar project and want to give advice and lessons learned - anyone handle this issue differently? Any luck masking these areas? If so with what - tape or a coating?

Any thoughts appreciated - Thx Bill

[Joe Bailey]

267038

from here: http://www.majorpanic.com/handplane_restor3.htm

[Bill Fleming]

Very nice job of masking - not sure we can do as neat a job with the number of similar areas to mask but worth the try. Was wondering if Waxilit might work - anyone ever try this?

[Matt Meiser]

I've done larger areas by letting the tape hang over then gently tapping around the edges with a hammer to cut the tape to a perfect shape.

[Bill Fleming]

Matt - that might do it, at least it would create a mark to follow.

Thx Bill

[David Barnett]

Was wondering if Waxilit might work - anyone ever try this?

Although I've not used Waxilit (actually a sealing wax), where tape was impractical I've masked with various melted waxes from microcrystalline Victory wax and casting waxes to paraffin and encaustic medium (beeswax with damar resin).

Brushing waxes lets one cover details, protrusions, recessed sections, complex assemblies, etc. Depending on the heat resistance of the paints or coatings applied over non-masked areas, waxes may be conveniently removed by heat guns. Otherwise, peel, scrape, scrub.

You can also precisely lay a bead from a hot glue gun and quickly spread with popsicle sticks or dental tools.

And there are silicone gels, life-casting latex and RTV silicone and urethane, and so on.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

If the parts you're masking are shaped like I'm thinking, it might be worth seeing if you can track down some detailing tape the same width as the bits you're masking off, make the whole masking thing a lot quicker.

[Isaac Smith]

I've done larger areas by letting the tape hang over then gently tapping around the edges with a hammer to cut the tape to a perfect shape.

I've done something similar by using a burnisher held at a bit of an angle. Where that doesn't work, I use sharp utility knife blades. As soon as they get dull (and it doesn't take long), I switch to a fresh blade.

I painted a MF Acme box this way, and was really happy with how it turned out. It takes a while to mask it off, but it's mindless work that you can do while watching a movie or television.

[Mike Brady]

Actually, your mention of just sanding off the areas where paint is not desired is a good one. Frogs are a good example; same for the machined areas like the back of miter boxes. I have done this lots of times. When I did my last miter box, I don't recall any masking, or very little. Just disassemble completely. Use a hard sanding block (MDF) with 80 grit glued to it. That duplicates the texture of original machining quite well. For frogs, I made a special sanding block that had a long groove in it for the adjuster lever to ride in.

There may be some small areas like threaded studs that you can easily wrap with blue tape.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am wondering why one might even worry with trying to keep paint off these areas? I painted the entire frame of my MF miter box, a nice silver with enamel paint. I can't see how the paint could cause any kind of problem. In my case if the paint wears off the raw metal should be close to the color the rest is painted. Had I been concerned I would have just painted around the ridges the wood actually rests on. Any wet paint that might end up on the polished faces should be easy to wipe off with mineral spirits. I imagine one could just paint the whole thing and wipe the polished surfaces clean with mineral spirits faster than attempting some complicated taping system.

[Jim Matthews]

If it's cast iron, and you oiled it heavily - would that resist paint?