My Old Tool Cleaning Process, as requested

[Karl Andersson]

As a follow-on to my post about the Stanley 55 plane I cleaned up, I am posting the cleaning process I use. As I said before, when cleaning old tools, I try to retain “patina”, but not active rust, so darkened metal is OK, but rust is not. I wouldn’t use this technique on a 19th-century Stanley collectible plane, but for more modern ones, it’s good for getting a tool ready for using and when I sell a tool, the buyer appreciates being able to see the true condition of the metal.
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I only use hand-powered brushes, and those are used lightly.I want to avoid that dull wire-brushed look like this, where a soft wire wheel was evidently used –depositing a layer of grey metal on the steel of the blade. Even worse is when you see one in a dealer’s shop where they have used a brass brush and the rust and pits are covered by an iridescent layer of brass.

I start with complete disassembly, spraying PB Blaster or penetrating oil on any potentially stuck rods, screws, etc. first and letting them soak overnight at least. If a part won’t come free with modest effort after oiling, I give it a couple of taps with a wooden mallet and/ or heat them on the woodstove or with a torch until they break free.

Once the fasteners and parts are free, I liberally spray/soak everything in Simple Green cleaner. This removes or softens grease and oil and also seems to make rust easier to clean off. I let it soak initially from an hour to overnight. Other cleaners or mineral spirits may work; I do know that this cleaner really works well and doesn't harm wood finishes or nickel plating.
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The rust cleaning and degreasing is done with a variety of brushes, all available at the home store.The brushes pictured are the main ones I use in a 3-part cleaning process. The top one is a long handled, narrow stainless steel wire brush (I remove the paint scrapers as they get in the way and can scratch the tool or your hand). The bristles should be long and spaced pretty far apart so gunk can fall out. Next is a stiffer stainless brush with bristles more densely spaced –this one should be fairly new so it can clean off surface rust and clean out pits. The last is an assortment of small brushes – steel, nylon, and brass. The nylon is used for cleaning tight areas of grease and dirt, and the brass brush I use to clean brass only. The steel brush is stainless, but not shiny; instead its twisted bristles are a dull grey.This one is used to get a good, smooth surface after all the cleaning is done. The second picture shows a bunch of other tools I use – a small bench clamp used as a hand clamp for holding small screws, etc., while wire brushing, wooden dowel and skewer I use to clean inside bolt holes and other nooks, and small pipe/test tube brushes for cleaning threads.
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To demonstrate the effects of this cleaning process, I’ll use a ball pein hammer and a plated brace I’ve wanted to restore. The brace was nickel plated at some time but enough is gone to not really matter, and the hammer was completely rusted over after sitting in water for a while.This brace is pretty unusual in its ratchet selection “knobs” and the jaws' design – you can’t remove the jaws without taking the whole head assembly off, so this is the first time I’d seen what they looked like.The only marking onthe brace is the number “128” on the frame; if anyone out there knows what this is, I’d love to know.
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So, after soaking in Simple Green for at least 30 minutes, I take the tool out and while still wet, I start with the long stainless steel wire brush to remove crud and rust. I keep spraying and brushing until there is no more brown rust slurry coming off.I don’t bear down hard, using just the tips of the bristles like a shoeshine brush – notice that the bristles aren’t all bent over after a couple of years of use. This will remove rust as well as loose nickel plating, so it may not be best for a true collector’s item, but if the plating is blistered up or flaking, I don’t think it should be considered intact anyways.
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Then I spray the tool with more cleanser and use the second brush –once again, with a light hand. I keep a close eye on any plating, the amount of staining being removed, and avoid brushing any wood handles (if you brush them when wet, they’ll likely get gouges). These pictures show the tools after the second brushing.
continued....

[Karl Andersson]

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The next step is to go over all surfaces with the small twisted wire brush.This is done with the tool dry and it apparently polishes or burnishes the surface, making the plating a little shinier and glossing up the bare metal areas.

Once the brushing is done, I polish any large areas of plating with a metal polish.I have used both Autosol and Maguire’s Mag and Aluminum wheel polish and couldn’t really see a difference between them; both make the nickeled or chromed surfaces smooth.
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Once the metal is done, I go on to the wooden handles.Using a nap-free dish cloth or other stiff fabric, I spray some Simple Green on the cloth, then clean off old grime and oils. After it looks clean, I put just a little more cleanser on a clean part of the cloth, then bear down hard on the wood while rubbing it – this puts a really nice gentle shine on the wood. This can be done even on bare wood – as in the hammer handle seen in the picture.

As each part is finished, I placed it on my woodstove (begging Winston’s pardon) to dry for about 5-10 minutes (or you can use a hot air dryer, strong sunlight, etc.).Then I oil each screw and hole and spray the metal parts down with PB Blaster’s “Spray Lubricant” – similar to WD-40 - then after sitting for a bit, I wipe off any excess.
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So, here is the brace all cleaned and oiled - I stopped working on the hammers after the brush-burnishing phase and a light oiling. Notice on the big hammer that there are some specks of paint that hadn’t rusted off and were not affected by the cleaning process.The brace is now clean, but still a mystery.I’ve included my Stanley 6-in brace that I used this process on about 2 years ago in the picture; I’ve never re-sprayed it since it was cleaned, I’ve used it numerous times, and it’s been kept outdoors on an open shelf in an unheated shed year-round without developing rust.

I hope this helps some of you get your tools clean and back to work; sorry if it’s too clean for some of the collectors’ tastes, but I’m sure the patina will return eventually – maybe this time without the rust.

please let me know if you have any questions
Karl

[Stew Denton]

Hi Karl,

Thank you for posting your process, as you mentioned you would. Very nice job on the brace.

Your process is very similar to mine, and I have not used any power tools up to this point either, but I do take off the patina to try to get back to clean metal. The differences with what I have been doing and your technique are much smaller than the similarities. As mentioned in another post, I use mineral spirits, primarily as a cleaning solvent instead of water based cleaners.

The biggest difference I use are those for tying to get back to bare metal and for refinishing the tote and knob, which include Scotch Brite pads and very fine wet or dry, other than that what I do is pretty much the same. I also use metal polish, as you do.

You did not mention wax, but I have used old Simonized car wax, but, as per a recommendation here, have picked up some Johnsons paste wax to try instead of the old Simonized wax. My thinking is that the wax will help prevent rusting, but have noticed that the metal polish also leave a coat of wax, so I don't use the paste wax where I have used the metal polish.

Have you used paste wax in your restoration projects?

I have been a little afraid of using power tools, because of the potential of doing damage very quickly. With hand tools, it is far less likely for me to damage the tools. That said, I have been tempted to try a bit in the way of power tool usage. The power methods I have thought about include: 1. some very mild bead blasting on the bed of some of my planes to clean off the rust that is hard to take off, and 2. a Dremel with a fine ss wire brush, if they make one, to get into places that area really difficult to get at with a hand brush such as the inside corners on the back of a plane lever cap.

That said, again, your process does a very nice job, and the results look great. Thus, the results speak for themselves, so since your results look great, it say a lot about your technique. I am going to read your post again to see what I can pick up to improve my own restoration efforts.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Stew,
it does sound as if we're running in parallel courses with cleaning. I've tried using mineral spirits as you do, but since it has some known CNS toxic properties and I was using a lot when I tried it on some tools, I figured I'd have to find a better alternative. I had read somewhere on a forum that Simple Green worked, so I tried it and i think I get better results than with the mineral spirits - give it a try if you have access to it.

As far as any major differences, the brushwork may be a detail that helps you quicken your process (if I understand it right); if you got at least a brush like the first one and use steady long strokes (like a saw-use all the length) with light pressure so it's just the tips of the bristles, it removes a lot of rust and crud very quickly. After that, your Scotchbrite pads shouldn't need to be used as much.

I have used paste wax before, but I read a study (I think in Fine Woodworking, maybe repeated here) that waxes tend to evaporate or "fall off" faster than some of the other corrosion protectants AND I tended to glop it into small cracks and nooks so it looked pretty bad when it dried up after sitting in the hot shed. That's why I switched to sprays, although the WD-40 -like solutions aren't supposed to last very long (in comparison to, say, Boeshield T-9) but my tools seem to be doing well for the last few years.

I think rust is a cascading effect - once you get a light surface coating, the roughness/ dusty rust will hold moisture, which then rusts more, and on and on - so in my observations at least, bringing the metal back to a smooth state will help prevent rust on its own. A little oil/ wax of any kind will encourage any condensation to slip away if it does form, and probably most important is preventing dust from settling on tools by keeping them covered or in a box. The dust also wicks moisture and holds it against the metal, allowing rust to begin (have you ever seen horizontal pipes in a shop rust on the top half first? I think it must be because of dust settling on the top and holding moisture - otherwise, gravity implies that they should rust on the bottom first. My old Shopmate's rails were rusted this way). Of course, I could be full of it...

Thanks for your comments, let's see some of your handiwork next
Karl

[Jim Koepke]

Great write up Karl.

Hopefully one of the moderators can find this a spot in the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs section for future readers looking for tool cleaning information.

The brace makes me think of Eastern Europe or the old Soviet Union for some reason.

jtk

[Dave Anderson NH]

Threads like this are quite useful. I will leave this thread and Mike Allen's about saw restoration on the forum for about a week after the last post is added to the thread. At that point the threads will be moved to the Neander Sticky area at the top of the Neanderthal page so that they will be permanently available to forum users and don't get lost.

[Kim Malmberg]

Hi Karl
The real authorities as far as uncommon bit braces are concerned are people like George Langford (georgesbasement.com) and Sanford Moss (sydnassloot.com). If you get in contact with either of them, I'm sure they can tell you more.

I have a feeling this might be a close match to your brace:
http://www.georgesbasement.com/braces/ChantrellChantrell055.htm

The two braces are not identical but the ratchet mechanism seems to fit. Also note that George's example has lost it's original ratchet selector pins, which seems to be intact on yours.

Looks like a fine brace, and I'm full of envy.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Karl,

I also use wire brushes a lot. On the plane currently underway, a type 10 Stanley Bailey #4, I also used the light touch on my smaller ss brush, and in fact my smaller brushes look exactly the same type that you use. Previously I had used a much heavier hand which quickly broomed out the bristles. Because of the brooming action from using a heavy hand, and also finding that the tips of the bristles actually got into the small low spots better to clean out the rust, I began to use a light hand, as you do. Like you mentioned, I found that the fine tips, if only used very lightly, would get into the small low spots better, and do a good job of cleaning out the rust, so have worked at being more careful with my brushes.

I do not have a narrow wire brush like your photo shows, but have wanted one to get into narrow places where wider brushes can't easily reach. That is where I tend to bear down, and broom out bristles of the fine wire brushes. Having a really narrow brush with only one, or at most two, rows of bristles would really help. I will find one sooner or later. I have even thought about pulling out a couple of rows of bristles, leaving one row, for that purpose, but decided it would be too much trouble.

I believe you are right about the rust. I don't think the patina hurts either, do not believe it promotes true rust, and in fact it seems to inhibit actual rust, much like gun blue does. True rust is a complex mixture of iron oxides, iron hydroxides, iron carbonates, mixed iron hydroxyl carbonates, etc. Some of the compounds are also what are chemically referred to as hydrates, which means that they have water molecules bound in as part of the molecule. The problem with these compounds is that they tend to be hydroscopic, which means they tend to draw moisture, which tends to migrate to the bottom of the rust right to where it is against the steel itself. Oxygen from the air then dissolves in the moisture, and it in turn attacks the iron in the steel, making more rust. So it is as you suspect, a self perpetuating process.

I had not used one of my nylon brushes to clean off the just plain dirt, pitch from wood, and oil, etc. Good idea, and I will remember it. I have tended to use paper towels and cotton tipped swabs, etc., with mineral spirits, but the nylon bristle brushes should work much better I think.

Again, thanks for the good information.

Stew

[Chuck Hart]

Karl thanks for posting this again. It was just what I wanted to read. It will be good to have this up as a sticky.

Chuck

[Dan Duperron]

Question about the Simple Green. Which form do you use? I buy the stuff by the gallon and use it for all sorts of things, but always diluted. They also make a spray that is diluted I think compared to the gallon formula.

Thanks for posting your methods.

[Karl Andersson]

Thanks for the interest, you'all; a couple of coments:

Kim - thank you very much for finding that; I looked on both those sites, but apparently didn't dig far enough into George's basement to find that one. Yes, the "chuck" assembly is identical, and the rachet selection pin arrangement matches the first patent illustration. The main difference is the selector "cap" with the knobs, but apparently the inventor was very active in trying different models. The chuck jaws are also different, but in the same line of thinking. I'll take this lead and do more research and let you know what I find. P.S., this was one of the more interesting braces I've got in my "brace tangle" (the pile of braces I've been forced to take by flea market vendors when I'm buying another tool - must be about 30 by now). If you NEED a brace infusion in Finland, we can work out a deal....BTW, my wife just pointed out a new airline called Wow that flies from Baltimore to Reykjavik for some ridiculously low price, like $200....maybe I need to bring a suitcase full of tools. Or you can fly here when it's warm and I'll take you to a flea market or three.

Stew, thanks for the chemical explanation - I think I'd read somewhere that the "browning" used on gun barrels was somehow chemically different than regular rust, but I'm not sure - do you know? I've seen that the traditional process was to brown the barrel, then burnish the coating with a piece of hardwood endgrain, then oil it...I'm tempted to try that on an old Stanley brace that was never plated and has an even coat of surface rust. Might look nice, or might look like a polished turd -I'll let you know.

Dan, I originally just used the spray bottle contents, but when it emptied I started using the gallon refill in the spray bottle. I never checked to see if it was concentrated or not; it seems to work the same. I got both at Home Depot, if that helps. I don't use it as a dip tank, just spray on a heavy coating (in a paint roller pan) and let it sit for a while. When I sprayed the hammer heads above, the Simple Green froze in the pan because the woodstove hadn't heated my shed completely yet, so the gallon size I have still has plenty of water. I think it was about 21 degrees F when I went out.

Jim, thanks for your support

Karl

[Stew Denton]

Hi Karl,

I don't know about the composition of gun barrel browning. I know from past study that conventional cold bluing is conversion of a very thin surface layer of steel to magnetite, Fe3O4, which then passivates the steel surface to an extent, and especially when kept oiled lightly will retard rusting.

I didn't know about the browning process, so looked a bit. I could not find anything on browning from chemistry, so looked in general. The gun browning articles that I found describe the browning as a fine layer of Fe2O3. The browning is done in such a way that it is a very thin passivating layer that adheres tightly to the steel surface, as I think you were thinking. This thin layer of Fe2O3 then also passivates the steel surface, and also again, especially with a thin layer of oil, helps also to protect the steel surface from true rusting to a strong extent.

If the information is correct, it would appear that the browning process prevents formation of the iron hydroxides, carbonates, hydrates, that are hydroscopic and are the bad actors in rust that helps encourage further true rusting. The browning process is acid based, so the process would likely prevent some of the above materials, because the acid would react with the precursors and neutralize or eliminate them. Apparently the pure Fe2O3 layer again passivates the surface, again especially with oil, in somewhat the same way that bluing does. The key, from my thinking then, is again a PURE layer of Fe2O3 that has none of the other bad actors.

Sorry I couldn't give a better answer, and in fact I would like to better understand the process myself.

That said, I have an old Stanley Bailey #5 type 12 plane that has a beautiful patina on the body and lever cap, that has not even the slightest hint of rust. The body and lever cap are a beautiful glossy brown. I am really tempted to leave the body and lever cap of that plane completely alone, and just clean them thoroughly with a soft cloth and mineral spirits, and then wax them. I would still refinish the tote and knob, and clean up the iron, chip breaker, etc. The bed of the plane has some significant rust spots, and I might clean those spots up, strip off the old Japanning, and redo the Japanning on the bed and frog. If I did that, cleaned the plane thoroughly, cleaned and polished the brass parts, and cleaned up and polished the other metal parts, the plane might look spectacular with the body having a nice glossy medium brown patina. I've got to think it over, but right now that is what I am strongly leaning toward.

Stew

[Stew Denton]

Hi Karl,

I looked over the #5 again better this morning, and it does have some small spots of light rust on the body, unlike I was thinking, and the color is kind of a brownish-greyish instead of a true brown. It is also polished, like it has been waxed or something. It makes me wonder what the previous owner had done to make it have the luster. I am still thinking about restoring it with the existing patina intact. Because of the small light rust spots, I will probably use just the light brush strokes, because I do not want to take off the patina.

After reading your comments at the top, I am thinking that the very light brushing might take off the very light rusting, but will leave the patina. If this is not the case please advise. I have another plane or two to restore before starting on that one, so it will be a while before starting on that one.

Today is supposed to be really nice outside, in the 70s, so I will want to be outside working on at least one plane.

Stew

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Stew,
I think for the #5, I'd do the process backwards to conserve as much color as you want - start with the small bush and use a light scrubbing stroke to polish and burnish what's there. If that leaves too much behind, then go to a broken-in larger brush and do the shoeshine strokes without any liquids at first - then maybe just a bit on any rusted or pitted areas to clean them out if you feel it's needed. I am using just the small brush to dry-scrub and polish an old Stanley SW-logo 966 brace that is an overall chocolate brow...it looks pretty good so far on my test areas - it just doesn't help you find the logo which is very lightly engraved on the chuck housing.

Thanks for the chemistry explanation - I think browning boils down to having a controlled coating of rust that is burnished and saturated with oil so no more rust forms. that's my story and I'm sticking with it...
Karl

[Stew Denton]

Karl,

The very light brushing seems to take off the very light spots of rust, as best as I can tell. It does not seem to attack the existing patina very much. After the rust has been cleaned off, there seems to be a patina under where it was, but again the rust spots are very light.

My question at this point, is will the metal polish take off the patina in your experience. I am using Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream, which is for chrome, aluminum, and mag wheels. It described as being safe for all metals, and then lists chrome, aluminum, magnesium, brass, gold, copper, silver, stainless steel, and even fiberglass.

My guess is that it is safe for the patina, but I don't know. I also would guess that most of the metal polishes that are OK for soft metal will not bother the patina, if you don't get too vigorous with it, but I don't know for sure, and don't want to find out the hard way. I do have an old plane body with a crack at the mouth, which has a similar patina, and so I may experiment on that one.

At any rate, I wondered if you had any experience with the patina as to whether the metal polish would take it off or not.

For what it's worth, I haven't gotten outside yet today, because I am trying to finish up the #4 today. I had the little parts left to finish, so have been working on them, and have only a tiny little bit left, so hope to finish it up in the next 30 minutes or so.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Rich Riddle]

Thanks for the information. It provided a good deal of knowledge and offers quite a bit of practical value. It's much appreciated.

[Karl Andersson]

you're welcome Rich - it's a good winter activity or for in-between projects...very meditative and relaxing.

Stew, I have used the metal polish on "patina" areas next to remaining plated areas I was shining and it did not remove the patina, or at least not much of it. The car products tend to have some wax in them, so initially at least, they make the patinated area very shiny, but still darkened. In fact, it doesn't seem to do much at all to patina except the shine, so it might not be worth doing unless you're looking for extra gloss. The polish on the cloth usually blackens immediately from the oxidized metal, but the abrasives are so fine I don't think they can do much. I haven't done a plane body - it might reduce the friction on the sides and bottom, making it easier to plane or shoot.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Karl,

I just wanted to provide a heartfelt thank you for the detailed explanation with supporting photographs. This thread has been very helpful for me.

It never occurred to me to try try simple green. I have certainly spent time using an oil that is almost a thin jelly consistency along with steel wool to remove rust. I was also thinking about giving electrolysis a try just to see how that comes out.

[Chris Hachet]

Karl,

I just wanted to provide a heartfelt thank you for the detailed explanation with supporting photographs. This thread has been very helpful for me.

It never occurred to me to try try simple green. I have certainly spent time using an oil that is almost a thin jelly consistency along with steel wool to remove rust. I was also thinking about giving electrolysis a try just to see how that comes out.

Simple green worked out fantastic on that vintage #3 Stanley that I acquired from you...

[Chris Hachet]

Threads like this are quite useful. I will leave this thread and Mike Allen's about saw restoration on the forum for about a week after the last post is added to the thread. At that point the threads will be moved to the Neander Sticky area at the top of the Neanderthal page so that they will be permanently available to forum users and don't get lost.

This would be really helpful to guys like myself who are still learning the fundamentals of hand tool woodworking.

[Karl Andersson]

I'm glad this is useful information - should be a bunch of clean tools ready to start the spring woodworking season. In addition to the Simple Green (other cleansers may work, but I know this one does and doesn't have bleach in it), I think what works best for me is the tips-only brushing. It seems to be easy on the metal but cleans quickly - and the brush lasts a long time.

One thing I forgot to warn about; be careful with PB Blaster if that's what you use for penetrating oil - if the wood is bare or has cracks in the finish, it will stain your wood dark, darker than just an oil stain. I screwed up a saw handle with it while trying to loosen the bolts before I figured that out. It can suck into the end grain where even cleaners can't remove it.