Cleaning Tools from woodworking.com

This discussion about cleaning hand tools ended up as chock-full of advice. - Editor

"I just purchased my first foray into rusted tools. Great. Well, I have read some of the techniques for cleaning, and I need much smaller steps." - Toby R.

One respondent, for example, went into a great deal of detail. - Editor

"Here's what I would do (and I would probably do them one at a time so as not to mix up the parts): First, disassemble the plane completely. Take out the blade and lever cap, remove the screw from the chipbreaker, take out the frog screws, frog adjusting screw, adjusting knob, etc. Lay all the parts out on a work surface that you don't mind getting filthy. I use discarded bubble wrap on top of corrugated cardboard (from a torn-apart box).Set aside the knob and tote for now.

"Spray all the metal parts thoroughly with WD-40® and let 'em soak it up for a while. Sometimes I'll let them sit overnight, sometimes I'll just give them a couple of hours. Take a green Scotch-Brite™ pad (I usually cut it into two or three pieces; they're easier to handle that way) and start scrubbing off the rust. Wipe down frequently with paper towels so you can see what you've got. For the screws and other small parts, a brass brush about the size of a toothbrush is helpful.

"Now you can get a good idea of what kind of shape the thing is in, whether it's just surface rust or if it goes deeper. If just surface rust, keep at it with the Scotch-Brite. If that doesn't do it, I'll take a small piece of 220- or 320-grit silicon carbide (wet/dry) sandpaper at the tough spots. For the screws and other small parts, I'll use a wire wheel in my Dremel tool. They also have little Scotch-Brite-like wheels, but I've found that they wear extremely fast and are hardly worth the investment.At this point, don't worry too much about the sole and sides of the plane; you'll work on those later.

"Once you've got it pretty well de-rusted, clean up the japanning. You can do this in warm soapy water, scrubbing with a toothbrush, or use something like Simple Green® or a citrus-type cleaner. If there are paint splatters, try a little mineral spirits to soften them, then see if you can scrape them off with your fingernail. Unless they're pretty big, I usually don't worry too much about them.

"Now you can turn your attention to the knob and tote. Start by scrubbing the grime off with a rag dipped in mineral spirits. That's usually as far as I go, but if you want to refinish them you can try to remove the old shellac with denatured alcohol and refresh it with a new application of shellac. I haven't done this, so I hope someone will come along and fill in the gaps.

"Once you've got things cleaned up, you want to keep them from rusting up again. I use a drop or two of 3-in-1 on the screws, and paste wax on the japanned surfaces, also the knob and tote. Reassemble the plane, and retract the blade so that it's well back from the mouth. You'll now be turning your attention to the sole and sides.

"Get yourself some wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper in several grits. I usually start with emery cloth, which is 80-grit, and go from that to 120 to 220 to 320 to 400. You'll need a dead flat surface - plate glass, a granite block, or even a jointer table will do. You'll need to lay the sandpaper flat and keep it from sliding around; I use the 3M 77 spray adhesive and stick the paper to a piece of glass. Spray the paper, not the glass. Starting with the coarsest grit, start lapping the sole and sides till you get a set of uniform, coarse scratches and you've removed the surface rust. I wouldn't try to go too deep for fear of weakening the body of the plane, so if there are any deep pits, don't worry about them for now. Progress through the grits, from coarse to fine, and at each step keep going till you've removed all the scratches from the previous grit. By the time you get through the 400, you should have pretty clean, smooth surfaces.

"That being said, while the cheeks don't necessarily need to be dead flat, the sole should be, at least at the toe and directly in front of the mouth (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I usually take a Sharpie® marker and scribble some lines across the bottom of the sole. Once these are lapped out all the way across, I know it's flat. Any marks that remain indicate a low spot; you'll have to take down the high spots, which are now shiny, to get it flat.

"Apply a good coat of paste wax to the sides and soles, sharpen up the blade, and you should be good to go." - Erin

The original poster, and some others, found this tutorial helpful. - Editor

"Thanks. Very clear. I don't think they are as bad as they may look. I used a brass brush on one, and the rust seemed to be light." - Toby R.

"A lot of good, common sense strategy here. I have a few similar projects waitin' for attention, and it's nice to know someone else out there believes in using mostly old fashioned 'grease' to get results. 'Elbow' grease, that is!I've also been wondering where to get a piece of plate glass thick enough to use. DUH! I have a couple of pieces of polished granite layin' around!" - Marvinsson

And a few others had a few things to add. - Editor

"What is often overlooked is the cap iron itself. It is vital that it prefectly flush with the iron straight across, otherwise choking will be an ongoing problem. I fettle the cap iron using 200-grit silicon carbide (on the glass lubed w/oil) with the cap iron's end at a slight angle below the surface." - Dano

"I've found that vinegar works quite well for ridding the surfaces of rust, and letting the screws and other small parts sit overnight in a small container of vinegar make it a breeze to clean them up with an old toothbrush, etc. it does leave a sort of greyish surface color to the metal, but electrolysis does also. Regardless of what is used to remove the rust, it is important to get a coating of some sort of thin oil onto the surfaces as they are very susceptible to re-rusting immediately after having removed the old rust." - Sawduster

-- with a word of caution on that last one from another poster. - Editor

"The distilled vinegar worked great on steel and is a lot less fuss than electrolysis while yielding the same results. I think some restraint is in order for cast-iron parts, though: I forgot about an old frog that was soaking in the vinegar bath (four or five days). It came out so badly etched that previously smooth machined surfaces now appear 'as cast.'" - D. Carter

Sanding Epoxy Inlays from Woodweb

This discussion is short and sweet: one woodworker asked a question about how to finish a specific project, and a fellow woodworker answered, based on his own experience. - Editor

"We have been making large slab tables and filling large voids with a wood inlay and then covering with epoxy. My question is that, in an effort to sand the epoxy to a glass-like finish, we also have to sand the surrounding wood to a very high grit: 1,500. Is there a worry that the final finish, 'satin oil poly,' will not stick to the finely sanded wood? Is there a better way to sand the epoxy to a glass finish?" -J.K.

"I've been doing the same, except for using black fresco powder mixed into the epoxy, which makes the epoxy look like a dark part of the wood, especially on woods like walnut. I just sand to the same grit as the rest of the piece, usually 220. The finish will then make the epoxy as glossy as you wish. The finish will make the epoxy transparent. I made a table many years ago where I actually made a dam around some parts of the slab and poured it full of epoxy, about 1/4" - 1/2" at a time. After sanding it, yes, it was cloudy and I couldn't see through it, but the first coat of finish made the whole epoxy buildup look like glass. It was something called "Humicure", which I can no longer get in California. Don't know if it's still available anywhere else. As I said, this was years ago. But I would think that any clear film finish would accomplish the same thing." - Peter S.