Best Way To Clean / Treat Found Tools

[Dennis Towns]

Found these old tools in a widows shed, got any good ideas of how to clean them up and treat them so they feel and work better? Thanks for input

 

[A.McPherson]

Wire bush and some solvent!

 

[Dennis Towns]

Like mineral spirits?

 

[GoldSkula]

I would Wire brush+wd40 and then perhaps but them back in the forge to give them a nice black surface.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Start with a wire brush. Sandblasting also works to clean off the surface rust.

If the rust on the surface is really bad, after wire brushing all you can off, use a phosphoric acid based rust remover. Apply it and wait half an hour, wash off, wire brush, repeat as needed. When done, start the kerosene soak and method below.

Soak in kerosene for a few weeks. A wall-papering tray works great for long handled things like tongs. Or, use a quench tank full of kerosene. A PVC tube will also work with kerosene. Wire brush to remove what rust you can. Try to get them to break free so they will open and close. Sometimes striking the rivet and from the side with a hammer will free up a stuck joint. Use rust buster or penetrating oil if needed.

If still stuck, drill out the rivet, clean up the joint with a file, and put in a new rivet.

On tools where you can't put in a new rivet and the joints are still stuck or very stiff after the kerosene treatment and penetrating oil:
Use a torch and heat up the joint area. Work the jaws hard while hot. If they still won't budge, heat again to around 400-500F and dunk in the quench tank. Pull out and work hard. Repeat as needed to break down the binding surfaces.

When freed up, oil the jaws well with penetrating oil and give a the rest good coating of WD-40 . Work them every few days to get back into shape. Reapply the penetrating oil after every use.

 

[Dennis Towns]

Thank you all for the input. I can open them all so I think wire brushing and soaking will do the most. Maybe some kind of a low heat treat will permeate some solvent back into the metal and get that nice black handling look.

 

[weo]

I've heard good things about a product called Evaporust.

 

[Keith Nix]

I've heard good things about a product called Evaporust.

I've used Evaporust on some nasty, messed up axes. It removes rust and claims to only interact with the iron oxides while not touching the non rusted steel. Chelation is the process. Takes a couple of days, but worth the wait.

 

[Wyo Coyote]

I agree with evaporust. Or WD-40 and steel wool. I usually follow up with something called boat soup (equal parts turpentine, pine tar and linseed oil or mineral oil). Slather it on and heat with torch until it starts to smoke. Let cool and rub off excess. Seem to penetrate the metal a bit and keeps rust at bay.

 

[Alex Topfer]

Or, use a quench tank full of kerosene.

Sounds fun if you get quench tanks confused

 

[ChristoDart]

Not related to cleaning but I feel this should be brought back. It’s a good read for rust prevention after cleaning them up. http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

 

[MBB]

I'm a big fan of deburring wheels for removing rust. I run mine on a lathe at low power and it works very well.