Reply To: Today's buys.
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Andrew, go to Supercheap Auto, and get yourself a 5L thingo of Evapo-rust. Until you’ve cleaned those tools up, it’s going to be difficult to say if they’re any good.
Obviously your biggest problems are going to be the handles, although the saw handle seems like you might get away with just a clean up. Lee Valley or Veritas (I forget which) have plans floating around so you can make your own replacement totes and knobs. Those planes are beyond the point of restoring to original condition, so you might as well make them your own.
If necessary, you can buy replacement blades for the planes most places, I think even Bunnings sells them.
You’re also likely going to have to re-spray the planes, because I suspect the rust treatment will lift the japanning (it’s likely the rust goes under it anyway). That’s a great opportunity to choose a colour you like for your own personal tools. I myself like Brunswick Green, but you might like a yellow or a red, who knows.
A fantastic link to restoring a plane from junk to mint is here:
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f152/hand-plane-restoration-pictorial-pt-1-a-29549/
Bad Axe Toolworks have some good info on restoring handsaws too, so you might look into that. A good test is, once you remove the rust, if you can bend the saw plate fairly aggressively to the side, and it springs back to straight, then you have some steel worth working with.
Best of luck!
PS. The article I linked recommends electrolysis with a Stainless Steel cathode for rust removal. Evapo-rust is a much better option. Electrolysis is expensive and fiddly, and you certainly should not use stainless steel as a cathode.