How To Restore A Carpenter's Square
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Hi,
Another shed find that my Dad gave me, my great grandfather’s carpenter’s square. It’s been in a wet garden shed since 1967, when my great grandfather passed.
Does anyone know if it is possible to take it apart? I’d love to be able to soak the metal arm in rust remover, but don’t want to put the wood in.
I gave the handle a clean on one side, and see there is a brass plate with pins. Is this holding the handle together, or just decorative?
You’ll see the handle is damaged, but I think I can tidy that up.
Thanks
Darren.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.16 September 2016 at 1:48 pm #140261I’ve just done a similar project – I was buying two walnut wardrobes from a house clearance and the seller happened to mention that she wanted to get rid of some tools from the shed!
A #4 Stanley, clamps, surforms, bench vise and a carpenters square similar to yours for close to nothing!
If the blade is solidly attached (i.e. doesn’t move when you wiggle it) you should be OK – I just removed as much of the rust as I could with steel wool and oiled it. It’s not shiny metal but I quite like that. I’ve had to true mine with the parallel lines method (draw a line with it on a piece of paper clamped to a table, then reverse the square and draw another from the same base point) and some abrasive paper. So the important bit, the actual edge, is perfectly flat.
1 October 2016 at 2:46 pm #141111I’m restoring a carpenters square also and I have found the best way to remove the rust from the blade is to scrape it with a razor blade. A wire wheel would just damage the brass and rosewood.
I’d scrub the blade down with 0000 (“four ought”–the finest grade generally available in the USA) steel wool soaked in WD40 or whatever penetrating oil you have on hand. This should take care of the rust if it’s not too heavy and preserve much of the original blued finish. You seem to be doing well with the handle (stock?) so keep up the good work!
It was your Great Granddad’s tool–an old tool and there’s no point in trying to make it look like a new tool. If you clean it up and put it to work again the old man would no doubt be very proud of you.
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