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Many paint shops will do small custom paint matching (Sherwin Williams here in Canada) but I would just look for a similar color in a rattle can. Many modern spray can type paints for metal come ‘self priming’ but if you have a lot of old rust on the metal, you have to neutralize (convert) the rust. I would recommend Ospho (follow the directions, it basically converts active rust over to a stable compound). For any project that is going to be exposed to damp (workshop/garage) I would definitely not skip that.
Preparation is 90% of any paint job, so preparing and cleaning the surfaces (and masking what you don’t want to paint) is what takes up most of the time and what determines the success of the process. The tommy bar is going to turn brown with use, even if you polish it. Both of mine are brown after decades of use. I would just clean and wax it.The real ferrules are sized by tool size, thick brass, have a sharp bevel on the end towards the wood, and these are still available but expensive- I found them on eBay-UK.
If you want inexpensive ferrules for cheap chisel restoration, visit truck hydraulic repair places. They have thin brass ferrules they use on the ends of hoses- dozens of sizes- that work OK. They are inexpensive (sold in boxes of 25 or something), and so you can put ferrules on all your handles, for files, etc. I have even removed cheap plastic handles from old chisels and made snazzy new wood handles with these ferrules- they look great.You have options. You can drill the hole before you turn the handle, but then you have to be sure the hole is mounted on a short straight dowel or jam-chuck before you turn the outside.
OR you can drill slightly oversize, then epoxy by eye.
OR If your blank is mounted on your lathe in a chuck, that’s easy, because the drill will naturally self Center, (on low speed, I bring the drill mounted on the tail stock chuck into the spinning wood, the drill will naturally only cut in the centreline)
OR you can go old- school, drill the hole in the blank, then mount your tool, then hand carve the handle to suit by hand tools only (tapered octagonal handles were traditional in early America- no ferrules, just a bit of straight grained ash)
I second Blackburn tools. He is an owner/ operator craftsman who makes beautiful saws and saw parts. Highly recommended. I had a great experience dealing with him- he was very attentive when I had some concerns about my order. The split nuts he sells are the best quality.
Hi Sam
I disagree with the advice above. I own a set of the chisels on the lower part of the photo that I bought new in 1989 or so. They are excellent quality and will serve you for a lifetime. The steel is excellent on my set and I use them daily, far more than my expensive Lie Nielsen chisels (the handles constantly fall out of their sockets with every change in humidity,despite hairspray etc). I put them in my tool box when ever I need to go on site, and they hold a great edge. Buy them, you won’t regret it. They will last your whole life (I’ve had mine for over 25 years). These romantic illusions that wood handle chisels are better for everything is baloney. Plastic replaced wood because it is practical and almost indestructible. Although I like wood handles, plastic is just fine if that is all you have. Like Paul says, go for it.i think the d23 were thin bladed saws so the saw plate might be thin enough for all sorts of stuff?
Scrapers can be thick or thin, depends.
Also chair Devils, and who says scrapers have to rectangles? Different shapes can be handy for other projects, rounded for spoons etc. I would not throw the blade or the handle out. Reuse recycle up cycleI used a chunk of maple for mine. I just made a cutting board with the breadboard ends out of a board of honey locust that grows around here in Canada. That stuff is hard as a rock, but mine was air dried if that makes any difference. I was thinking that it would make a great mallet. I’ll have to look around after the next wind storm to see if anyone is cutting one down to try it. I also had a board of black locust. Apparently the old timers used to use the lumber for fencing. Anyways if anyone gets the chance to get some of these species, they are really hard woods (I beat on a section with a steel hammer and could not dent it, but I’m not sure about resistance to splitting though)
Mineral oil is often sold in pharmacies and grocery stores. It is pure, food safe, and will not adversely affect your finishes in these small amounts used. It is non drying. But I vote for wax also.
White canning wax (paraffin) is probably the most convenient- I don’t have to worry about spillage or worry about oil stains if I accidentally leave some of my wood lying on the oily cloth as project parts start piling up on my bench. Canning wax is very inexpensive- a package will likely last you for a few years. Just break off a couple of pieces and leave them at the point of use on the bench, next to your drills, etc. I leave some with the wood screws- a little scrape of wax makes a big difference when trying to drive screws.I want to add my experience with DMT. I purchased the coarse one first, and I also found that it lost all its aggressive cut within a few months.
I then purchased the lapping plate, with the same experience. I have not contacted the company yet about this, but after reading this, I think I will complain. I was just blaming myself- I thought maybe I had been using too much pressure or something. I was careful on how much pressure I was using when I got my second coarse plate. Both of my plates lost their aggressive cutting action within a few months, and it did not seem to make any difference when I used a more gentle technique with the second plate I purchased. From my experience, which seems to agree with others on this question, it may be that these plates will always re-fracture the diamond edges after a short period of use. They still cut, but they are not effective for rapid reshaping operations anymore. Although Paul’s advice and experience has typically always been rock solid, our experience with these coarse plates seems to differ from his. Either company (DMT or EZ Lap) seems to have the same issues, so either both have changed their manufacturing techniques (unlikely) or PS is using a lighter touch or something to get his stones to work well for years. For people that just want to flatten some soles, they maybe should consider using some coarse automotive wet/dry papers on a flat surface to get to where they want to be without this expense. Like others have found, the medium to superfine diamond plates work exceptionally well, and I have personally not found the rapid deterioration of performance in those grits (most of mine are DMT, though, so maybe others could report on their experience with other brands). I have also purchased the cone shaped and round honing sets from DMT, and these have been wonderful for gouges and lathe tools with no significant deterioration of performance with use.
In summary, the coarse and extra coarse plates do not seem to maintain their aggressive cutting action for more than a few months, (but it may be that I have been using them incorrectly) . I would be interested in hearing about the experiences of others.
Many thanks for all the info here! -
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