[rick-in-seattle]

I just returned home from a four day carving rendezvous to find a box of 40 rusty tools waiting for me.

I had been expecting them, but had no idea how bad they might be.
Most simply required buffing, but there were several Pfiel tools and one Diobsud that had suffered severe pitting.

I consider pits deeper than 1/16 inch as severe, especially when they are on the inside of a V-tool.

The story of how these tools met this fate is rather interesting.
They were sent to a gentleman to be sharpened and before they were finished, he up and died.

I am sure he didn't do it on purpose, but the result was these poor tools set in a damp workshop for quite some time while the children settled the estate. They were eventually returned to their owner who somehow found me.

I had never before seen a Diobsud V-tool that looked like a miniature corndog.
The oxidation was quite advanced and the Pfiel tools all had extreme pitting.

So, I will be in my shop looking for my magic wand if anybody needs me.

[wade clark]

Rick,
Sounds like you have your hands full...as usual!
I just need my order in time to send them for Christmas presents, so don't worry about mine. Take your time. Do what you need to do.
I was using one of the knives I got from you today and sure love it!
I hope you had a great time at your carving rendezvous! It's sure good to get away once in a while!
Wade

[AlArchie]

Rick, I managed to salvage a pair of deeply pitted "U" gouges I found in an antique store, but wouldn't know how to even start truing up the inside of a "V" tool. Good luck....if anyone can do it, you can, but would you please let the rest of us (or at least me) know how to work the inside V?

Hope your roun-day-voo (never could spell that word) was enjoyable!

Thanks,

Al

[Colin_Partridge]

Rick,
I remember what you did with those two knifes that my grandchildren were playing with in the back yard and I didnt find until I ran over them with the lawn tractor after them being there all winter. Those knifes are as good, no better than they were when I first purchased them. So if anyone can salvage those tools I know you can. I wont bother you it seems as if you are busy. Just wanted to know if your back carving yet or not.
Colin

[kaiserb]

I have had good luck using a Dico® (brand) Nylon Abrasive Brush to remove rust. I had an Ashley Iles 50mm #3 that was lost for some time. It ended up being in a bucket in the storage shed and was quite rusty. I found the Dico Brush cleaned it up well without removing metal or making brush marks on the steel. As for the pits you will probably have to burnish or draw metal down the bevel of the blade to sharpen it.

Link to brush: http://www.dicoproducts.com/nyalox.html

[rales]

Here's another cautionary tale of pitting... I recently bought some new Pfeil fishtails. My usual method of storing my tools is wood (cigar) boxes, modified with slots that will hold the tools securely. I have about 200+ tools, therefore lots of boxes... Anyway, these were full sized tools and it sometimes takes awhile to find a large enough box. So i decided to protect them with a cork for the time being... the new synthetic ones work well.... but make sure they are dry if they came off a wine bottle! One wasn't and the moisture - plus the acidic wine, pitted out a brand new gouge in about 2 months.... Luckily I use inner bevels on my gouges...

I'll be interested to hear what Rick comes up with for the v-tool...

rales

[rick-in-seattle]

I really didn't expect this much interest in reclaiming tools, but since there is, I will add a bit more information.

I started with 40 tools, most had light surface rust and about 18 were pretty bad. The tools that received the worst damage were the Pfiel and the Diobsud tools.

I worked on them 12 hours yesterday and restored and sharpened 32 tools.
The 8 most severely pitted tools I saved for last; (I was given the option of disposing of them if they cannot be repaired).

It will take some time, but I will save all of them.

The shallow gouges are fairly simple to repair, I cut a 1-1/2" thick wheel with a radius matching the tool , glue abrasive to the surface and move the tool perpendicular across the face of the slowly rotating wheel; (along the same axis as the shaft).

Deep Gouges require a drum sander or stone that matches the sweep; on the stones, I soften the sharp edges to prevent cutting grooves in the tool.

V-Tools present the most difficult repair, if the damage isn't too bad, I shape a hard Scotchbrite wheel to match the V, and work it carefully to avoid overheating the tool.

If the inside pitting is real bad, it may be necessary to hand-file to remove the pitting. At this point it may be a toss-up between repairing and replacing the tool.

However the pits are removed, it is necessary to bring the tool surface down to the depth of the deepest pit without changing the profile.

Once the machining is complete, I sometimes sand with wet-or-dry to remove the scratches and polish with a hemp wheel coated with an abrasive compound.

Most of the ferrules were loose from the moisture and had to be retightened or replaced. Several handles needed sanding and refinishing, but none required replacement.

I pulled the tang from the worst Pfiel to check for oxidation but it was sound.

Well, I need to get back to the shop and finish eight more tools.

Rick

[kaiserb]

I am glad to hear that most of the tools are back in working order...now you can put them back to work.