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If you love tools, you’ve probably experienced the strange magnetic force that old, rusty tools have. They grab your attention and keep you hooked. Next, you’ll have to scrape away the rust with your thumbnail, trying to spot the manufacturer’s name.
As memories come flooding back, you try to remember how that forgotten tool came to be in your hands. Maybe you bought it at a garage sale, or maybe you inherited it from your dad. Or maybe you borrowed it from a neighbor and forgot to return it? “Everyone has these little hidden gems,” said editor Richard Romanski, an experienced woodworker and avid tool collector. “They’re pretty easy to fix.”
We gathered up a bunch of rusty, worn-out tools and headed to his shop, a spacious old church in North Salem, New York. We discovered that all it took to restore rusty old tools to like-new condition was a basic understanding of chemistry, a little patience, and some brawn. Here’s a breakdown of how we removed years of rust from a table saw, some rusty hand tools, and some dull precision cutting tools.
A table saw that sits in an unheated garage, workshop, or shed will rust quickly. Moisture condenses on the steel and cast iron parts because they are colder than the surrounding air. It is then only a matter of time before you start to see rust and dents.
Rust is not only unsightly, but it also makes it difficult for the wood to slide across a table that should be perfectly smooth. Rust can also affect the adjustment mechanism, making it difficult to raise and lower the saw blade or tilt the saw blade to make bevel cuts. At a church auction, we found the circa 1980 Craftsman table saw pictured above. Its table was badly rusted and some of the parts were out of place. But we knew that for just $80, we could restore it to good working order.
We knew we needed to transport the saw to a warm, dry location, so we took it off its mobile stand, loaded it onto a Ford F-150, and drove it down the street to Romanski’s studio. Then began the tedious process of disassembly: We removed the cast-iron fenders on both sides of the saw table, then removed the engine. TIP: Before disassembling, take pictures of the saw and label each part. This will make reassembly easier.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that the saw had a stock motor with two capacitors: one to start the motor and one to supply additional power to the running winding. The motor shaft and pulleys were intact, but everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. We quickly cleaned the saw cavity and chassis with compressed air.
Now it’s time to clean the rust off the saw table and extension wings. First, we wet the surface with kerosene, which acts as a cutting fluid. After letting the kerosene soak in for an hour, we polish the rust off using a variable-speed drill fitted with a 2.5-inch nylon cup brush filled with 240-grit aluminum oxide abrasive. We turn the drill slowly to about 500 RPM and move it back and forth across the surface for a few minutes. The cup brush removes the rust without damaging the surface. We then reattach the extensions to the saw and gently tap them with a light hammer to align them with the saw table.
With a new 10-inch carbide-tipped saw blade mounted on the spindle, Romanski uses the saw’s straightedge to ensure the blade is perfectly square to the table. When the saw blade is at 90 degrees, the pointer on the saw’s bevel scale should read 0 degrees; if not, move the pointer to zero. We then adjusted the sliding fence and its locking mechanism to ensure it was securely locked and perfectly parallel to the saw blade.
The adjustment is complete when Romanski reinstalls the motor and uses a long steel straightedge to align the motor pulley with the pulley on the saw shaft. This is an important step because if the pulleys are not aligned, excessive vibration will cause premature wear on the belts and bearings. We then apply polishing wax to the repaired metal surface to prevent future rust, reattach the saw to the stand, and make a few test cuts. The saw runs smoothly, cuts easily, and looks great!
Rusty hand tools seem to be found everywhere: in sheds, basements, and garages, in old forgotten toolboxes, in car trunks, and, of course, at yard sales across the country. The original wooden handles are often cracked, rotted, or missing altogether. The steel head is so rusty that just looking at it can give you tetanus.
To repair several ball-peen hammers and a few axes, we first had to remove the remains of their handles. Using a handsaw, we trimmed the stumps of the handles flush with the tool heads, then clamped each head in a vice and knocked off the last of the handle with a hammer and punch.
To remove years of corrosion, we soaked the blade in a bucket with a gallon of white vinegar. We covered the bucket with a piece of plywood and let the parts soak for about four hours. We then used grade 1 steel wool to remove all the rust from the surface. This did not remove all the rust, but it made a noticeable difference. Place the tips back in the vinegar, this time leaving them to soak overnight. We then buffed them again with steel wool and all the rust was gone. We rinsed the tools thoroughly in clean water to remove any remaining vinegar, then wiped them dry.
Some of the tool heads were badly dented, so we smoothed them out using a disc sander with 100-grit abrasive. Several of the ball-peen hammers had the metal around the striking surface of the head abraded from repeated impact. To repair the damage, we clamped each hammer head in a vice and hand sanded the surface smooth.
Finally, I wiped the tools down with mineral spirits, primed the metal with a rust-preventing primer (we used sprayable Rust-Oleum), and painted with a high-gloss alkyd enamel. The axe blade was hand-sharpened on a series of terrazzo stones used to make woodworking tools. We finish each tool by inserting a walnut handle into the hollow head.
The first step in restoring a precision instrument is to carefully disassemble it and separate the corroded parts from the clean ones. In the case of the aircraft shown here, the corrosion on the airframe is not as severe as it might appear at first glance. We removed most of the rust with a wire brush. We then sanded the planed bottom with a series of sandpapers, starting with very coarse 60 grit and finishing with superfine 1000 grit.
We attached the sandpaper to a flat work surface and ran it over the body of the plane, switching ends every six to eight passes. We used a few drops of odorless white spirit as a cutting fluid. The body of the plane became smooth and even, without rust, with only small pits.
We then sanded the plane on a horizontal wet grinding wheel, even sanding the back of the plane so that it was flat a few inches behind the cutting edge. This ensures that the chipbreaker fits snugly against the plane without getting caught or tearing out chips.
After sharpening, we removed the lever cap and chip breaker from the plane and polished them with jeweler’s red polish on a muslin polishing wheel.
With over 40 years of woodworking experience, Romanski is responsible for the final inspection of the plane. After machine sanding, he carefully polishes the terrazzo to give the plane a mirror finish. He assembles and adjusts a salvaged airplane iron and test flies it on a clean piece of pine. The result is a tool that cuts perfectly, leaving long, silky shavings with every pass.
Roy Berendson has been with Popular Mechanics for more than 25 years, writing about carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor electrical work. When he’s not fixing his own homes, he volunteers at Sovereign Grace Church, performing home repairs for families in rural, suburban, and urban areas throughout central and southern New Jersey.
Joe is a former carpenter and cabinetmaker who has written extensively on finishing, woodworking, and toolmaking technology. He has written eight books and is the editor of Popular Mechanics magazine. He also appears on the Today’s Homeowner television show and co-hosts the weekly Today’s Homeowner radio show. Joe writes from his home in Roxbury, Connecticut.