Should tools be restored?

[lt.luke]

thanks Roger. I dont' have much wood. Metal is good. I guess I'll get a couple of peices of wood and make them when i get home.

What is it maple?

[rejomj]

Found an excellet thread. A very good read. I was just going to start restoring my tools. Stared with my Ford Hand crank which was really rusted and though I would paint it OD after cleaning it up.

Next up would be my hub wrench along with 11" B&S, 12" Moore and GG's.

Someone suggested to paint the Hub Wrench (41-W) and adj wrenches black and use Melamine for the GG for natural finsh so that it can be removed anytime in the future. I still have to decide though, but I have to somehow preserve my tools.

[lucakiki]

This old thread is interesting enough to be revived, and that is exactly my reason for doing so.
Wingnutt will hopefully like it.

[Wingnutt]

Loved it. Took these notes:
- Rustoleum CAD-plating-like product, sold by Industrial Supply.
- AZ Jeff process: (1) bead-blast (2) blacken with Birchwood Casey gun blueing (3) wax w/Johnson's paste wax
- Roger on pliers: fine bristle brush, hand cleaner, and WD-40
- Roger, borrowing your tip on Hub Wrench, for open enders: thin coat flat black paint, rub with oil when dry to add a little luster
- Kevin Monahan suggests light rubbing with light steel wool for further "aging" effects on painted tools that have too much luster
- 11" adjustables are black jappaned by spec

I'd like to know if Roger is doing anything special for those IRWIN shanks other than usual: soaking in some kind of de-ruster gel or perhaps the muriatic acid, light scrubbing, oil, etc. They look brand new. My IRWIN shanks are both in very bad shape.

Also, what is the reference for original finishes for all the tools in the SNL? Where can I find it? I can pick it up here and there by inference by seeing what others are doing, but that is random hunt and peck...

[Chuck Lutz]

There in lies the rub....some mention of finishes in manuals or drawings is one thing...what you actually find is often something else...

The FORD wrench drawing calls for:
Chrome Molybdenum or SAE 1040 (alloy steel by the way)
P-3 RAVEN FINISH & PAINT and it calls for OD or Ocean Grey paint.

The Bizal kit has a 723 with NO raven finish and NO paint on it...the other four arguably could be said to be "P-3 Raven Finish" but don't have any OD or Ocean Grey paint on them....

So....how exactly can you decide to "restore" a set of Barcalos for a factory kit...? Bare like the 723? With some kind of finish on them but no PAINT? With an iron oxide "parkerization"? With that iron oxide finish and some OD?

I'm sitting on a nice set with minimum wear and a finish that resembles an iron oxide (more of a greyish than black finish though).

I'm waiting for more info to make any restoration decisions...

[Wingnutt]

Okay, good point, Chuck, but that was one example. (And, as you know, I have an MB...) Is your answer that I have to go to each part's engineering drawing? Then check other established sources (e.g., Greg K NOS kit) for possible tolerance/variance? All that information hasn't been digested by someone in a single 'Finishes' reference for everything in the SNL?

By the way, I'm a rookie so I can still stick my neck out, whether it ends up shame-faced red or not, to answer your rhetorical questions - I would say that if I was a GPW guy, I could use either the Ford drawing (I don't know how you can get more valid than that) or the Bizal kit (if I'm inferring correctly that it is like the Greg K kit in terms of its validity as a proven model). Unless I'm missing something, they aren't mutually exclusive, are they? (Meaning, there could be NOS GPW kits out there never found that comply perfectly with the Ford drawing, and there could be other kits never found that depart with some degree of variance.) Seems to me like you have two more or less trusty options and it could come down to personal preference then. No?

[lucakiki]

Wingnutt, in general MB tools should undergo the same rules that apply to any toolkit.
The tools should retain the finish that they had on delivery, when such a finish is still detectable or anyway known.
They can show a little use, and for motorpool traces of their military life can be tolerated or even welcome according to one's personal taste.
Regarding the Willys tools, the very famous Greg Kareofelas kit ( g503.com/tools ) is undeniably a very good clue for all MBs, but obviously not the perfect evidence for earlier MBs.
I rate it as having a better provenance than the Bizal kit, without for that detracting anything from the Bizal kit.
My opinion, possibly shared by others, and I will not repeat here the old wisecrack about opinions and...

The WOA drawings are an excellent source of information, as long as they are considered for what they are.
I sure wish Willys Motors would have shared more: I still wonder if he might actually have more, and I hope he actually does.
If so, it is really a pity that someone pissed him off to the extent that he decided to quit.

Joe Friday elsewhere posted this:

There are 4 or 5 different MB tool kits (conjecture) for different contract MB's, and everyone seems to want to bend the facts to line up with the tools they found.

I think this is excellent food for thought, and I hope he will further develop the concept.

Returning back to focus, as per title of this thread, any tool that might have been considered correct for a given tool kit depending on its condition might also be restored, cleaned, slightly beautified, repaired... etc. etc.
How to do that can be learned, shared, suggested, demonstrated, pictured etc..
Whether or not it should be done is a personal choice that should involve experience, common sense, honesty.

As said elsewhere,plausible is the key word in my book.

[Roger]

I'd like to know if Roger is doing anything special for those IRWIN shanks other than usual: soaking in some kind of de-ruster gel or perhaps the muriatic acid, light scrubbing, oil, etc. They look brand new. My IRWIN shanks are both in very bad shape.

Wingnut, I no longer soak the Irwins in the acid. I use a 4" bench top belt sander and carefully sand the whole surface(s). I think this is the same method the manufacturer uses to dress their final product. Rolling and sanding AROUND the shaft instead of sanding the length, brings it back to almost original condition and you don't loose much of any surface. Given the wood is in fairly good shape. Tighten the rivets in the handles before sanding. I use the corner of the vise jaws for one side of the rivet and just smack the other side with a hammer. Usually fixes the loose handle syndrome. A lot of the poorly maintained drivers have badly stained wood. Haven't found a method to bleach them yet.

[Nikko]

Hi Folks

Restoring Tools :

Dirt on wrenches : I remove gently washing with bio degreaser
dirt on wood: I gently use scotch brite pad and sand paper fine grit 400/500 type sanding slowly
shaft on Irwin : I use ROTO Brush steel ore Red fiber laminated both types can be used:D
Cosmolene on tools : I only wash of the cosmolene if they not are repack with tag and wrench size markings,I like to keep it that way
Pliers: I will go with Rogers but i will add this technic a brass brush even better
Adjustble wrenches I will go with Kevin here

Cheers From The Snowey North
Nikko

[42swing]

IMHO, the answer is yes, if you've taken the time and effort to properly restore the vehicle the tools should be restored to the same level - but an over-restored tool is far worse than a rusty original. I've done kits for Model T's, Model A's, and Early V-8's and now for our '42 MB. Personal opinion here, but I think a nicely done tool display, not overdone, adds to the interest of the vehicle - and often draws as much attention as the vehicle itself. Kids today always seem to be amazed that cars came with pretty complete toolkits and people were their own mechanics to a great extent.

[Wingnutt]

Thanks for your reply on IRWIN shanks, Roger.

I also have some questions about Williams finishes...

Been reading lots of old threads, and I have seen references to (and a few examples of) Williams Alloy and Chrome Alloy Superrenches painted either Ocean Gray or OD. I have seen a Ford engineering drawing with a table citing Ocean Gray or OD as paint finish options. And I have seen many examples of what some have called Williams "Superiors" (same as Carbon Steel? went to AA and it didn't articulate) and "Carbon Steel" painted Black Enamel, but have not seen anything like an engineering drawing or anything else that specified black enamel. (I am assuming black is specified or has been verified somewhere...) Correct?

Secondly, the faces on the black shank Williams superiors/carbon steels I have seen here look much shinier than plain cast steel finish. Almost chrome plated. Are they plated, painted or just highly polished? Roger, you've done some. As has Jeff Q.