Record vice cleanup

[MattRoberts]

Hi all,

I finally managed to pick up a record 52 1/2 vice for £50 - hopefully a decent deal.

After freeing it up with some wd40, it seems to work great - including the quick release.

I know we have some great tool restorers on here, so I just wanted to sense check my approach.

I'm currently letting it bathe in a generous coating of wd40. My plan is to then use a steel wire brush with generous amounts of wd40 to remove all of the surface rust and clean it up. I assume the wire brush won't be too harsh on it? I have a brass brush if so.

I've seen people using vinegar baths - would that be better?

One it's clean metal again, it's there a specific paint I should use?

Thanks in advance

 

[ED65]

I assume the wire brush won't be too harsh on it? I have a brass brush if so.

It's fine on the metal, even the cast iron, but the paint won't like it.

If you want to retain what paint remains you need to use as little abrasion as possible. Even rubbing with steel wool will begin to remove the paint, tough as it may have been when new.

I've seen people using vinegar baths - would that be better?

Vinegar or another acidic bath will certainly remove rust and weaken some of what remains, allowing it to be scrubbed away more easily. If you can buy the necessary volume of vinegar cheaply enough to soak the entire thing then go for it, but I think you're going to need 10 litres or thereabouts. So for something of this size I'd recommend making up a big bath of molasses and water since it's likely a lot cheaper and you have to worry less about etching if you leave it soaking for a long time.

In either case you must thoroughly degrease the whole thing before you soak. Wash in hot soapy water once or twice and hose off.

One it's clean metal again, it's there a specific paint I should use?

If there's not much bare metal exposed I'd be inclined to leave off with new paint and just wax well to protect from further rust. But if you do want to paint it there's a Hammerite smooth paint (Dark Blue?) that is often recommended in older threads as a colour match for older Record blue.

 

[ED65]

P.S. If you do go with vinegar be sure to dissolve in a good handful of salt, it greatly improves how it works.

 

[MattRoberts]

Thanks Ed, that's really helpful.

I should have clarified - I'd be happy to remove all of the paint, as I intend on repainting the whole thing after anyway. I'm also not fussed on keeping it blue - I'd prefer grey I think. I'll check out the hammerite range.

 

[Bm101]

Toot toot Matt! http://www.craftmasterpaints.co.uk/colo ... ne-colours
By weird coincidence I'm literally stood waiting to get on a steam train. A tiny one. Meanwhile I can see my favourite pub in ironically, Beer in Devon just down the hill So close and yet so so far
:| .

 

[AndyT]

That's a nice vice there that will last several lifetimes.

Before you shell out on paint, I'd advise

- there's no need to spend more than about 50p on finish for it
- if you do paint it it will look like a cheap modern one.

This was a big cast iron wheel off my lathe, with about the same amount of original paint just about clinging on. It needed something to brighten it up a bit and protect it against any future possibilities of rust.

And here it is with some boiled linseed oil, thinned down a bit with white spirit, brushed on and wiped off with a rag.

I think it is a great finish for old cast iron. It still looks old, but not neglected - which is what I aim at for myself!

PS With this approach you don't need to go back to bare metal. Use your steel wire brush or your brass one, enough to get the loose rust off, but no more. So on your vice, concentrate on the front bar but leave the long flat blade as it is.

 

[finish_that]

Cheap diet cola in a bucket works well - leave it a couple of days with a stir every now and then - afterwards a rinse and rub down with a green scouring pad - emery strip for the guide rods .
I would then wax or linseed the bare metal - it looks in keeping with the age and is easy to top up.

 

[MattRoberts]

Thanks guys - some great ideas there. I'll give them a go and let you know progress!

Cheers

 

[ED65]

I'd prefer grey I think.

Me too! I have an old Woden vice that I was thinking of painting grey, at the risk of being shot by Woden fans. I've seen photos of old American vices that came in a medium grey and I think it's a very fetching colour for a vice.

I have a Record plane to refinish though and if I mix up a batch of paint for that I might as well use it on the Woden too. It'll be the darker shade so quite subdued, not the brighter later colour. And certainly not the vivid modern one which makes my eyes hurt.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I seem to remember seeing Wadkin pattern maker's vices in grey.

 

[Bod]

A different take.
Wire brush/ scrape off loose rust.
Use a rust converter to stablise the rust, then repaint in what ever colour you choose.
Only the slides and slide holes need to be rust free and smooth.

Personally, get working, fit and use. The rust will polish off with use, the rest won't come to harm, in a dry wood shop.

Bod

 

[MattRoberts]

Thanks Bod, but I've been inspired by some of the other fine chaps here and feel like giving it the thorough treatment.

I've purchased some white vinegar, so will give it a good soak in that and see how it comes out

 

[NickN]

I think you'll be pleased with the final result, whatever colour. I have just restored to working order a Woden 189 B/2 vice (which at 13" depth, 9" width is the same as the Record 52 1/2) - the QR spring had rusted through, and some nice person had at some point used a no slot round headed screw through the handle/nut/metal bar join which took me hours to hammer out from the back end, plus the metal bar had become bent and twisted.
All working now though, thanks to Amazon, amazingly, having the replacement spring in stock at 7 pounds cheaper than Knighton.
A very sturdy vice indeed, should see me right for many happy years of clamping.

 

[Dan j]

I recently de-rusted a Woden vice using electrolysis. Loosens the rust off but leaves the paint on.
Had planned to paint it but then decided it looked nice as it was.

 

[doubleb]

oo

 

[MattRoberts]

Just an update on this.

I've removed the vast majority of rust using vinegar and then cleaned it up using a wire brush.

However, it's not exactly the gleaming 'as new' metal I had originally envisaged!

How do people get old rusted metal so shiny (such as Wallace with his wadkin restoration)? Is it elbow grease? Sandblasting? Metal polish?

Getting in to the nooks and crannies is very hard!

 

[MattRoberts]

Before

After

 

[Bm101]

Little bit of graft mate. Sorry.
Razorblade scrapers, green pads, wet n dry, brass brushes by hand and in your drill, flapper discs on the grinder. The list goes on I suppose.
One little tip I stole is get a bit of dowel, the biggest that will fit your drill ideally, and cut a slot in it. Ram (in an artisan manner of course) a wedge of wire wool in it and secure with electrical tape. Great for shining up smaller bits like brass plane screws and so on.
Being a vice, id have at the visible bits with some wet n dry. Cut it into long strips for the bars and go at it like you see Americans polishing bowling balls. In films. Now and then. Grade a little bit if you want to feel a bit like Wallace. Get the rust off. Acid etch and undercoat if your painting the visible bits. Oil it up/ protect it with your choice of anti rust and job done. I tried hot wax as a paint ground and it worked really well.
Get cracking. Someone will be along shortly to tell you to paint it in BLO btw.
Chin up. you don't have to do the vast majority of it. :wink: The non shiny bits look fine I'd guess.

 

[MattRoberts]

Hah, thanks mate - I figured as much. No worries, I bought it as a project to do it up well, so I'm happy to spend the time on it. I just wanted to check incase there was a magic trick!

Thanks for the tips, they sound good

 

[AndyT]

If you want shiny, I think you need a buffing wheel and an assortment of mops and compounds.


But you could stop where you are and just slap some BLO on... :wink: