Cgcc
25th April 2021, 09:58 AM
Dear all
I can't be the first person who thought of this but I thought worth posting as I'd done this a number of times until the lightbulb went.
When you are cleaning up or restoring an old handsaw, a little task is the saw nuts and bolts. Personally I disbelieve in doing anything like grinding them back like a piece of jewellery, but one does want to clean them up and have a little pride.
I went through a few ideas that didn't work well in some respects. Hand polishing is difficult and time-consuming (because of having to grip them tightly with finger strength). A while back I used to drag out the bench grinder and put them in vice grips but it is still time consuming to turn slowly in "rotisserie" mode, frequently checking. Once you have spent minutes trying to move it around to get every bit you are questioning your priorities.
I've also tried a dremel but you then need to grip somehow, and moving it all around... that's even worse than doing by hand.
Today the lightbulb - oddly that I remember from a video about bandsaw tuning was to put them in a cordless drill, and spin while buffing.
Take one badly corroded/dirty nut:
493605
Just tighten in a keyless chuck drill and set it at slow speed:
493607
And run at a slow speed, against a buffing wheel. The rotation of the screw means you only need to move side to side slightly. This is just a cheap stitched wheel with Josco green compound. Any polishing compound should do at this speed. It is very easy because the drill gives you a great grip. There is no chance of the nut going flying.
493608
And in really about 2 minutes, your whole set:
493609
They are better than they look in that photo. The imperfections are imperfections in the metal. I am not making jewellery so I am not grinding back to get out.
The distinct advantages, if you have a cheap bench grinder (and everyone has a cordless drill) are:
- Once you hit the wheel, the high-speed polishing will zip off any dirt/gunk, corrosion, rust. You go straight from crap to perfectly polished in one operation.
- You are guaranteed consistency radially - your only chance of inconsistent polishing is missing a spot left to right. This would be hard to achieve if you tried!
- Really safe and no chance of nuts going flying with the grip on the drill. Better than vice grips.
- Your hands stay clean, as you're nowhere near the wheel. Your hands aren't in polishing clothes, steel wool, touching any cleaning/polishing liquids. You don't waste a pair of cheap latex gloves (any other type of gloves is a no-no with a bench grinder for safety reasons).
- If you use a bench grinder for the "Unicorn" method you've already got this handy. If you don't - you should anyway! A cheap bench grinder, stitched wheel and compound can all be assembled for ~$200 at RRP.
- No consumables really (clothes, steel wool, polishing liquids etc) or cleanup. The stitched wheels seem to last forever with compound.
Just thought I'd share. I almost feel like taking apart all my saws to re-do the nuts now!
Chris
I can't be the first person who thought of this but I thought worth posting as I'd done this a number of times until the lightbulb went.
When you are cleaning up or restoring an old handsaw, a little task is the saw nuts and bolts. Personally I disbelieve in doing anything like grinding them back like a piece of jewellery, but one does want to clean them up and have a little pride.
I went through a few ideas that didn't work well in some respects. Hand polishing is difficult and time-consuming (because of having to grip them tightly with finger strength). A while back I used to drag out the bench grinder and put them in vice grips but it is still time consuming to turn slowly in "rotisserie" mode, frequently checking. Once you have spent minutes trying to move it around to get every bit you are questioning your priorities.
I've also tried a dremel but you then need to grip somehow, and moving it all around... that's even worse than doing by hand.
Today the lightbulb - oddly that I remember from a video about bandsaw tuning was to put them in a cordless drill, and spin while buffing.
Take one badly corroded/dirty nut:
493605
Just tighten in a keyless chuck drill and set it at slow speed:
493607
And run at a slow speed, against a buffing wheel. The rotation of the screw means you only need to move side to side slightly. This is just a cheap stitched wheel with Josco green compound. Any polishing compound should do at this speed. It is very easy because the drill gives you a great grip. There is no chance of the nut going flying.
493608
And in really about 2 minutes, your whole set:
493609
They are better than they look in that photo. The imperfections are imperfections in the metal. I am not making jewellery so I am not grinding back to get out.
The distinct advantages, if you have a cheap bench grinder (and everyone has a cordless drill) are:
- Once you hit the wheel, the high-speed polishing will zip off any dirt/gunk, corrosion, rust. You go straight from crap to perfectly polished in one operation.
- You are guaranteed consistency radially - your only chance of inconsistent polishing is missing a spot left to right. This would be hard to achieve if you tried!
- Really safe and no chance of nuts going flying with the grip on the drill. Better than vice grips.
- Your hands stay clean, as you're nowhere near the wheel. Your hands aren't in polishing clothes, steel wool, touching any cleaning/polishing liquids. You don't waste a pair of cheap latex gloves (any other type of gloves is a no-no with a bench grinder for safety reasons).
- If you use a bench grinder for the "Unicorn" method you've already got this handy. If you don't - you should anyway! A cheap bench grinder, stitched wheel and compound can all be assembled for ~$200 at RRP.
- No consumables really (clothes, steel wool, polishing liquids etc) or cleanup. The stitched wheels seem to last forever with compound.
Just thought I'd share. I almost feel like taking apart all my saws to re-do the nuts now!
Chris