Thread: F-clamp restoration

Originally Posted by Adam Lane

Hi all,

Stock standard with wooden grips.

Odd question maybe, but what do you call the 'pin' that passes through the collet, handle and screw shaft? I've got as far as 'cutlers rivet' but might be on the wrong track. Pin calipers at 2.9mm (probably 3?).

Done a few myself and found an 'old nail' serves just as well as anything fancy. Suggest you replace the handles with larger diameter ones, really makes a difference when arthritis starts to kick in.

As burraboy said but if you want to add a bit of design, use 3mm (or other size) bronze welding rod.
It's soft enough to peen over.
Don't leave too much protrusion but don't cut to short.
Allow for extra if use pliers to cut. Need to start with square end, not wedge shape from pliers cut

I find that welding rod has many creative uses other than its designed intended purpose

Originally Posted by Adam Lane

Hi all,

First post so hope I'm in the correct forum...

Finally restoring a set of oldish inherited F-clamps. Stock standard with wooden grips.

Odd question maybe, but what do you call the 'pin' that passes through the collet, handle and screw shaft? I've got as far as 'cutlers rivet' but might be on the wrong track. Pin calipers at 2.9mm (probably 3?).

Appreciate any advice (where to buy would be handy too).

Many thanks.

Hi Adam
first post, so welcome to the WW forums

I suspect that your "cutlers rivet" is more likely 7/64" rather than the 2.9 mm you measured.
Just something to bear in mind if you elect not to use a steel nail as suggested by Burra Boy

Welcome, Adam

Good advice from Burraboy and Avondale.

If you go the nail route, suggest that you anneal the nail to make peening much easier. If the pin is a little loose in its hole, then suggest that you get a slightly thicker one, and re-drill the hole.

Find some nails you can cut with a heavy pliers, some galvanized ones are softer than others, i.e seek the ones with the heavy coating and no hint of shine to them.
(these are the type used for roofing slates)
Cut off the pointy bit, keeping it longer than needed, and then place the head of the nail down onto your anvil or sledge/club hammer
(what's over the leg of the bench I might add)
a few taps will form a tapered profile of the cut end nicely, holding it with said pliers, as not to bend the nail...
and then chop the head off and pein the other end thereafter.

All the best
Tom

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

..... If you go the nail route, suggest that you anneal the nail to make peening much easier....

Graeme, unless you try using a concrete nail or other hardened type you do not need to anneal an ordinary nail, in fact I seriously doubt you can make the bleeding things any softer than they are already. It often says 'bright' steel on the packet, but as far as I can ascertain, that refers to surface finish and nothing else, they are essentially mild steel & don't contain enough carbon to harden. Ordinary nails should peen very nicely straight out of the packet.

I've used nails for rivets many times so I'm pretty confident of that assertion. e.g.: Brass_ironwood laminated.jpg

P.S. I certainly wouldn't use galvanised nails, the zinc will flake like crazy when you start peening & apart from that, the diameters are quite variable & you'll have trouble fitting them to any drill size. If you can get a nail that closely matches a convenient drill size so the nail is a good fit, it makes peening easier. And leaving the head on gives you a good start for peening one end....

Cheers,

These aren't for nice planes though Ian
Cheers on the tip about the carbon content advice.

I wouldn't think twice about using the heaviest coated galvanised nails I could find,
but perhaps I've just got a magic hammer!
5.JPG

Like everything there are clouts and there are clouts. A good soft sheet nail (with a thin, easily squished flathead) would be perfect. My plumber also gets really nice thick clouts from his plumbing supplies mob which don't seem to have heaps of zinc.

Originally Posted by IanW

Graeme, unless you try using a concrete nail or other hardened type you do not need to anneal an ordinary nail, in fact I seriously doubt you can make the bleeding things any softer than they are already.

On reflection, I actually agree with you, Ian.

I rarely use nails, much preferring screws, and the limited range of nails that I have are either hardened or are quite small brads.

I was thinking the same about new nails and how soft they already are. And was also thinking what it would be like if ordinary nails were hardened. It could be good?
I just watched this on Instagram and was surprised to see a heat treatment water process happening in old style nail production.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3bbs...I1OWc0b3BuNQ==

I wonder what happened to Adam? I hope he's OK.

Originally Posted by auscab

......I just watched this on Instagram and was surprised to see a heat treatment water process happening in old style nail production....

Rob, I wonder if that heat treatment is simply to blue the nails & make them a bit more rust-resistant? I've extracted & re-used quite a few old cut nails, and lots of blued tacks & all of them were soft like wire nails. But p'raps some were hardened for special purposes, in which case they ,they would have to have at least 0.3% carbon, which is 10 times that of mild steel (~0.03%).

If they are using a hardenable steel, they'd surely need to temper after the water quench, a step not shown in the video if they do...

Dunno.
Cheers

Originally Posted by IanW

Rob, I wonder if that heat treatment is simply to blue the nails & make them a bit more rust-resistant?

Ian , That could be why its done . Every cut nail Ive seen has the blue to black looking heat treatment and they don't rust like plain modern ones seem to. They get totally covered in surface rust. The cut nails do have a hardness as in they don't bend well compared to modern nails. They will usually snap if bent 90 degrees.
I went and got three 2.5 inch and took pics Up against a similar size modern which is Gal coated. It was the first one I saw to grab.
The old cut nail and the modern one feel the same to file. And I filed a flat steel scrap bar to compare and they all felt the same .
The old cut nails snap every time they were bent 90 degrees and the modern don't do that they just bend. I don't know if that's a hardness thing or a product that's not fully developed yet. Probably the later. The old cut nails have a flaky laminated look to the break.

IMG_5757a.jpg IMG_5760a.jpg IMG_5762a.jpg

Rob

Still making them, as I sure your know. Couldn't see a post heat treatment process but pretty sure the plates are hot when cut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL9HSmIzWIs