Cleaning Old Tools

The vast majority of billhooks bought on ebay or at car boot sales are usually rusty, damaged or missing their handles. Many other tools are similarly in need to TLC to restore them to usable condition Below are a few thoughts on cleaning and preserving them.

Wooden parts

Wooden parts are often the first to sustain damage - they are also vulnerable to rot, attack by woodworm, fungal damage etc. In the case of billhooks if they can be preserved it is worth doing, and a thorough cleaning with soap and water, followed by slow (and natural) drying and then treatment with a clear wood preservative is often sufficient. The use of boiled linseed oil, Danish oil, tung oil or an equivalent will bring back the colour, help to prevent the wood from drying out too much and provide an attractive and durable finish.

 

If the tool is of historical importance then the handle should be preserved and not replaced. For tools like wooden moulding planes, the wooden part is the important part of the tool, and nothing should be done that will cause any further degredation. Above all avoid the use of abrasives and excessive polishing... A little beeswax dissolved in turpentine will not go amiss, but generally the wood will be buffed in the hand when it is used.

 

The patina of age takes tens, or even hundreds of years to be created - it can be destroyed in seconds...

 

Billhook handles are often cracked as a) the wood dries out and b) the tang rusts (rust can be 40x the volume of the iron rusted). If the handle is sound, and still comfortable to use, no filling is necessary,  but occasionally glueing in a wooden slip, or even using a two part resin based wooden filler may be the best way forward. Badly worm eaten handles can be consolidated by proprietry wood hardeners, or even by soaking in a diluted PVA glue, and allowed to dry (this may take several goes to fill the voids enough to preserve the handle - a friend of mine restored the head of an early 18th century wooden harp by injecting each of several hundred woodworm holes with epoxy resin)...

 

Loose handles (or wooden parts) with live woodworm can be treated in a microwave to kill the worm, but DO NOT place any metal parts in...

Iron and steel blades etc..

Rusty iron and steel parts are best cleaned by electrolysis. Although often recommended, acids (such as citric, picric, or phosphoric) can cause as many problems as they solve, especially if not immediately neutralised with an alkali solution. Some people recommend the use of vinegar, with salt dissolved in it (something I find strange as vinegar is an acid, and salt an alkali, so one neutralises the other) or even a proprietry brand of a cola soft drink.

 

Electrolysis will clean the rust off the surface of the blade without affecting the underlying metal, thus preserving the patina. If left too long in the bath no harm is done, unlike with acid which will keep on attacking the metal. The only thing to check is that it is connected the correct way around - the sacrificial anode will gradually be eaten away - if the tool is the anode, it too will disappear.

 

Links to the process can be found by a quick on-line search, so I will not cover it here, other than give a few tips....

 

DO NOT use stainless steel for the anode - it lasts longer than mild steel, but as it  gradually dissolves into the elctrolyte it produces a noxious mix of chromium and nickel salts that will be classed as 'toxic waste', and should not be poured down the drains. Use of mild steel produces harmless iron salts that can be disposed of in the garden (it is actually beneficial to some plants)

 

If using a battery charger, use long leads and keep the 240v side well away from the 12v 'wet side' - an old 12v car battery will work just as well, but will need recharging as it discharges..

 

The electolytre solution is best made with washing soda (sodium carbonate, Na2 CO3) or baking soda (sodium bi-carbonate, NaHCO3). Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH)  or even household salt  (sodium chloride, NaCl) will work, but are best avoided - caustic soda is highly corrosive and is nasty to use, and salt may produce chlorine gas (which is poisonous) as it breaks down.

 

Carry out the process outside or in a very well ventilated area, and always TURN OFF the power BEFORE disconnecting the leads. Hydrogen and oxygen are given off respectively at the cathode and anode  and can form an explosive mix - sparks from the leads can ignite the hydrogen...

Polishing

As a general rule DON'T.... many collectors, and some sellers (especially amateur ones) like to polish their tools until they shine. Wooden handles will become shiny with use, and  linseed oil will prevent sweat and dirt entering the wood, and appearing grubby.

 

Metal parts were rarely ever polished, except, in the case of billhooks, a few such as the gentleman's hook which was sold as AB (all bright). The steel would have been ground in places, but often was left black from the forge, or even painted black.

 

An old rusty blade that has gone through the elctrolysis bath will have a thin coating of black iron oxide on the surface, Once dried this will hold a surface finish such as a thin bicycle or sewing machine oil, and stay a matt black. Alternatively this can be removed with a wire brush to produce a slightly brighter surface. NEVER use an angle grinder to clean, NOR a polishing mop to polish, a blade.

 

I have lost count of the number of blade that have been visually ruined by over-zealous cleaning - I much prefer to do it myself, and will place such tools out in the rain for several months to rust again...

 

Finally how to finish a blade and or handle - I have use various mixes of oils and solvents over the years - usually what is to hand, especially after a wet day at a show or exhibtion. Currently I have gallon (approx 5 litres) of OX18 DEFSTAN military spec gun oil - this worked equally well on the working parts, barrel and wooden 'furniture' of the No 8 .303 Lee Enfield rifle - so I wipe on and wipe off a thin coating to blade and handle. I used to use a mix of Duck oil, linseed oil and white spirits + some clear wood preservative, but I stopped adding the latter as it made my sandwiches taste funny when on a rally or show site...