Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
How to restore an old tool?
Charles Sharp
>My father gave me an old marking/cutting gage that was my grandfathers. I have never seen one like it that has 3 movable parts to the stem (photo below).
The thumb screw is missing, this finish is sticky and all the marking points are smashed or broken.
I would like to restore this tool and use it again. I would appreciate any help you can provide.
Charles Sharp
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Ernie Miller
>is it a wooden thumb screw that is missing? if so you will need to barrow one off a differant gauge that has other problems. are the points set in the brass strips? they may be a little harder to replace. if they are only in the wood you can pull the old ones out and replace them with an aproperate sized Nail or drill bit that has been cut to length and sharpened. Looks like a nice gauge worthy of restoration.
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native, Presently Away
>I'd suggest wiping it down with so me Mineral Spirits to see if you can get rid of the "sticky" problem first than take it from there.
Todd O.
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Ernie Miller
>Does it have a makers mark or model# on it? what Todd said about the mineral spirits that or Murphy oil soap.
Help as I can
Dean Lapinel
>First clean up as previously stated by two famous mega posters.
Why not go step by step. If you don't have a brass thumbscrew to use- try and figure out the thread so that I or someone can help. If I don't have one that size I might make one for you.
Dean
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Jim Reed @ tallahassee
>Old tools are easiest to restore by robbing parts from other old tools. If you can find a twin, it could serve as a donor for the missing screw. Make sure the one you find really fits. It is easy to cross thread and ruin the tool. As for the nickers, they are probably nails that have been sharpened. See if you can (carefully) extract the old one with needle nose pliers. You can replace with a finishing nail and file to shape. Good luck.
"Try and figure out the thread"
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>You may already know that the pitch of a thread (how many per inch, or the metric equivalent - but metric is unlikely with this gauge) can be measured by, ta-da!, a thread pitch gauge. Any local machine shop will have one, and will probably give you an idea of the pitch for free.
Diameter's a little trickier, as the diameter of a screw thread is the major (larger) diameter, but the visible diameter of the hole is the minor diameter. You might mumble something about "what size do you suppose that is?" at the machine shop; metalheads get pretty good at sight-estimating sizes.
I'd take it apart, and...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>as siad clean it with MS or oil soap. Maybe a coat of BLO after it all nice and clean. The screw hole looks like it was for a wooden thumbscrew. You could try t find a replacement or get somebody to make on for it. You could use a threaded insert into the wood and use a standard sized metal thunbscrew also.
Re: How to restore an old tool? *LINK*
Jack Guzman from Maine
>Moses Yoder just recently posted a link to an ebay auction where he sold a gauge that looks alot like yours. I tried to copy that link.Not sure if it worked.---Jack
marking gauge on ebay(maybe)
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>I probably would not use a marking gauge such as this one that was my grandfather's, but that is just my opinion. I am not sure if you would be able to find a thumbscrew to match; I don't really know a whole lot about early thread cutting, but as mentioned the best bet would be to find a gauge with a similar thumbscrew and see if it fits. Lee Valley has some really nice marking gauges that are on my want list. There would be no harm in finding a part that fits and using the gauge, but I think you will have a tough time finding the part, and the gauge has already lived a full life in my opinion. This one would go in my display case. Mine will ship out Friday if the check clears, and my Cabela's 3D -15 sleeping bag should be here on Saturday. I can't really say that I will miss my gauge, but there is something really nice about holding a remarkable piece of history in your hands; if mine belonged to dad or grampa I would not be selling it either.
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Charles Sharp
>Gentlemen,
Thank you for all your help!
I think that I will try to restore the tool and use it, I'm not into collecting. At the present time my biggest concern is removing and replacing the pins as some of them are broken off flush.
Pins
Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod
>The original pins on quality marking gauges are hardened IME. I've had best results with drill bits as replacement pins.
Nails are too soft to be used as replacements. When sharpened a nail point tends to fold over and give an inexact mark.
Ed
Getting the pins out
Jim in Burlington On
>If they are flush you can try to remove the brass and tap them out. My preference is HSS drill bit's. I destroyed the small end of the brass plate that held a pin and it was simple enough to make a new one. If the thumb screw threads are worn you can put a brass sleeve in.
Re: How to restore an old tool?
wayne anderson
>I wouldn't be against using a Scholl's gage, but I would encourage you to restore it "properly". Too many...(read zillions)...of very good user gages out there to ruin a rare(ish) one. My two cents worth. -wayne anderson
Re: How to restore an old tool?
Ernie Miller
>I think I would go the threaded insert as a last resort how about a close up picture of the scribe points? I think all of my doner possable scribes are of the lighter collored beech wood that stanley sold. This one looks like a sweet scribe and woule be very carefull in restoration if you intend to use it at all you could start with just straightning one point untill you get more confident in your restorations. best to take your timr and go slow cause once you screw it up you are done.
Easy way . . .
s.mackay@worldnet.att.net
>My method was'nt very well received but it worked quite well. I collect dafting sets and, it seems, there are always "extra", removable steel points for the compasses and dividers. They're hardened and rust resistant AND just about the right size. Don't need to cut 'em down or sharpen 'em. I'm still working on "inseting" an extra lead holder so that the set screw extends outside the wood but its like cutting diamods. I'll only get one shot at it so doing long hard think'n !