Hi all, I came across this 14" 12 ppi Disston #5 back saw which a previous owner had carefully painted with green and silver paint. It must of had some sentimental value for them to paint it, because it was completely useless as a working tool afterwards. The good thing about painting tools to make them objects to admire is that the paint offers some protection against rust and oxidation. It only took a short time in a bath with some caustic soda to thoroughly remove all traces of the paint to reveal the clean blade and lovely apple wood handle. So sometimes there is merit in painting tools... Graham.
That came out nice Graham. I've previously had a tough time using paint stripper, which left paint remnants down in the wood pores. What strength caustic soda did you use, and how long a soak ?
thanks Kiwi, I used an old plastic paint roller tray as my work vessel, put about 200 ml of cold water in it, then about 2 table spoons of caustic soda, a bit of agitation to help dissolve the crystals, then wearing gloves, I put the whole saw in and using an old nylon brush I kept lightly wetting everything, the paint soon becomes soft and with a bit of gentle scrubbing it all soon comes away easily. Any stubborn spots got a light scrap with a blunt kitchen knife. That all took less than ten minutes, then it was a good rinse with running water to remove all traces of the caustic solution. This was followed straight away with light passes of a hot air gun to quickly dry everything. The next day I cleaned up the blade and gave the handle a light rub down with some worn paper, followed by 2 coats of shellac, then a coat of paste wax over everything. Graham.
Congratulations on a great restoration job, I like that the owners's mark "A B Newell" has been preserved. Looks great!!