The Restoration Posts

I guess it was about 26 years ago that I was at a piano repair shop, and saw a man using what he called a card scraper. I filed the memory into the “investigate this someday” folder, where it stayed until now. I finally started using the tool.

It’s very simple, it’s the only tool I know that uses a burr deliberately, instead of eliminating the burr. I’ll try to explain what a burr is: imagine seeing a microscopic view of a knife edge as it’s being sharpened. If one is not careful, as one rubs the edge against a stone, the edge won’t get finer and finer. It will get thin, like a very thin piece of paper or foil. As one continues to push this this edge of metal against the stone, it will curl over to one side. That is a burr.

The card scraper is a rectangle piece of steel, that one holds in the hand. There is a tool that forms the burr off one of the flat edges. That’s how it’s sharpened. I don’t have the tool, or the method, and my first scraper was just a piece of circular saw blade. My second one (with the holes) ids made from a leaf spring. I just run the edge along a bench grinder, which forms a burr, and use it that way. Not sophisticated, might not stay sharp as long as the other way, but if the grinder is handy, so what.

That said, I am finding all kinds of uses for these. Jobs that would be very difficult with other tools are easy with this. When I first saw it being used, it was to knock off imbeded dust and imperfections in a fresh piano finish. That was probably the first thing I did with it, dressing a fresh coat of shellac. It does the same thing as wet sanding, maybe better. Did you know that shellac was made from bugs? It’s really a handy old school finish. I use the unwaxed type as a first coat on bare wood. It dries quickly, and is said to bring out natural wood color better.

Since then, I’ve used the scrapers on a lot of projects. Here are some ways: shaping fresh body filler on the concave little pocket just in front of the rear fender of a 1980’s Toyota truck.  Shaping wood panels prior to finishing (The Tolstoy sign). removing deteriorated vinyl and carved initials from the interior panels (sandpaper didn’t work) of a 1995 Ford truck. (On those vinyl truck pieces, the bundled blanket lets me bend the piece convex to make the work easier. It’s the opposite of a bowl in a log stump for hammering sheet metal.) Fitting a new axe handle. distressing the red and blue letters of the “What Happened…” sign. That’s a partial list.

I made an impromptu third one, on the end of a dull little file. It worked great, and then I started using the side edge corner. I suppose that one’s mind starts to grasp the use of sharpened square edges in numerous ways.

A VERY handy tool, worth adding to your box and abilities.

It was probably 10 years ago, that a friend of mine gave me this bench sander tool. I’ve ‘been meaning to’ go to Sears and track down the rubber drive belt it needed all these years. Recently I thought about it again, and realized that I could look online for the part. I’ve had a computer and internet for years, and only recently have conditioned myself to “Google it”. Sears wanted $23 plus shipping for the part, I found it for $10, with free shipping. It arrived very fast, just got it today. Here’s a couple pictures. I went to Lowe’s and bought a sandpaper belt for $10. The machine ran fine with no sanding belt, but I almost burned up the motor trying to make it spin the second wheel that holds the sandpaper loop. So after a good lubrication with 3-in-1 oil (love that smell) it worked great. The second pictures is after some glass cleaner and little brushes to clean it up. The white envelope is what the drive belt came in.

I will probably be able to use this tool to make more card scrapers, which have become very handy to me. That’s another post which is soon to come. The frequent myth is the “myth of continuity”. Assuming things will go on as they have; or that things were the same in an ancient time as they are now. Not remembering to search or shop a new way is mild compared to other instances of the same myth. For instance, I knew the world was getting worse as far as an oppressive/progressive takeover goes; but I incorrectly assumed that it would continue at the same pace of decline. Now things are moving faster. I didn’t know that I would see in my lifetime the mandate forcing LITTLE KIDS into pervy bathrooms and showers. Jesus said that the end of the Earth would be similar to the time before the flood. Regardless of what Noah would say, people in that day assumed things would continue as they had before. They thought that up until the rain started.

Often the Bible conveys a concept, without using the modern terms. Look at the following verse from proverbs, and see “The myth of continuity” in it.

(Prov 27:23 [KJV])
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

Dear reader, please note the changes that are happening in the world, note how there is such a widespread effort to eradicate Christianity. Sounds a lot like “antiChrist” huh?

Lastly, I have been working on an 85 foot long RR passenger car. Attached to the bottom of the body is a box, maybe for holding batteries. It had been painted so many times that the great shape of the vent/handle piece was hardly visible. As a commentor at The Weapons man blog says, a thing must first go through its old and crappy stage before it becomes old enough to be appreciated for its style and function. How right he is. I wonder too if that applies to other things; like maybe the US constitution?

Anyway, here are a few pictures I think I posted before, along with one of the door in its finished condition. For years it was painted green, but I think I have enough leeway with the shop to put it out with clear, not paint. It looks so cool. Even though the rivets and hinges are steel, not aluminum, like the door face; I put 4 coats of modern clear automotive finish on it. So it should be years before they start to rust. In order to not scratch the aluminum with sandpaper, I used premium stripper instead.

I was finally able to get all the bearings and seals needed to replace the rusted bearings on the rear axle of the 1951 Chevrolet 2 ton truck. The old ones weren’t too badly worn, but the bad seal must have let water ruin the bearings. The bearings are big, as you can see in the picture below. There is a very old auto parts store nearby. I went there with$200, but they said the total for all these parts would be around $270. He took a long time finding them, and now, for all the trouble and time I spent getting them online, I should have just went back with a little more money. I plan to make a more detailed post in the future, because there was a bit of research involved, and if someone else needs those interchange numbers I found, it will be a help. I still need to rebuild the brake system. I can actually drive the truck around the driveway, because the driveline parking brake still works.

One thing I really like is getting new old stock, with the old prices penciled on the ancient cardboard box, and brand new parts inside.

Several years ago, at least, I started a fun advertising project. I drove a flatbed truck, and was going to use this giant paint can as a tool box and promotional stunt. I’m not driving the flatbed anymore, but wanted to finish what I started. This was a heating oil tank that was in the back yard of this house when we moved in. I cut it down shorter, so that it would be proportional to a one gallon paint can. I guess it’s not restored, but recycled, or repurposed as they say these days. I wish I had thought of this web address name years ago, but at least I have it now, and was able to map it to my sign site.

I like the name, and I like having the project finished. In the Bible, in the book of Proverbs, it says:”The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.” It certainly is.

I’ve had the children help with various steps, below is a picture of my daughter Allegra learning to weld on the side of the can. She’s attaching the round handle holders. One interesting fact, the handle didn’t look right until it had two bends near each holder, instead of one. It’s funny what the mind remembers at a subconscious level. The can is about 4 or 5 feet tall, the graphics are completely hand painted.

There is a post about my son Nolan’s latest projects, at my Russian site. Here’s one picture:

He painted a bicycle and a hand truck.

My daughter wanted to paint her Toyota 4WD truck, so I helped. Turns out there was a reason the previous owner painted it flat black…it had a LOT of dents. We finally had all the prep done, and went to paint it on the July 4th weekend. Anything that could go wrong did. The dark grey paint I thought I had was dried up in the can. I mixed up this blue grey color, but the first batch activated in 5 minutes. I’ve never seen that before. Good thing I hadn’t poured it into my spray gun yet. within 20 seconds of finishing the painting, it started to sprinkle. We were able to move it into the barn.

Recently I’ve realized that so much of my life involves restoration of something. For years I’ve wondered how effective it would be to dye a few old pairs of jeans. So I finally tried it. Below are some pictures. The process didn’t eliminate paints spots, but what I was wanting was to cover the brownish oil stains on the thighs. I think it did that. In the first picture, my youngest son is digging a flat place for the fire.

Thinking about a Bible verse, I remembered the passage from Mark chapter 9, where Jesus is glorified in front of a few apostles:

“And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.”

A fuller was one who made clothes whiter, not dyed them. But it’s the first thing I thought of, There is of course the favorable account of Lydia, who was a seller of Purple, which was either a dye or expensive cloth. Here’s part of the account in the book of Acts. She was among people worshiping God by the river, but who didn’t know about Jesus:

(Acts 16:14 [KJV])
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

I think I posted pictures of a hood I bought for the Toyota truck. The one I have now is in reasonable condition, but the reason for the replacement is so that I can hand paint a mural on it, in my shop, instead of on the truck. In the pictures below, you can see how helpful the 4 inch angle grinder with wire wheel is.My second to the oldest son Sean went to buy a used Diesel motor and transmission. The man said that he could see it run. When asked how much extra he wanted for the whole truck, the seller said $200 more. So my son bought the whole thing, Now he has his own semi. It needs work, but his equipment does more than my economy stuff. For instance, his old crane truck; he used it to remove a pen plotter from the attic for me, and to take down a tree in the front yard.

Here’s a relevant Bible verse: Proverbs 14:4 says “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” That was the power equipment of that day. For us, every piece of equipment needs maintenance, and even restoration, but we can do so much work with the right equipment. The Bible has some really interesting things to say, give it a read today.

Some of the other kids helped me detail the crane truck up to the bed. we were in a hurry, and that’s all the further we could get. I’m getting pretty fast at the wheel painting routine these days.

I had to resort to military sounding abbreviations for this project, considering part of this post is related to the planned designer camo paint scheme my Toyota truck will get. S.U.D.s is: Simulated Utility Devices. I guess that’s better than Simulated Utility Components. Without the intended camo scheme, er, well, maybe the guy’s startin’ to go “around the bend” a bit, but as part of a faux military look, all is well. In fact, you watch, when this is all said and done, an exciting new trend in vehicle graphics might emerge. ABF is just plain ol’ Automotive Body Filler, AKA Bondo.

The S.U.D. starts as a discarded sign, made from what we call expanded PVC. Just like the stuff pipes are made of, but like it says, kind of ‘poofy’. The stuff is really cool to work with. like a dream for this low rise 3D stuff. Cuts easy and fast, sands easy, is sturdy enough to hold up wherever you need it to. The first couple of pictures show it being drawn and cut. Then I sanded the edges to an angle with the belt sander. Next, I drew lots of measured out marks where the screw holes go. They were countersunk. I’m not sure if it needs filler to make it a smooth transition from the body out to the side of the S.U.D. like something embossed in the metal. After all, the thing has a bunch of mounting holes, why would something stamped out need mounting holes? Ah, two of them, in all their glory. These things are totally fake, inspired by my time at the McGee-Tyson air show. As far as what NORMAL people do, like fix bad rust holes, I have that too. Everywhere you see body filler in the pictures below, the metal was completely gone. I made replacement pieces, riveted them in, and fiberglass bondoed over them. Hmmm, Bondo as a verb. American Heritage Dictionary take note. Anyway, what I’m experimenting with isn’t as important as cold fusion, but still pretty cool for what I do. I paint the pieces front and back, including the body part they get attached to. Then I use rivets dipped in thick oil based paint, to line the inside of the 1/8 inch holes I drilled for them. That way, in theory, everything will be sealed up.  It’s really coming along, maybe by this weekend there won’t be anymore body holes. Some people say it would have been easier to buy a new bed, but they don’t know how rusted it is underneath. removing bolts and hardware is more time consuming than people realize. Besides, I want the experience

That reminds me, in the last week I’ve also removed a lot of rust from the frame with a needlescaler, put on brand new brake shoes and drums for the rear axle. The truck has good brake pedal now. Oh, one more thing, I raised the rear shackles a notch, it sits a bit higher, and looks oh so good.

One of the projects I’ve been hired to work on is an old rail passenger car, made around 1929. It was heated with steam pipes, which won’t be needed anymore. I removed them, and since scrap metal is so cheap right now, I was allowed to keep them.The pipes were held in place by these steel brackets. I kept them because I don’t like how long it takes to drill holes in steel. These can easily be welded to other steel to make that piece have drilled holes.I have a small book By Dave Gingery about working sheet metal on a budget. I need custom made sheet metal pieces for the Toyota Truck restoration, and other projects. In the book, he shows how to make a bench with a bender tool mounted on the edge. If used carefully, it does the same job (nice bends) as a brake. So I made a bender myself, but with much larger components. This one is about 7 feet long; uses an section of enormous angle iron, and a section of I-beam. I needed a way to pull the two pieces together; that’s what the brackets and bolts are for. The brackets needed to be bent at a 90 degree angle, so I heated them in the forge.The brackets are screwed into a large wood beam, which sits inside the enormous angle iron. The way it works is that the two pieces of straight steel hold the sheet metal tightly; allowing you to bend it with a crisp corner. The next picture shows where the brackets are screwed to the wood. In the picture above, you can see the two lag screws. If you’re not familiar with them, they let you use mechanic’s wrenches to tighten a bolt into wood. In the second picture below, you can see my first test piece. It’s actually about 12 inches wide. I was pleased.

It’s so easy to remember things as they were, not as they are. “When did that kid grow up?” you find yourself asking about a relative’s child. It’s sort of like “OK I know what that’s about, so I can move on to thinking about all the other pressing needs; and we never get back to some.

A friend gave me an air compressor that was in new condition. It’s been nice, 100% duty cycle, I put it in a shed near the porch, with the 220 electric connected to it. Everybody that needs air uses it, from inflating bicycle tires to blowing out computers. A strong wind came and blew the shed over. In the process, one of the supports of the shed hit the large compressor pulley, and it sounded strange. I pulled it out on the driveway to work on it.

That’s when I discovered how neglected it was. We have emptied the water before, but it’s been awhile, and everything else needed attention too. In the first picture, the pulley shroud has been removed. Notice the black grease between the motor and the compressor. The belt was so badly cracked that it was almost in two pieces.

The Bible talks about this. In the book of Proverbs, it says: ” Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? Ignoring that could cost you things in this life. But here’s a verse that talks about missing heaven and going to hell. Jesus was talking about end times, He said: “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

They were making long term commitments and having dinner parties. People don’t do those things if a permanent disaster is coming. People are oblivious to things in our day too. I advise people to not only look at what’s happening politically, but also look at what is happening to Christianity and morality.

The next two pictures show it being cleaned and getting a new belt. The water was drained, and the oil was checked. It runs fine now.The last pictures are of the rear axle on the 1951 Chevrolet truck. The seal was obviously leaking; and I found that the bearings and wheel brake cylinder were bad. You can see inside one in a picture. That’s supposed to be silver color in there.

Lately, the 1951 Chevrolet truck has been running better. Nowhere near to road ready, but little things that were a problem before have fixed themselves. At this time, the wheel brakes are non functional. But I can stop the truck with the handbrake, which works on the driveline. I haven’t been able to work on the truck much over the last several months, and somehow, the hand brake got stuck in the on position. I could still move the truck around on the driveway, under its own power, but as soon as I pushed in the clutch pedal, the truck would stop.

That released by itself; and the fuel problem got better. The carburetor needs new gaskets, so it won’t hold gas in the float tank for too long. If it sets for a week, then I need to prime the carburetor to get the manual fuel pump moving gas again. Usually, that takes 3 or 4 tries. But lately, the slightest little prime gets the whole thing revved up and running fine. That and rolling around nicely, it makes me want to work on mechanical things, not just paint and body.

But there’s something more inspiring than that, a goal of sorts. a friend runs a ministry for troubled inner city youths. He said he’d like to see the truck in the annual Christmas parade, promoting their ministry. Somehow, just having a target date is inspiring. In the Bible, Proverbs 29:18, it says “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

I’ve had the bench seat out for awhile, so that I could do some fiberglass body repair on the back of the cab. I wanted to put the bench back in, so I can drive it easier, but the inside of the cab is so rusty. I’m sure it hasn’t been painted in all its 65 years. I hate moving a piece of equipment around in a shop, without cleaning that area where the thing is going. Same with this bench seat. We’re working on getting a sandblasting setup, but it’s not quite ready. So everything I did inside the cab was by wire brushes. The bulk was done with the power tool, but I finally got a new type of wire brush I’ve been wanting; and man, is it nice. It’s in one of the pictures below, it’s the “cat tail” brush. This one is made of steel bristles, the smaller one is brass. I need these to get behind places where other brushes can’t fit. I got the brushes at Northern Tool.

I have found a few places inside the cab that look like it was painted a color similar to the old Rockwell power tools I just got. The outside of the truck was Forester Green, so maybe the inside was too; and these grey places were just an undercoat or something. I decided to mix up a batch of color for both the tools and the cab. If I want to make it green later, I can, but this is clean for now.

After cleaning with the wire brushes, I vacuumed, blew it out with air, then solvent wiped it. Each step is important. What the compressed air does is blow dust out from crevices. If you didn’t do this prior to spray painting, the dust would come out at that time, and stick to you new finish Very ugly.

So I’m pleased with the results, and what’s neat is that I’m getting better results in a lot of the things I do these days. And I’m no teenager. I’ve been paying closer attention to how I feel when I do or don’t eat certain foods, and my thinking is clearer than it’s been in years. God made me quit the drugs and cigarettes I used before, That was part of the journey I’ve been on for 27 years. Physical restoration is only part of the journey. Learning about life is the other part. Lately, I’ve been looking at Isaiah chapter 57. There’s some neat stuff in there. One really cool thing is being reminded of the word”revive”. It’s similar to “restore”, and that gives me more passages in the Bible to find relevant teaching.

This is getting long, so I’ll relate what I’ve found another time. The pictures:

__The tools.

__The area behind the seat, before.

__The area behind the seat after.

__One of the rear axle seals is out, leaking differential oil. I started the process of putting in a new seal.

__My oldest son saw what I was doing, and loaned me an old repair manual, for old trucks. How cool is that? Thank you Lord Jesus for a pretty cool Saturday.