Secateurs restoration - pitting content

[Longhorn6120]

A close friend of mine was given a pair of secateurs as a gift over 40 years ago. His mis-placed them a while back and they recently turned up...at the bottom of his compost heap.

He knows I’ve been dabbling with citric baths for rust removal so he passed them to me over the weekend to see what I could do. 24 hours in citric acid and copious amounts of WD40 and 3-in-1 and they’re functional again.

I know there’s been some talk about whether citric acid causes pitting. I’m no expert on the matter and your mileage may vary, but what I can say is while the blades and spring have suffered some pitting it is only where the heavy rust deposits were.

I’m convinced the pitting is just rust pitting and it becomes exposed once the rust is gone.

 

[Longhorn6120]

Excuse the Roundel Blue paint that’s appeared between the before and after shots, I’ve been restoring a cast iron soap dish at the same time

 

[Migmac]

Your friend will be happy with that outcome.

 

[bricol]

They look impressively recovered! Did you pull the plastic off the handle to get in there too?

I'd agree the pits are rust damage - and now the rust has gone . . .

 

[Longhorn6120]

Thanks guys.

No, the handles are super tight, probably heat shrunk on. I doubt there’s too much damage under them.

 

[Ross365]

Defo the pitting is the rust and not the citric.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

That's from the rust and the acid from the compost heap.

Steels still good.

 

[Barking Mat]

Take down to component level, file or flap disk?

I'd stop there personally.

 

[arther dailey]

A close friend of mine was given a pair of secateurs as a gift over 40 years ago. His mis-placed them a while back and they recently turned up...at the bottom of his compost heap.

View attachment 280544
View attachment 280545
He knows I’ve been dabbling with citric baths for rust removal so he passed them to me over the weekend to see what I could do. 24 hours in citric acid and copious amounts of WD40 and 3-in-1 and they’re functional again.

View attachment 280546
View attachment 280547
I know there’s been some talk about whether citric acid causes pitting. I’m no expert on the matter and your mileage may vary, but what I can say is while the blades and spring have suffered some pitting it is only where the heavy rust deposits were.

I’m convinced the pitting is just rust pitting and it becomes exposed once the rust is gone.

great save , bet he s chuffed

 

[Longhorn6120]

I did consider stripping to component level and smoothing out the steel but a) the centre bolt is still seized and I don’t want to gnarl up the top, and b) the blades are still pretty keen and I don’t want to mess up the cut by making them all baggy.

I hope to be handing them over in the next day or two. I’m hoping he’ll be pleased to get them back, if only as a standby pair.

 

[Barking Mat]

Coat of paint maybe? Just thinking out loud.

 

[Longhorn6120]

They look to me as though they were painted in a silvery/minty green Hammerite finish originally and I did think about that, but they’re 40 years old and have a lot of patina (especially since their time in the compost heap ). Brand new paint might look a little odd.