Tag: rust

1949 Smith-Corona Clipper Black Wooden Case Restoration

Two overlapping 4x6 inch index cards typed in blue ink which read: Smith-Corona 1949 Case On my lunch break today, I spent some time cleaning up the Black fabric-covered wooden carrying case for my most recent Smith-Corona typewriter acquisition. I started by wiping down the black fabric which was filthy, but otherwise in very serviceable condition. There are a few small cuts or small divots, but nothing painfully eye-catching. It took some elbow grease with mild detergent and a damp cloth, but it came out quite well. Next up came some work on the steel fittings which were showing sighs of pitting and rust. A bit of masking tape to protect the black fabric, and a bronze brush seemed to take care of the worst of it. Wiping things down with some Sparklean a brand of jewelry cleaner I have lying around seemed to polish things up nicely. I finished things up by quickly wiping down the interior. I also cleaned out the clever spring loaded hinges, and then gave all the solid metal fittings a light and very thin coat of machine oil. Thinking 1 was done and having the case back in order for at least the next decade, it dawned on me that the white splotch on the case exterior was probably some spilled liquid paper. I went at it with a touch of 91% isopropyl alcohol and then wiped it down with a moist cloth. It came off readily and doesn't seem to have damaged the exterior. Next up for the weekend is to clean out the sticky keys and provide any internal cleaning and oiling which may be required.

Some photos in the process of cleaning up the black wooden case of my 1949 Smith-Corona Clipper which are suggestive of methods one might attempt at restoring their own versions.

A sparkling shiny latch and polished steel fittings on a black fabric covered wooden typewriter case. The fabric is press onto the wood to make it appear as if it's black painted wood grain.
Near the right side of the handle you can see the white liquid paper spill on the case which cleaned up quickly.
A close up of the feet and hinge on a typewriter case showing how rusty and nasty the metal has become over time
All the metal fittings on this case were this bad and needed some attention.
A before and after comparison of a corroded, rusty hinge and feet on a typewriter case on the left, and cleaner and shinier fittings on the right hand side.
Before and After
A photo of a typewriter case featuring a cleaned hinge next to which is a piece of blue masking tape with a hole punched into it for cleaning a rusty hinge fitting. Next to the hinge are a metal single hole punch and a green plastic-handled bronze bristled brush.
Extreme abrasives like this brass bristle brush on a fabric covered wooden case will cause damage, so mask what you don’t want scrubbed clean..

Not factory perfect, but certainly acceptable for another 75 years of happy use.

Furniture refinishing projects progress

Made some good progress on furniture refinishing projects today. The weather has finally warmed up a bit for improved painting and drying times.

Day Four on the Shaw-Walker Filing Cabinet

  • Rust mitigation, sanded, cleaned, and primed all four drawers, primarily the front faces and edges, though the full bottom on one drawer;
  • Primed the bottom of the cabinet to prevent further rusting;
  • Next steps:
    • Choose a paint color and get clear coat;
    • I’m half tempted to mount onto steel plate and add casters, otherwise felt stripping/feet to prevent scratching floors;
    • Finish cleaning hardware (not sure how much better these might get without replating) and remount

Day two on the Steelcase stick leg office chair

  • Spray painted all sides with two coats and left to dry
  • Sanded down the chair back, washed it, and spray painted with two coats and left to dry.
  • Next steps:

Day Two and Three Refinishing the Shaw-Walker Filing Cabinet

Yesterday I spent several more hours on the Shaw-Walker. I finished removing as much of the rust as I could and did the final rounds of sanding with the 60 grit and 100 grit sandpaper. I vacuumed away a ton of dust and then gave it a good washing down and did a final sponging of it with some acetone. Then I gave five of the sides a good coat of Rust-o-leum anti-rust primer and sat it to dry for 24 hours.

Oblique view of Shaw-Walker filing cabinet with the first coat of anti-rust primer applied.
Oblique view of the back side of the filing cabinet with brown primer on. Generally in excellent shape though there are one or two small dings in the piece.

I got out all the drawers and cleaned and vacuumed them out. Then I removed all the hardware including the filing cabinet rods and file stops, the handles, the name plate frames, and the metal shield on the back of the drawer front that prevents files from coming into contact with the drawer handle bolts. It appears that none of the bolts have ever been removed, so it took some WD-40 and some elbow grease to remove them.

The four filing cabinet drawers and associated hardware including file stops, file rods, and roller assemblies.
A close up o one of the drawer fronts in bad shape. Someone appears to have spilled something on the front which has corroded the finish and rusted part of the corner.

Close up angle on the four drawers in the late afternoon sun.

View into a drawer as the bolts from the drawer handle are being removed.
A corroded drawer handle with signs of WD-40 on the threads of the handle attachment.

Drawer handle assembly fully removed with the drawer, the handle, the interior protection plate, and a glass with the nuts and washers.
View of the drawer tipped with it’s face to the ground to show where the protection plate was inserted into the drawer.
The heavily black tarnished drawer label frames and the drawer handles arranged in a grid.
View of the four drawers fully disassembled with all the hardware arranged around them.
View of the back of one of the worst drawers which is showing signs of rusting through its green paint. I’ll probably strip and refinish this portion of the drawer, but the rest will be left in original condition after a thorough cleaning.
The bottom drawer with the drawer face on the ground showing the extent of the rust damage on the back and bottom of the drawer.
Close up of some of the rusting as well as the corroded metal lock stop mechanism on the right rear bottom of the drawer.

I’ll end up sanding, priming, and painting only the front and edges of each of the drawers, though one or two of the bottom drawers will need some rehabilitation work due to rusting.

Finally I spent a part of the early evening removing the heavy tarnish from the metal fittings. A quick magnet test indicates that they’re all ferrous but they appear to be brass plated. So I mixed up a batch of vinegar, salt, and flour paste (~6:1:4) to scrub off the grime and tarnish. After a quick test on one to confirm the results, I spent some serious scrubbing and polishing to get one set of handle, frame, and rod cleaned up. I finished them off with a polishing cloth and the results aren’t half bad, particularly considering their original condition.

Kitchen station set up with vinegar, a tub of flour, a salt cellar, some measuring spoons, a toothbrush and newspaper for removing the corrosion from one of the file rods, a label frame, and one of the drawer pulls. A magnet test indicates that these are steel cores with what is likely brass plating.
Side by side comparison of two file rods. One has been treated and had most of its tarnish removed to reveal a coppery shine and the other is untreated and grimy and brown with hinds of yellow and green.
A before and after of the tarnish on two file name plate frames. Even the prettier of the two still needs some more work.
Before and after comparisons of name plate frames and file rods.

It took some serious work this morning, but I’ve managed to clean off most of the rest of the tarnish on the remaining handles, frames, and filing rods. They look quite nice, though still show some signs of tarnish and patina. I finally gave up on the backs of the handles as they’re so heavily tarnished I’m not sure it’ll ever come off.