New project acquired. My in-laws wheelbarrow. My son wanted to toss it, his grandmother wanted it tossed, but his grandfather pointed out they had the wheelbarrow since they first got married sometime in the 60's. Already ordered replacement handles and wedge pieces, now deciding how far I go with the metal restoration. On the plus side, all the undoubtedly leaded 1960's paint long gone, lol. Now, to decide on removing the rust or just covering it up after some metal brushing.... #ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #repair
First step, a little PB Blaster and some work with two garage sale adjustable wrenches. Pb Blaster really reeks. Ends up a lot of the bolts are rust with no threads. #ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #repair
Pile of metal, tire, old wood (rotted!!!). Had to pull out a hacksaw, many of the bolts were more rust than metal, and you can't remove a bolt where there is no thread. #ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #repair
Current status: these wheelbarrows have carriage bolts, but when they are very rusty, they spun. An angle grinder would be the best option here, but I have no angle grinder. So, manual hacksaw through the bolt (which works, but is a lot of work. But, great arm workout!) #ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #repair #wheelbarrow
Sears wheelbarrow. Probably 1960's or early 1970's. Purchased in Ventura or Oxnard, I understand. #ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #repair
I wonder if someone has the appropriate catalog for this one online anywhere. #Sears
Going with rust covering paint on this. Did a quick once over with a metal brush while wet to knock off loose rust, and I see the undercoat is most certainly that vintage leaded paint white (it has a certain sheen). So, better covered and encapsulated than removed. Washed with a degreaser. There are bits of ancient cement I can't remove... they will have to remain there I suppose. #ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #wheelbarrow #repair

@ai6yr

Perhaps consider a phosphoric acid based rust converter before the paint, but check compatibility.

@zl2tod The "Rustoleom" based paint here has a rust converter in the paint.

@ai6yr Plus those old tools were built like a tank and made to last.

Highly recommend a more modern tire that does not need to be inflated

@ai6yr archive.org has quite a few scanned.

@EugestShirley LOL

Also, fashion in the 70's was... interesting.

@ai6yr @EugestShirley people took a lot of psychedelics in that era. um, according to my friends.

@ai6yr

The whole flower power / summer of love thing was in large part a cultural reaction to the Vietnam war, and Korea and WWII before it.

I wish I was seeing something analogous now.

@EugestShirley

@ai6yr those chairs, despite appearances, were VERY comfortable to sit in whilst conversing with others.
@ai6yr I was on team hacksaw for many many years. Finally bought an angle grinder and will never go back! ;-)

@grwster @ai6yr I used to be all about the hacksaw but this one day I got really frustrated by something and, yeah

corded angle grinder took care of that situation

@ai6yr I’ll lend you an angle grinder next time.
@jlamoree BUT HOW WILL I GET MY ARM REPS IN THEN?!?!? 🤪
@ai6yr Well, with the time you save, you could drive your car to the gym and workout in a sanitary environment, like a normal person. Hehe
@jlamoree I'm pretty sure removing rusty bolts in my backyard is a lot more sanitary than sharing sweaty surfaces with 1000 of my nearest friends 🤪

@ai6yr

Hell of a project, congratulations on it!

@ai6yr I’ll up your all rust. This was once a ½” bolt that attached the one of the railing posts to my mom’s deck. Just a sharp spike now. Also, this is the only one I found, plenty of empty holes though. It’s amazing the railing never gave way.
@rand @ai6yr Darn O2 atmosphere. You wouldn’t have had this problem back in the Archean.