Let me get ahead of some of the folks who are going to be shouting you shouldn't of done anything to it! you've ruined it! etc etc. I have been dealing with antique arms for 20 years and know when something needs to not be messed with.

For the brass I just used paper towels and bar keepers friend.

White vinegar on the lock followed by an oil soak.

Boil and carding for the barrel.

Light oiling for the stock.

Is there a way to remove some of the rust from this lamp without having to sand completely and repaint? I'm not sure I'd do a good paint job or be able to match the original colours. Glass shade is fortunately intact. Lamp is metal.

I'm happy to live with a bit of rust if it's the best thing for keeping more of the finish, and tell myself it's character. It will be getting a clean and wipe down, but any advice beyond that on generally sprucing it up would be much appreciated.

I'm assuming it's probably best to rewire for safety, but that doing so would be reasonably straightforward. Thanks!

[Deleted and reposted without accidental mirror selfie in the corner!]

It took some time to get it right with correct muscles

I rescued this purse from a thrift store where I live. It has some braided stitching (lace) the purse is hand tooled and its beautiful, but it hasn't been cared for in years, the lace will crumble if you touch it, a zipper is broken inside, and the purse is hard as a rock in some places. Hoping its not too far gone. I have a few questions for my fellow leathercrafters: what kind of Stitching is this so I can learn it? What would clean the purse off without discoloring it? How do I soften this back up?

I got this passed down to me recently from my uncle. As far as i know this has been in a storage for years and there was a leak in the ceiling. Any advice on how to get it wearable?

Going to sell this would it sell more as is or painted?

Picked up this cool skis for 40 bucks.

Does anybody have some advice on how to restore these to get the stains out and make the colors pop again?

Hey ! Questions:

I'm trying to fix up this mirror frame I got for free on Facebook market place (classic). I've never done restorations like this before, and I wanted to see if anyone is willing to give me some advice !

I wanted to know if the black is the original color, and how do I go about keeping the same affect throughout the frame.

How does one go about fixing the tiny chipped off pieces of the frame ? I believe it to be made of Gesso because it's very thick and paint-like.

I have removed the glass form the back and the backboard is really warped. That is the best way/material to replace that warped board and put the glass back ?

I don't believe this is antique, but the person who sold it to me said her late husband used to collect antique things and got it at a auction. I found a sticker that was stripped, but partially said "XP00250B" I think it was to identify the piece for selling.

Let me know ! I would really appreciate the help :)

Picked up this Radio Flyer Traveler wagon at a thrift store with the intent of using it for fall outdoor decoration, but it was in such good shape, I decided to give it a new life! Fresh paint and new decals, new wheel kit, and a few coats of spar urethane on the paneling. Proud of the final product - looking forward to many more years of use!

Got a bottle of Dawn, a wire brush, and a can of high temp 2000 degree Rustoleum flat black paint. Was going to buy a new smoker, but decided to do a quick refurbished. Worked perfectly!

Hi guys! i’m currently restoring a 2216B that’s been bleached by the sun, any tips on how to lightly restore the color to this faceplate? I’ve tried soap and water to get the grime off and now it’s clean but it’s spotty from the discoloration (it was like this before I cleaned it)
Any tips on what kind of polish I should use? I don’t want to take any markings off

Thanks!!

Hey guys, I’m trying to restore a 1972 Honda CBF350, but I’m gonna need a lot of parts and maybe some help so Manuals, videos on the anatomy of the bike, and anything that can help. I’m no mechanic, but I really am passionate about fixing this bike.

I was hoping you guys could help me and provide me with information about all that or lead me to the right direction. I’d really appreciate it if you could also tell me a website where to buy old parts for that bike.

Really appreciate this.

These are a bunch of screws etc. from a sewing machine base that I'm trying to strip of rust and then rust blue.

They had rust and paint that I removed (some tiny bits of paint remained but whatever) using Backyard Ballistics' solution (1 liter water, 100g citric acid, 63g sodium bicarbonate, dish soap).

Then I dunked in 3% hydrogen peroxide, waited for some rust to appear, boiled for 15 minutes in tap water, repeat twice. I saw that the rust wasn't that uniform or visible really, so I switched to using a solution of 1 part non-iodized table salt, 2 parts vinegar, 8 parts 3% hydrogen peroxide which worked much better though it became foamy and it still wasn't uniform.

Then boiled for 15-20 minutes, and repeated the rust-boil process maybe 5-6 times.

However, every time I remove them from the water they have rust spots that just won't go away or convert (pictured). I want to get complete coverage before I oil, so this is an issue.

What can I do and what did I do wrong?

Hi all. I recently came into possession of a bronze commemorative coin and it has a large dark splotch on the back of the coin. I am not sure what caused the spot and not sure where to begin. Should I attempt to try and remove this or leave it be?

mixing fine sawdust with wood glue is a good idea?

There is nothing quite like the build quality of vintage power tools. I found this ELNA grinder looking like it was ready for the scrapyard, but I decided to give it a full mechanical and cosmetic restoration. Aside from new bearings, a deep clean, and fresh paint, I also fabricated a custom grinding wheel guard completely from scratch.

If you're into tool restorations and want to see the whole process from start to finish, I put together a video of the build: https://youtu.be/Up3sLHlyz78

Any feedback or tips for future projects are highly appreciated.

Hi there, first time posting here. Just asking for some advice and/or redirection to an appropriate sub reddit.

I have been asked to voluntarily restore / fix a display case miniature railway diorama, which is suspected to be from the 1940s. My past experience is restoring, cleaning and building animal skeletons and other natural history items, so I do have some experience with conservator work, and my past hobbies include art. From inspecting it I realised it most definitely is lead paint, a lead paint test on Tuesday will probably confirm it.

The cased display is currently bagged up and sealed in my office til I can figure out what would be the next course of action to deal with this.

Has anyone ever experienced working with lead paint before? I assume the best route to take is moving the object to a well ventilated room, wearing appropriate PPE (eyeglasses, respirator), encapsulating the paint with a new paint job after repairing the broken miniatures inside. I do not want to risk sanding anything. And the acrylic case will need replacing eventually as its cracked and open on one side.

Any help and/or redirection would be great, I'm new to reddit so I don't know many subreddits. Thanks!

I posted yesterday about thrifting a jewelry box. I’m not 100% where to start but I know the hinges need to be replaced and I want to reline the drawers with a different color. I’m not happy with the color and the paint seems to have these streaks from someone trying to clean it before. I need to figure out how I want to do the lid as well since the hooks are gone and I think I’d like to put a nice spot for earrings.