Saved old tool (Fun with rust removal electrolysis)

[grepper]

A friend of my wife left her hand clippers out in her garden over the last Michigan winter.  The clippers didn’t fare well and were heavily rusted.  While the resulting “patina” was from one perspective attractive, they were trashed as a useful tool.   They would still open/close, but not smoothly and needed a lot of help.  I had to use an impact wrench to get the screw out so I could take them apart. 
 
My wife’s friend knew that I sharpened stuff and gave her the clippers for me to “sharpen” them.
 
Now…  Um…  Every so often I get a tool in really bad condition for “sharpening”.   People just don’t understand.  Of course I could comply and just sharpen them, call it good and return them.  Of course there is no way in hell I could just sharpen them and call it good.  The old tool deserved more, and I wouldn’t be happy with the job I did if I simply sharpened the rusted tool.
 
So, I decided to restore the clippers.  I put them in the trusty electrolysis tank to remove the rust, cleaned, sharpened, lubricated and reassembled them.  Now they work great with a new lease on life and with any normal maintenance will last for generations.
 
I think saving old tools from the trash is fun and rewarding.  The results are always amazing.  So much so I thought I should pay my wife’s friend for the opportunity.  Instead I charged her $4.00 and called it good.
 
Here I detail my electrolysis tank and how to make one and use it.  Hey kids!  Cheap, super easy and a lot of fun:
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...587#pid587
 
Here’s another example of what electrolysis can do:
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...576#pid576
 
Anyway, here’s the before and after pics of the clippers: