Monkey Wrench Restoration

Decided to restore an old monkey wrench. The patina looked awesome on this so I tried my best to preserve it. I think it turned out alright!

Tools:

drill press

belt sander

file

wire wheel

vice

dremel with a scotch brite wheel

Material:

wood for handle

epoxy

Birchwood Casey gun blue

boiled linseed oil

paper towel

Evaporust

Simple disassembly. The wrench is held together with a nut on the bottom. In this case I had to sand down the end of the wrench to remove the ceased nut.

• Place parts into a tub of Evaporust. Leave in for 24 hours.
• Remove and wipe clean with paper towel.
• Any remaining rust removed with a wire wheel.

• Use a belt sander to clean up the wrench. Remove any mushrooming and larger dings.
• File the work surface of the wrench jaws flat.

• Using a scotch brite wheel on a dremel, brush the entire surface of the wrench. This helps bluing to have a nice consistent finish.
• Wipe wrench parts with acetone.
• Apply bluing all over.
• Rinse parts with water.
• Now to seal the bluing, apply oil to the wrench and let it sit for a few hours.
• Wipe clean.

• Select a piece of wood and cut to length with a mitre saw.
• Drill hole through the wood.
• Cut chamfers on all corners of the wood with a table saw. This removes most of the material making it easier to round edges later.
• Remove more material (round the edges) with a belt sander.
• I used my drill press as a make shift lathe and mounted the wooden handle into it. I then completed the final shaping/sanding in this step. See video for more clarity.

• Use epoxy to adhere wooden handle. Let the epoxy cure for 24 hours.
• Wipe boiled linseed oil onto the handle and wipe clean.

Thank you for following along!