Vintage Tin Snips Restoration

This is a fun little project to restore some Vintage Tin Snips. I recently came across some old Footprint-branded tin snips in a thrift store and couldn't bear to see them remain in that state. I had to give them a home and return them to their original glory.

• Old tin snips
• Screw Driver
• Wrench
• CRC or WD40
• Wire wheel on grinder and/or drill
• Buffing wheels for grinder
• Paint Stripper
• Masking tape
• Soapy water
• Brake Cleaner or Acetone
• Paint and Paintbrush

These Tin Snips have a lock nut, this needs to come off before unscrewing the bolt. I tried to unscrew the bolt but it was pretty ceased up, so I had to give it a squirt of CRC to help lubricate it. This helped a little but I ended up holding the snips in the vice and then upgrading to a bigger screwdriver and I eventually got it out.

I gave everything a quick clean-down with the wire wheel on the grinder, this knocked off most of the old paint and surface rust. I washed everything down in soapy water to remove any oils and after drying them applied some paint stripper and allowed it to sit for a while.

While the paint striper was doing its thing I used a small file to clean down any burrs off the screw as it was slightly damaged during the removal process. I then used the wire wheel to clean up the nut and bolt.

I then washed the paint stripper off in the soapy water and then gave them a final clean on the wire wheel.

If you haven't got a buffing wheel for your grinder it's a great addition to your workshop. Take the time to really shine up all the parts of the snips that won't be covered by paint. I started off using a sisel wheel and then moved onto a softer buffing wheel to bring out the shine.

The buffing compound leaves a dirty waxy layer that needs to be cleaned off, I squirt of brake cleaner and a rag will clean this off quickly.

The most important part of painting is the preparation stage, a great paint job can be ruined if you don't prepare the surface first. We've already taken care of the hard part by removing any rust and dirt.

Using some masking tape cover everything except the handles. At this stage give the handles a final clean down with some acetone on a cotton ball to remove any remaining dirt or oils.

Paint selection is very important, make sure you get a good quality metal paint. I'm using paint that does not require any primer or undercoat. Give the snips two to three thin coats and allow them to dry. Even after the paint is dry it still won't be at maximum hardest for quite a while. Check with the paint manufacturer how long the paint takes to fully cure, bringing the snips into a warm location can help speed things up.

Once the paint is dry you can remove the masking tape and apply a thin coat of oil to prevent any rust. Screw in the bolt to hold the tin snips together and adjust its tightness until the snips are firm but can still move freely. Lastly apply the locking nut to prevent the snips from loosening over time.