Old screwdrives

Feb 18, 2016 7 Replies

I recently picked up some old almost all metal screwdrivers. The ones with just the wood inserts in the handles. The wood is very weathered. What type of treatment can I use to stabilize the wood in the handle? Thanks, CP



Sand them and apply a coat or two of varnish.

depends on how weathered

if it has dry rot it is toast

if it is just dry apply some of your favorite oil

mineral oil is cheap

if it is just the finish that is bad then sand them and refinish with oil or poly or your favorite finish

Paint, preferably pink, nobody will steal them.

JOAT, Jr.! Where you been?? ;)

I knew somebody would get that one. :-)

Soak in epoxy wood stabilizer for a couple of hours, remove before it sets up, and wipe of excess an let it finish setting up over a couple of weeks as it works very slow. Then you can sand it smooth and use.

If it's just weathered, give it a stiff brushing down (or maybe use a plastic scrubpad) to remove surface dirt, then apply boiled linseed oil. If it's weathered and warped or shrunk, paint on some mineral oil (the USP type is fine) and wait a week or so for it to soak in, then apply the BLO.

Give the BLO a day or so to cure, then rub down the wood parts vigorously with newsprint or paper bags. It'll be slightly slippery, but a coat of shellac will fix that.

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