Andrew Chee Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Hello all, I just purchsed this chase pattern 8"splitter on eBay. I think it's a W.H.Horn chase pattern splitter cause it says "W.H.Horn" on the blade. The splitter is in decent condition. There's some pitting and surface rust but everything turns and all the screws seem to be working. The blade is gonna need to be resharpened. I'm going to look into a local woodworking place near me to see if they can professionally sharpen the blade. I've attached some pics of the splitter. Based on the condition of this splitter, should I try to restore it? I basically bought this splitter to use and not to collect so I just want it to work well. Do you guys think it's necessary or worthwhile to clean it up even more? If so, how would you go about cleaning it up? I'm not familiar with cleaning up old machinery so any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtclod Report post Posted January 20, 2012 It's hard to tell anything about it because all of the pictures are upside down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveh Report post Posted January 20, 2012 I took a blade to machine shop and they found the correct angle angle and reground the bevel on surface grinder. The surface grinder is very precise and use a coolant that keeps the blade fro over heating so you dont lose the temper. I also made a fixture with correct angle and glued a 1200 grit paper to a steel plate to touch up the blade when needed. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Andrew, I would at least clean up the rollers on it. The bottom one will come out easily. You can wipe them with either some steel wool or fine wet-dry. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gringobill Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Hello all, I just purchsed this chase pattern 8"splitter on eBay. I think it's a W.H.Horn chase pattern splitter cause it says "W.H.Horn" on the blade. The splitter is in decent condition. There's some pitting and surface rust but everything turns and all the screws seem to be working. The blade is gonna need to be resharpened. I'm going to look into a local woodworking place near me to see if they can professionally sharpen the blade. I've attached some pics of the splitter. Based on the condition of this splitter, should I try to restore it? I basically bought this splitter to use and not to collect so I just want it to work well. Do you guys think it's necessary or worthwhile to clean it up even more? If so, how would you go about cleaning it up? I'm not familiar with cleaning up old machinery so any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew Andrew, Bruce is the expert on these old splitters. I have bought a couple of them lately and have they were both in pretty rough shape when I got them. I tore into the first one like a bull in a china closet since it was torn all to hell in shipping anyway. So I have done a lot of learning about them. One thing I will warn you about, is that if you totally disassemble the machine it's pretty tricky getting it adjusted and fine tuned when you put it back together. It looks like your blade is in pretty good shape, better than either of my old blades. Like Bruce said you can and should clean up your rollers and you can do that with out totally taking it apart. I used a wire wheel on a grinder to get a lot of rust and crud off and then used a little 1" belt sander with a very worn belt to polish up the rollers. If you're not a mechanical kind of guy like Bruce said, you might be better off sticking with steel wool and some wet or dry paper of 400 grit and higher to clean up the rollers. Using the wet or dry with WD-40 or kerosene will take off rust. You can also use the same kind of solvent and a small wire brush or cloth to wipe down the rest of it to clean it up. Again, if you aren't a pretty good mechanic, I'd advise you not to take it completely apart. These spltters are a lot more complicated than the Osborne model 86 styles. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Chee Report post Posted January 20, 2012 I took a blade to machine shop and they found the correct angle angle and reground the bevel on surface grinder. The surface grinder is very precise and use a coolant that keeps the blade fro over heating so you dont lose the temper. I also made a fixture with correct angle and glued a 1200 grit paper to a steel plate to touch up the blade when needed. Steve Are these blades supposed to be flat ground? It looks like someone might have tried to resharpen the bald and changed the blade angle cause the first 1/4" or so of the blade is a different angle from the rest of the blade. Andrew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Chee Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Andrew, Bruce is the expert on these old splitters. I have bought a couple of them lately and have they were both in pretty rough shape when I got them. I tore into the first one like a bull in a china closet since it was torn all to hell in shipping anyway. So I have done a lot of learning about them. One thing I will warn you about, is that if you totally disassemble the machine it's pretty tricky getting it adjusted and fine tuned when you put it back together. It looks like your blade is in pretty good shape, better than either of my old blades. Like Bruce said you can and should clean up your rollers and you can do that with out totally taking it apart. I used a wire wheel on a grinder to get a lot of rust and crud off and then used a little 1" belt sander with a very worn belt to polish up the rollers. If you're not a mechanical kind of guy like Bruce said, you might be better off sticking with steel wool and some wet or dry paper of 400 grit and higher to clean up the rollers. Using the wet or dry with WD-40 or kerosene will take off rust. You can also use the same kind of solvent and a small wire brush or cloth to wipe down the rest of it to clean it up. Again, if you aren't a pretty good mechanic, I'd advise you not to take it completely apart. These spltters are a lot more complicated than the Osborne model 86 styles. Bill Thanks, I guess I'll try with a wire brush on a handheld drill to get the rust off with some WD-40. I have a 18"x3" belt sander that I flip upside down for sanding down edges prior to finishing but I don't have any 400 grit paper for it (hard to get something that fine for this type of sander) so I might have to just use regular sandpaper and do it by hand. I think I'll mostly just try to clean up the rollers since that's what the leather comes into contact with. I'll use some WD-40 and try to wipe down some of the other parts but as long as the other parts don't affect function, I guess I can leave them be. Thanks. Andrew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sovran81 Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks, I guess I'll try with a wire brush on a handheld drill to get the rust off with some WD-40. I have a 18"x3" belt sander that I flip upside down for sanding down edges prior to finishing but I don't have any 400 grit paper for it (hard to get something that fine for this type of sander) so I might have to just use regular sandpaper and do it by hand. I think I'll mostly just try to clean up the rollers since that's what the leather comes into contact with. I'll use some WD-40 and try to wipe down some of the other parts but as long as the other parts don't affect function, I guess I can leave them be. Thanks. Andrew Use a brass brush with the drill. Steel wire can quickly eat into the steel. The brass will only remove the rust and not damage the underlying steel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Are these blades supposed to be flat ground? It looks like someone might have tried to resharpen the bald and changed the blade angle cause the first 1/4" or so of the blade is a different angle from the rest of the blade. Andrew Andrew. Some of the blades are flat and some are slightly hollow ground. I go off the back edge of the bevel and the tip to set my angle. Sometimes I am doing the whole face if flat and sometimes it is just the first bit of the blade and the back edge if it was hollow ground. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveh Report post Posted January 20, 2012 Are these blades supposed to be flat ground? It looks like someone might have tried to resharpen the bald and changed the blade angle cause the first 1/4" or so of the blade is a different angle from the rest of the blade. Andrew The blade I have was improperly sharpen on the edge like yours. The machinist used an angle finder on the original factory grind. A surface grinder usees an electro magnet base chuck to hold your blade The grinding wheel roatates perpendicual to edge and runs back and forth the length of the blade. this process will put a hollow grind , how much depends on the diameter of the wheel, the smaller the wheel will produce more of a hollow grind.This blade was from a krebs style splitter and the sharping worked great. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef niloc Report post Posted January 28, 2012 I found the best way to do that blade is to make a simple jig. You need a flat serfice, marble block works. And a steel straight edge. Hang the edge about 1/32-1/16" over the edge. Its important to check the the blade is not bent, dead flat if its a little off you can lap the back. But if is a lot off you SOOL. Now clamp the straight edge to the top about 1/16"-1/32 (match the overhang. Now work your bench stones back and forth. Start with a corse one B/C you not only need to make a bur at the edge but flatten that extra 1/32" on the top so it's one continues slope, think chisel edge. Once done with the corse stone I like to remove the bur to make things go quicker, I use a felt block but a cork or copper pipe would work too. Now work your way up to your finest stone and last debur the back with you finest stone. The trouble with most pro's is they will try and hollow gringo or convex the blade, it needs to be flat. I did this one last summer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Chee Report post Posted January 28, 2012 I found the best way to do that blade is to make a simple jig. You need a flat serfice, marble block works. And a steel straight edge. Hang the edge about 1/32-1/16" over the edge. Its important to check the the blade is not bent, dead flat if its a little off you can lap the back. But if is a lot off you SOOL. Now clamp the straight edge to the top about 1/16"-1/32 (match the overhang. Now work your bench stones back and forth. Start with a corse one B/C you not only need to make a bur at the edge but flatten that extra 1/32" on the top so it's one continues slope, think chisel edge. Once done with the corse stone I like to remove the bur to make things go quicker, I use a felt block but a cork or copper pipe would work too. Now work your way up to your finest stone and last debur the back with you finest stone. The trouble with most pro's is they will try and hollow gringo or convex the blade, it needs to be flat. I did this one last summer Thanks. I had the blade professionally sharpened by a tool sharpening company so it should be good to go. What did you do to your splitter? How come it's gold and green? Andrew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef niloc Report post Posted January 28, 2012 Looking at old pictures of them I noticed that they were enameled green and the plate when I got it still had remnants of gold left on it. So I took it all apart. I used a vibration tumbler to polish all the hardware. Polished the rollers by running them in between mandrels using a sequence of fine grit wet dry paper. I used gold leaf and guided the plate. i had to take a little liberty with the paint. I did not want to just use shaker can hardware store green so I used a auto body HVLP spray gun and sprayed it with top end "house of Kolor" lacquer, this one is called "toxic green". Then I used a two stage epoxy clear coat and buffed it like you would a New car. I'll post picks again next week as I just got word that my new blade is ready, and shipped. I have a good friend who was nice enough to make me one. I think it will be the first splinter to ever have a blade hand forged by a ABS master smith! He hand forged to out of 52100 high carbon, I was going with a more modern tool steel but thought it best to stick true to good old high carbon.<br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Chee Report post Posted January 29, 2012 Hm... Although I'm not terribly keen on the green and gold color scheme I wouldn't mind getting the machine fully restored. Doesnanyone know of professional services that do that? I don't trust my ability in this. Thanks. Andrew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KAYAK45 Report post Posted January 30, 2012 Are you looking to get a using machine out of this, or a work of art? If a work of art have it cleaned, powder coated, painted and photographed. Otherwise, soak it in diesel fuel..clean it as suggested...and use it! Just an idea! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGGUNDOCTOR Report post Posted February 2, 2012 Bay Area covers a lot of area. Where specifically are you? I used to have a machine shop in Cordelia , near Fairfield, where I did a lot of winery equipment repairs, and refurbishing. I think with some coaching , you can do this one yourself. The unit itself is very basic construction. I would look into hand polishing the roller, and shafts, then have the rest glass bead blasted to remove the rust. After that, some paint to keep the parts from rusting again in your humid air, and you are good to go. If I was still in Fairfield I would help ya out, or if ya want to visit fabulous Las Vegas NV, I can meet ya there =) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
