A restoration for my brother! Merit Stillson Wrench (60fps version) 

I use these videos to fall asleep. Not because they’re boring though, just because they’re calming.

Makes me want to go to the antique store, and restore all those old tools, to give them their dignity back. Amazing work!!

My father was a craftsman fitter, turner and boilermaker; all three trades, which is unusual. He made scale models of various engines, which he always powered with compressed air, not steam, as a hobby, and won prizes with them. If he was still alive, he would have really appreciated this channel. His method, when cutting a screw or bolt to length, was to fit two nuts first, then lock them together. This gives you a perfect platform for parting off square, and when the two nuts are removed, first lightly remove sharp edges from the thread, and then undo the nuts. It dresses the end (or ends, because there can be two or more) of the thread(s), so that everything will fit together afterwards without binding or cross-threading. Thanks for the awesome work you put into restoring these tools and items. It would be a crime to neglect them again, and you prove that good hand tools can last a lifetime or longer, if cared-for correctly.

When cutting a bolt to length, put two nuts on it first. Put the nut furthest from the bolt head so it's topface is at the length of bolt you want. Nip the 2nd nut to hold that nut in place then put the whole lot in the vice. Use the outer edge of the top nut as a guide when cutting. This ensures the cut is at 90° to the bolt thread. Screw the nuts to the bolt head. Dress the cut. Take the nuts off. As you take the nuts off this redresses the thread on the bolt. Sounds long winded but is quick to do and means you end up with a bolt of the right length, true cut and it fits; first time, every time.

Painting the teeth and screw tells me this is no longer a tool, but a piece of art. Bare metal, and original colors would have been my choice.

Can we appreciate how perfect that corner fit on the belt sander 11:33

Not all men willing to work on his brother’s rusty tool. You are a great man bro. I wish I have a brother like you. Bless you.

The part where you put the collar on the belt sander, and the curve fit the rounded end perfectly was like ASMR for tool people. Nice!

😳This wrench should not be used and should be kept as a decorative tool, comrade😻 Hi dear friend. My name is Hadi and I live in Iran. I was amazed at your accuracy and creativity in doing things. dude I am a fan of your channel. I introduce your RU-vid channel to all the people of my country and I pray to God that you and your family and everyone you love are always healthy.❤❤❤🙏🙏

the colors worked out so much better irl than I'd imagined from the mockup.

Every time I see a video of his I imagine that it is going to be perfect, but even so the result always exceeds my expectations. I love your restorations!!❤

God gifted skills. Unbelievable to see someone can be creative to restore stuff to such extent.

I think I may have just found my new hobby. When I board, it when I'm waiting on parts, or a peice just isn't coming together..... Slow, laborious, complete restoration of old tooling

Another work of art to be put up on the wall and *NEVER TOUCHED AGAIN.* My god that is beautiful... I wasn't sure about the yellow when I saw the sketch. But the finished product is superb. Well done.

The filming quality of this is up there with the big boys like My Mechanics, Awesome Restoration and TysyTube. Bro you deserve way more subs and views on your content! Great video and restoration and nice colour scheme, I wasn't sure about it on the drawing but when finished it looks great! Good luck in the future. You've earnt my subscribe :)

I am a super tool nerd and collector. It is always the tools with a story that I value the most. Beautiful work.

You know what separates your videos from all the rest, the beautiful silence. It feels like all other videos with similar content are destroyed with annoying music looping in the background or somebody talking over the whole thing. I love your content! Fully appreciate the peaceful sounds of tools and silence.

There is no meaningless repair or restoration of any item when it is done this perfectly down to the last detail

Haveing a hard time figuring out why he's making this Hammer so beautiful.🧐

Nothing like watching someone do amazing things with Harbor Freight tools and materials.

From rusty tool, to a piece of art. Outstanding!

The algorithm gave me a view of this and I’m so pleased, excellent work! Love the comedy too, I have to watch with the sound off, so getting visual comedy is ace, keep up the great work!

I read one of the comments-. "Why do you restore average tools" Not the same words... I like the way you think and do things. You polish, remove casting flange and do things that no one may ever see. PERFECTION... I did the same building motorcycle engines. Not claiming they worked better, however they did.. It also made going to sleep at night easier.

I was thinking about converting my garage into a deadly martial arts dojo, but after seeing your restoration videos, I am tempted to let it remain as a workshop and start polishing up some of grandpas old tools!

It’s funny, I was redoing my garage and found one of these in the wall! Mine is much smaller but I cleaned her up and she’s in my toolbox now.

I have the EXACT same wrench and I've been wanting to a complete restore on it, but I was intimidated by the rivets and the springs things. You blew my mind when you tapped the holes for screws! I can't believe I never thought of that!

Restorations are always so satisfying.

Man this is awesome! Watched the mirror polished ratchet too and must say, top notch work👊🏻 thanks for sharing this! And for giving these tools a second life, although I doubt anyone would have the audacity to use them now😂

Truly amazing what someone can achieve when they dare to imagine. Lovely work.

You did such a fine job with the sanding and polish work I would have left it bare metal except painted the insert red or blue.

The Stillson was in a grim state before restoration, now I'd be putting it in a glass cabinet and only handle the wrench with white cotton gloves. Using it, is simply out of the question.

I maybe a minority but I prefer raw polish steel over painted surfaces.Doing all that hard work polishing then covering it with paint is like taking great steak from grill and putting ketchup on it.

The World needs more people like you.

One of the best restorations I have EVER seen!!! Keep up the brilliant work 👍🏻

you have to be a really bad human being to dislike his work, they´re not only disrespecting his effort but also proving their lack of esthetic sense

I can't remember when I ever watched a RU-vid video from start to finish - Awesome again... amazing...

I have almost this exact wrench only with a wood handle. Much like a “Perfect Handle” screw driver. Mine is in almost as poor condition. This has inspired me to restore it.

superb workmanship...neat , clean, and precise.

Perfection, but if i did this to my tools, i couldnt use them again

Why am I watching another one!! These are so great. Lots of resto tips for materials.

That yellow color gave me the DeWalt-ish look and I think that was neat.

I loveed it so much, I watch it over and over again!!

That wrench looks better than the day it was made! Beautiful job!

I have one of these exact models from my grandfather. I'm going to have to try this!

My son send the link to your RU-vid Kilo Restoration Just what a retired guy hunkered down waiting for the virus vaccination needs to see! Shiny stuff always catches my eye. I have a three phase buffer motor I bought from a friend after he sold his spoke car wheel restoration business. Thanks for teasing me.

Amazing tool work. Excellent video work. Thanks for a great 20 mins on this planet!

I've watched a couple of your restoration videos, and it is a pleasure watching you work.

Holy hell!!!!! This is like restoring a Ford '32 Coupe! This is no longer a tool but a piece of artwork. So good, in fact, that I would not want to use it as an actual tool ever again. [And ask any car buff when they do such a restore how often do they take it out on the street for a spin.....] This wrench I guarantee you did not look this good when it was brand new.

Absolutely immaculate work, functionality AND entertainment value! Great job!

Whenever I do a simple restoration I like to use red and black. Of course keep the silver parts natural. I recently did a 36 inch stills on wrench, was going to do the red and black combo, but after getting the original paint and rust off, it looked ok just to leave it all silver with a clear coat finish.

Just found this channel, i really like how you pay attention to detail. Keep doing what you're doing and you will get tons of subscribers. Great stuff man

Well done,. That's tool was so great finished and make me want it as decorations

That masking tape section was so satisfying.

I have the same exact pipe wrench from my dad. I have never used it on a pipe. 99% of the time it is used as a hammer. The other 1% of the time its used as a paperweight, a cheater bar, lever, jack handle, axel nut holder.

Absolutely beautiful! Your patience and attention to detail are amazing! Nice work. Truly.

You are the KING of restoration.

I appreciate the lack of narrative and guitar rifts. Don’t know why but your stuff is interesting and relaxing at the same time. Keep it up👍🏻.

Considering these videos are on the long side, I'd strongly consider making a lot of them. It's awesome to watch and you could could earn a load of money. I am absolutely in awe of this and the mirror finished ratchet. Amazing work.

Looks so good, I wouldn't want to use it for fear of messing it up.

Something very satisfying watching theses videos.

OH MY MY...that was some mighty fine elbow grease man...wow im taken back...second video i have watched and im hooked...i really do find it "fun" cleaning, repairing, and tinkering with anything i find worth a challenge... Hats off to you SIR... you have mastered the skill of perfection and to add, the amount of detail you go to is what really sells it...i love the creativeness you bring...i look forward to seeing more of your work... Happy new year. and be well

Yeah, if only we could work that in that sped up fashion, lol 😊 Amazing work!! (like all your restorations)

Another masterpiece finished! I cleaned and restored a very similar wrench many years ago but did not take the time or pay attention to detail that you do. I thought maybe Testors enamel model paint might work good for coloring in areas like the red circle you did. You can get a set of many colors for not too big of an investment. Like Gavin, I was really impressed by the fit of the belt sander in that corner.

Here in the Uk they are called stillies, and also double as a hammer. The bracket holding the thumbwheel always seems to be the bit that breaks first.

So when you painted the teeth of the wrench I was screaming nooo! at my screen. When you paint the teeth you can either transfer the paint to the nut that you are trying to fasten or it can cause the wrench to slip. However, if you're just using it for decoration then it looks absolutely stunning! Overall though this looks amazing and you did a great job!

You had me right up to the yellow paint and black paint on the adjuster. I would have stayed with the silver and metal. Not really useable now unless you don't care about the paint. Loved everything else though. The hardware was an excellent upgrade.

Great restoration, as long as it is never used and is for display only. You painted all the metal-to-metal surfaces.

This inspired me to colorize some of my tools

I’m loving watching your restoration videos!

"I make a new one".... My Mechanics... you've got competition with even more OCD LOL

Awesome job on this vintage pipe wrench!

So satisfying and relaxing !

You may wish to consider, for future projects, a splash of gold leaf for highlighting. I am a new viewer and enjoy watching a craftsman and artist at work...

Great finish! I'm gonna borrow a couple techniques I saw you use hahah.. Never thought of masking the way you do it and some sanding ideas

My dad had one of these...really well made tool.

Very NICE! Let me guess, you wipe off tools as you go and clean the garage before AND after (and during) projects?

Would you consider not putting the “after” shot in the thumb nail? I love the surprise of the finished product at the end

You should add nickel plating to your work, it shines up nice and wont rust.

It's like a work of art. I don't think I would dare use it.

Excellent masking and painting as well as the whole project.

I’ve never been so satisfied in my life. Good work!

Blue and silver would have looked good on here. I will say u put a ton of work into these tools. Keep up the good work.

I'm speechless. Just brilliant :) great channel, love to watch Your projects. Amazing!

I often wonder, of all the jobs, old tools have been used for.

@ 11:33 that was a unbelievable fit on the belt grinder. Must have felt immensely satisfying 👌

As my old shop teacher once said "that file aint a saw rich"😂😂 every time i watch your videos i hear his voice (not that your misusing it lol)

I love watching your videos. I really like how you make the parts that you are not happy with! Please keep making these videos!!

The wrench looks great I appreciate all the time it takes to make it look like that. I'm not sure I'm behind the idea of making a tooll so nice that you cant use it as a tool anymore. Did I miss you sharping the teeth? A few teeth still looked less than sharp at the end. The only thing that goes wrong with a stillson short of total carnage from using a cheater bar is the teeth become dull.

Wow. Looks great. The original green was a nice color

Would love to see your brother’s reaction on the finish restoration.

I was impressed with your work up to the point where you used a screwdriver to punch out the rivet, then that was that, back to The Ultimate Craftsman.

What a work of art!

Um I don’t think these are “restorations” but more like “resto mods” as they are more refined than when new. Nice work

I had an old pipe wrench and I had left it in a moist basement after working on loli coloms when i found it about a year later it was bright orange so we put it into our cleaning tank filled with rust remover and then forgot about it 2 years of sitting in that tank has made it beautiful its practically new

Looks spot on.

Another entertaining and informative video, Thank you for doing this.

New subscriber here, man i am blown away with your talents! Love the channel!

This pipe wrench has more attention to detail then a freaking Bentley

When taping things off, try smacking the part with the over hanging tape with a dead blow hammer on the edges. Its quick and easy and always gives crisp lines. Doesnt work on everything, but the big flat stuff it works great. Way faster than a blade

So satisfying! Love it. You deserve more subscribers.