Cleaning up (and repairing) a HUGE pipe wrench for my brother-in-law. I learned that big wrenches make every task in the process of restoration a lot harder. Have a look and I hope you like the video.
Very nice job. Your brother in law will be proud to use it. If he ever gives it back it will be the ultimate wall hanger, or if you start rebuilding locomotives as a hobby, it will be useful for that. Wrench looks great.
I enjoyed your restoration of that pipe wrench. My late father was a pipe fitter in England, but I really enjoyed your music, my father loved that type of music, it reminded me of him watching your video, fantastic job.
Ben- Fantastic job! Not only are those wrenches super heavy but they’re also extremely expensive when you get to the bigger ones I have two 48 inch models one in aluminum. They are great! That harbor freight angle grinder is fantastic and looks like you got good use out of it however those cupped wire brushes have a tendency to flip around when you’re working with them and can be quite dangerous, ask me how I know. 😂. Next time you go to Harbor freight I suggest picking up their denim or other type of shop apron as a protection whenever you’re working with that cupped wire brush. I always felt that the orange paint scheme with the steel accents look so fantastic. 😃👍
Thanks John. I have an apron but I always forget to put it on. I have a huge collection of stained shirts to show for it. I'm not sure what you mean by flip around - are you talking about shifting the angle so that the other side of the cup catches and kicks back? If you feel it warrants it, throw an answer in a mosh sometime. Thanks!
I paused the video into make this comment! Very clever idea with the box and plastic bag - I have some long rip-saws that need rust removal, but could not find a container or trough big enough. Even resorted to rust-removing gel. Sometimes, the simplest ideas are not immediately evident… Thank you!
You either got incredibly phenomenal over the last three or four videos....or....you were holding out on us in your earlier ones! This was great!!! I like the color too! Thanks, Ben!
I love the way you made a box into a temporarily much longer container to hold that long bar. As putting it in a 5 gallon bucket just doesn't work. Thanks for the tips
Ben, It looks much, much better than new. A little grease and perhaps cold bluing to prevent corrosion might be an idea. Tell your brother-in-law to keep his toys inside. Weather is hard on tools. I am really impressed with your work. You are still too hard on yourself. You obviously take pride in your work, as you should. I watched a RU-vid video I think it's called "Make Everything". He was using Milwaukee and Ryobi die grinders with two inch diameter wheels. He had everything from grinding disks, to sanding disks, to flap wheels, to polishing disks. He was showing there are tools available between surface grinders and Dremel tools. Continue the good work. Bob
PS - I tried making stands out of nails and pieces of wood but I guess I couldn't get it balanced right and it kept falling over and messing up the paint.
@@mrbenmall A single piece of plywood say 40"x12" would provide the needed stability. The problem with nsils and small pieces of wood is stability. That's why painter's pyramids work. Bob
I picked up a ridged 48" model for $15 at a flea market, great shape just rusty as hell. The lady was cleaning out dads garage of junk. Don't know when I'll need one that size but if the need arises I'm set!
I have two of them one has a flat handle and like u have. In Texas we used them on windmill repair and water line jobs. Super heavy, now just hanging in the barn now! Good job! 🇺🇸🤠
I have used those many times. Now they hang on my shop wall as a reminder of why I hurt so bad everyday. Mostly use aluminum ones now but really not even those much any more. You did a nice job on that wrench. Hope you enjoyed something cold when you were done.
That cleaned up very well. Nice job. I would not want to have to use that size pipe wrench. My longest is 24in and whatever that size wrench needs to remove or tighten, it is a lot of work. Dave.
One of the best ways to paint Ridgid pipe wrenches is to completely disassemble them, remove the heel jaw and heel jaw pin, remove the flat spring assembly for the hook jaw and then you can suspend the wrench body between two points (i.e. ladder rungs) with steel tie wire by the holes for the heel jaw pin. The raised sides of the handle body by the heel jaw are meant to be bare, so you can mask those and your wire / suspension point won't affect the quality of your finished paint. You may have to slightly grind the heel jaw pin to punch it out and remove the heel jaw, but the modern replacement pins are the same size as the older 1940s wrenches and are relatively inexpensive. Just my two cents!
Thanks for the info. Yes, somewhere back in a previous video, I restored three smaller ones and had issues with the pin. Decided not to break it down on this one.
@Ben Mall , whenever possible, I try to always replace the heel jaw, heel jaw pin and flat spring assembly on the Ridgid wrenches when the parts are available. The modern heel jaws fit most of the 1950's ~ current wrenches. They fit most of the 1940's wrenches are well, but the widths / lengths tend to be different on the larger wrenches.
I have my Grandfather's 24" Ridged pipe wrench that was given to him after it was brazed back together. It has TOOL ROOM hand stamped on it. It came in handy for removing the sewer clean out.
I like to give him a nice long vinegar bath before bringing the wire wheel to them. Of course they start resting very quickly as soon as you take them out of that bath so you need to do the work and get them sealed and painted pretty quickly
Really nice restoration Ben. In the UK the best big pipe wrenches were made by Record (taken over by Irwin) and I have a 36inch version which is a real wrist breaker.
Now that was a major job. I'm used to seeing you restore very small tool;s so I am sure this was a shock tom your system.But you were up to the task and it came out great.
Nice work Ben. Those knuckle busters are HEAVY. I use to use them for working on machines and plumbing. I was in management by the time aluminum handles became availible. I ordered a set of them. Much easier to use than the monsters ike the one you restored. 😁😎
I noticed you were sweating at the beginning. It must be pretty hot there already. We had what I hope was out last snow of the season on Saturday! Though the garlic does not seem to mind, it is growing well.
We're at that strange time of year (for South Texas) when we have a couple of Spring days followed by 5 or 6 days of 90+. I absolutely must buy an AC for the garage. Soon. I would like to grow tomatoes but they just fry down here.
I just found a 48 inch pipe wrench on Amazon recently called Ironton it was only $60.00 I picked it up I definitely wasn’t going to pass on that because big pipe wrenches like that are usually hundreds of dollars especially a Ridged pipe wrench because their high quality.
Consider spraying WD-40 on the unpainted parts to prevent them from rusting again. WD-40 was invented during WW2 to prevent unpainted metal from rusting. There are several different versions of WD-40, such as one being a light oil lubricant, so be careful.
Thanks Lenny. It's been a while so I don't remember how long. Couple of days maybe? (paint needs to dry, wire brush takes a bit of time) Can of spraypaint.
@@mrbenmall please let me know what you find. My understanding is it keeps eating the cast, even with a thorough flush with water and baking soda to neutralize the acid. Vinegar is acidic.
What’ up with the wrist. Looks like frost bite to me. I know it only too well. Not many fingers and toes left, using a tube to feed myself, fish compost. Life looks dandy at North.