The Alameda Point Antiques Faire is a huge flea market that takes over a big piece of the former Alameda Naval Air Station on the first Sunday of every month. If you really want to wander every aisle, be prepared to spend hours there.
You should also be prepared to spend money. The dealers here are mostly professionals who in most cases know their stuff. Some of them are way too proud of their inventory to ever see any of my money. Still, there are the occasional bargains to be had and it's a nice walk in the sunshine (most of the time), so who doesn't like that.
You should also be prepared to spend money. The dealers here are mostly professionals who in most cases know their stuff. Some of them are way too proud of their inventory to ever see any of my money. Still, there are the occasional bargains to be had and it's a nice walk in the sunshine (most of the time), so who doesn't like that.
A mixed lot of tools from a visit to the faire a few months back.
Assorted old watchmakers tools, a little 3" pair of Starrett dividers, and a Green, Tweed & Co, No. 1 BASA hammer minus its faces. The watchmakers broaches (some of which are incredibly tiny) were all in good shape, but the octagonal K&D staking anvil was a rusty mess, as were the Favorite brand end nippers. The worst of the lot was the poor Starrett dividers. Completely covered with rust and frozen up. What kind of person does that to a Starrett tool? The BASA hammer is kind of cool, so I'll do a separate page on it. The tools are sitting on the laser-engraved, tempered Masonite top of a little cart I built to hold my favorite Harbor Freight organizer boxes. I hope to put up a page about that project soon. |
I cleaned up the rust starting with Evapo-Rust which I found at Harbor Freight. I bought the gallon size because it was a better deal but their web site only lists this quart size.
This was my first use of Evapo-Rust and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked. I'm pretty skeptical of snake-oil products that make fancy claims but this one lived up to its label. I just immersed the parts in a shallow pan of the solution, covered it to minimize evaporation, and left them over night. Based on the description of how the stuff works, it's not a big deal to leave stuff soaking for awhile. The next day it was easy to rinse off the solution, scrub off the blackish residue, and then use maroon 7447 Scotchbrite to shine them up enough to reveal their true condition. |
The legs of the dividers, the faces of the anvil, and the handles of the nippers were all pitted enough to merit a little attention with sanding sticks before a final rub down with maroon 7447 Scotchbrite.
After I got them cleaned up, I was able to determine that they were Starrett 3" No. 77 Fay Pattern Dividers w/ an 1885 patent notice on one leg |
To try to break the cycle of abuse, before the tools were stowed away they were given a rub down with WD40.
Hopefully the drawers of my jeweler's bench will be a less harsh environment than the one where they suffered this grief. |