Rusty Refurb...

[Glencross]

G'day All

I've been hunting for an affordable drawknife lately as an alternative to certain types of wood shaping that usually require a spokeshave or the like (eg. chair/stool leg shaping).
I've missed out on a few that have sold on ebay around the $30 mark, and the others I have found elsewhere top out anywhere from $40 to over $100. Now I know some things are worth lashing out for, but you still need the cash handy to do it. So I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed an odd rusty lot of 3 items on ebay the other night that was nearly at the end of its auction time and still not bid on.
There was a rusty shoe mould, a non-descript 'v' shaped piece of steel, and an interesting little rusty drawknife.
Waiting until the last couple of minutes I popped on an opening bid, and lo and behold the seemingly useless rust collection was mine for a mere $5!
Anyways, I picked them up this morning and I'm just about to take the drawknife out to my bench for a clean-up.
Hopefully the attached photos help with the description but basically it's a French style Goldenberg drawknife. It has the name etched in a bone-like border (Goldenberg Acier Fondu) either side of a cool little 'all-seeing-eye' type mark. There is a nice shallow curve across the iron, with plenty of sharpening surface left, and the handles (the style of which I've had a preference for trying to find) are ball-shaped oak.
Basically I'm going to cut back the surface rust with some medium-fine grade sandpaper and an oil and turps mix. Looks like the pitting won't be too severe. The left handle is worn on either side, missing about 2/5 of the original timber. That handle is also missing a small iron 'cap' as you should see in the second photo. I'll probably lightly cut back the handles and give a few rubs with tung oil later on.
If anyone out there knows more about Goldenberg products I'd be very grateful to hear of it. Also any opinions as to whether I should repair the worn/damaged handle or just leave as is once cleaned, let me know. Personally I reckon I'll leave it as originally found and put it to work asap.
I'll post an 'after' photo when it's ready.
Cheers for your attention!

[seanz]

What a sweet looking little drawknife. Well done.

[orraloon]

I have an old German drawknife that has a bit of pitting on part of the blade. It still works fine. As for the handle I would first try it as is. I cant see in your pics how the handle is secured but on mine I left them in place as they were secured by the tang tips being clenched over like boat nails. Would have been a chore to get them off and replace.
Looks like $5 well spent.
Regards
John

[ac445ab]

Ciao,
I have seen several plane iron and chisels marked Goldenberg wich I apreciated quality.
There is this page about Goldenberg. It is in German but with a translator you can obtain some informations.
Hope this helps

Französische Werkzeughersteller und -händler: Goldenberg, Dorlisheim


Giuliano

[Glencross]

Cheers Giuliano
I had a quick look at the link you suggested and I think that is exactly the information I'm looking for. Thankyou. I will post a photo of my drawknife a bit later, there are one or two finishing touches needed to clean it up.
Regards
Julian

[Glencross]

Ok I've finally had a chance to post up a few 'after' photos of my restored drawknife.
Yesterday I cut back the surface rust to reveal a lightly pitted blade, and a clearer view of the Goldenberg insignia. As I mentioned in my first post, there was a steel cap missing on the base of one of the oak handles. I decided to make a replacement to balance it out a bit.

The round rebate where the original cap was fixed was a little rotted, so I cleaned up the circle a bit bigger than the opposing handle. I found a coach bolt with a convex head that was a bit bigger than the round rebate. With a grinder I ground the head flat, then ground the circle to the size i required. I then punched the bolt head in centre, and drilled a shallow hole to fit over a little bit of protruding tang in the handle. I then cut the head off the bolt once I knew it fit. I glued it in with two part glue, and left overnight.

This morning I filed the new cap to the shape of the base of the handle and buffed out some of the file marks.
I then lightly sanded the handles and rubbed them with tung oil until I was happy with the feel. I oiled the blade as well. It still needs a decent hone, but I was able to take smooth deep draws on a scrap bit of blackwood to test it out.
Hope the photos give a reasonable idea of the 'after' condition of the drawknife.

Anyways it was a satisfying little exercise with an item I've been searching for for a while and was fortunate enough to pick up at a bargain price. It'll get plenty of use in the very near future. Looking forward to doing a resto like this again...

Cheers!