Restoring and Making Better

With the situation of us being in shut down it's nice to look at the old tools and think about how we can improve them.

One idea taken from a very special pair of Japanese pliers that I have is to fit a phosphor bronze bearing.

I bought this old pair of Gilbow tin-snips for just 50 pence

Attachment 34440

I cleaned them up and made a simple phosphor bronze nut and bolt

Attachment 34441

The result is a delightful pair of tin-snips where the bearing doesn't bind when they are under load. OK, my time in cleaning them, grinding an edge back on and making the nut and bolt (not so simple in PB) has added quite a lot of cost - or is it just value??