![Antique Earphones [Restoration] @HandToolRescue](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ieTsN-rvgX8/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
I restore these ~100 year old earphones so that they work with modern equipment. These earphones are most likely around 100 years old as the patents were filed in 1923. This restoration was on a pair of C. Brandes Inc. earphones. You can have a look at the original product catalog from 1916 here: sowp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/LR-1801211901-Brandes-Catalog.pdf
These sold for around the equivalent of $150USD in 2019 and all patents can be found under Dietrich Frederick.
I was really excited to see if I could get these headphones working again. This was my first attempt at vintage electronics, so I tried to stay away from the more sensitive electrical components. Ideally I would have liked to have the coils all rewound, but the wires are 0.002" and that stresses me out. I need to work my way up to that.
I decided to make only one modification and that was to remove the nickel-plating off the solid brass components. Nickel-plating was fancy back then, but now brass is fancy! Soap and water went a long way with cleaning up the headband. Sanding and polishing worked really well for the earphone covers.
I was so glad I was able to hook these up to a modern headphone jack and listen to that sweet sweet sound of all metal speakers.
Wrenches are now for sale at handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue
I restore these ~100 year old earphones so that they work with modern equipment. These earphones are most likely around 100 years old as the patents were filed in 1923. This restoration was on a pair of C. Brandes Inc. earphones. You can have a look at the original product catalog from 1916 here: sowp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/LR-1801211901-Brandes-Catalog.pdf
These sold for around the equivalent of $150USD in 2019 and all patents can be found under Dietrich Frederick.
I was really excited to see if I could get these headphones working again. This was my first attempt at vintage electronics, so I tried to stay away from the more sensitive electrical components. Ideally I would have liked to have the coils all rewound, but the wires are 0.002" and that stresses me out. I need to work my way up to that.
I decided to make only one modification and that was to remove the nickel-plating off the solid brass components. Nickel-plating was fancy back then, but now brass is fancy! Soap and water went a long way with cleaning up the headband. Sanding and polishing worked really well for the earphone covers.
I was so glad I was able to hook these up to a modern headphone jack and listen to that sweet sweet sound of all metal speakers.
Wrenches are now for sale at handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue
![Antique Earphones [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ieTsN-rvgX8/mqdefault.jpg "Antique Earphones [Restoration]
I restore these ~100 year old earphones so that they work with modern equipment. These earphones are most likely around 100 years old as the patents were filed in 1923. This restoration was on a pair of C. Brandes Inc. earphones. You can have a look at the original product catalog from 1916 here: https://www.sowp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/LR-1801211901-Brandes-Catalog.pdf
These sold for around the equivalent of $150USD in 2019 and all patents can be found under Dietrich Frederick.
I was really excited to see if I could get these headphones working again. This was my first attempt at vintage electronics, so I tried to stay away from the more sensitive electrical components. Ideally I would have liked to have the coils all rewound, but the wires are 0.002 and that stresses me out. I need to work my way up to that.
I decided to make only one modification and that was to remove the nickel-plating off the solid brass components. Nickel-plating was fancy back then, but now brass is fancy! Soap and water went a long way with cleaning up the headband. Sanding and polishing worked really well for the earphone covers.
I was so glad I was able to hook these up to a modern headphone jack and listen to that sweet sweet sound of all metal speakers.
Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/")
![1920s Power Hammer [Restoration] (Part 1)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/johaTKyrEBM/mqdefault.jpg "1920s Power Hammer [Restoration] (Part 1)
This is a tool restoration I have been wanting to do for a while! It is a A. B. Jardine & Co. power / trip hammer from around the 1920s. These were called Canadian Giant hammers as they closely resemble the Little Giant hammers made by a different company.
Out of the two models they made, this specific hammer is the 25lb model vs the 50lb model. This hammer was $150 in 1915, so it puts the value at almost $4000 USD in 2018 dollars!
I picked this up locally about a year ago with plans to restore it once I had the space. In this video, I take everything apart and inspect all bearing surfaces. The babbitt bearings are in fantastic condition and must have been re-poured at some point recently in its life. The other moving parts of the hammer are not in good condition. Many parts have been poorly welded back together and every single hole is worn out. In the next video I will repair all these pieces and add bronze bushings to all the holes so this machine is safe to use again. Even the die blocks need replacing as I cannot trust the welds to hold.
You can actually still buy new parts for these hammers since they are so similar to Littie Giant hammers, but the parts are quite expensive.
I am definitely excited to see this thing running, but I do plan on selling this hammer, since I have found an even larger one!
Id like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.
Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/")
![[Stapler Plane Experiment] Making a Chisel Plane from a Stapler (Kind of)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kJOoh4vTfrI/mqdefault.jpg "[Stapler Plane Experiment] Making a Chisel Plane from a Stapler (Kind of)
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue/ for upcoming projects.
I thought I could make a chisel plane out of a stapler. I may have thought wrong...
It planes things, but not much better than just using a chisel. I really should have sharpened the chisel a bit more to get a better idea of how functional this stapler plane could be.
The idea was to replicate this: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,230,41182,41192&p=32661")
![The Most Broken Tool I Have Ever Restored - Part 2 [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kTqpPArIvLs/mqdefault.jpg "The Most Broken Tool I Have Ever Restored - Part 2 [Restoration]
Part 2: The restoration is on an Excelsior 21 Royersford Foundry & Machine Co. drill press. These older drills are sometimes referred to as camel-back drill presses since the drive train pulleys and frame design apparently make it look somewhat like a camel.
This machine arrived from Texas with more broken pieces than anything I have ever restored. Furthermore, during disassembly I discovered that it was even repaired many years ago in a few places. This is such a large undertaking that multiple videos are warranted. In this video I focus solely on broken castings and quill components. Several broken pieces needed to be fixed with bronze brazing and several more needed general repairs.
Id like to thank @CRCAutoUS for sponsoring this video.
You can check out the products from them used in this video in the link below:
https://www.crcindustries.com/handtoolrescue
Wrenches, screwdrivers, and socket drivers are now for sale at https://www.handtoolrescue.com/
Watch narrated videos and help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue")
![Whats in the box?! 1890s Safe [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kugqGatwLDY/mqdefault.jpg "Whats in the box?! 1890s Safe [Restoration]
This restoration is on the Key Combination Safe No. 40 made by the J. & E. Stevens Co. of Cromwell, Connecticut, USA in the late 1800s. The company started in 1843 and lasted about 100 years while making cast iron toys and coin banks.
This specific cast iron curiosity seems to be designed for storage of some small valuable items like coins or jewelry.
During my move to a new workshop, this was unfortunately left in a storage container that was not climate controlled, so the constant temperature and humidity fluctuations led to this item getting extremely rusty in a short period of time. Luckily, as we know from lesser restoration channels, short term rust does not damage the surface of the metal at very much. Concurrently, the safe was originally nickel-plated so the rust damage would have been limited.
This was the first restoration where I just threw the whole thing into Evapo-Rust before taking it apart, as it would be easier to see where this thing was pinned together. The restoration itself was straight forward and the only known issue was a missing tooth on the combination dial.
It was super neat to see the intricate, delicate, and beautiful castings and I was really happy to have this pass through the shop!
Id like to thank @CRCAutoUS for sponsoring this video. Ive switched to a food-grade penetrating oil from them as a more safe alternative, and it as worked just as well as the usual penetrating oils Ive used.
You can check out the products from them used in this video in the links below:
https://www.evapo-rust.com/
https://www.crcindustries.com/evapo-rust/
https://www.crcindustries.com/smartwasher/
https://www.crcindustries.com/food-grade-penetrating-oil-11-wt-oz/
Wrenches, screwdrivers, and socket drivers are now for sale at https://www.handtoolrescue.com/
Watch narrated videos and help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
https://www.facebook.com/handtoolrescue/
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/
Podcast (with @jimmydiresta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall")
![The Most Broken Tool I Have Ever Restored - Part 3 [Restoration]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lRb2aZ5agv0/mqdefault.jpg "The Most Broken Tool I Have Ever Restored - Part 3 [Restoration]
Part 3: The restoration is on a late 1940s Excelsior 21 Royersford Foundry & Machine Co. drill press. These older drills are sometimes referred to as camel-back drill presses since the drive train pulleys and frame design apparently make it look somewhat like a camel.
This machine arrived from Texas with more broken pieces than anything I have ever restored. Furthermore, during disassembly I discovered that it was even repaired many years ago in a few places. This is such a large undertaking that multiple videos are warranted. In this video I focus on the electrical components and any final touches needed to get the machine running.
Id like to thank @CRCAutoUS for sponsoring this video.
You can check out the products from them used in this video in the link below:
https://www.crcindustries.com/handtoolrescue
Wrenches, screwdrivers, and socket drivers are now for sale at https://www.handtoolrescue.com/
Watch narrated videos and help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue")
![1920s Lawn Mower [Restoration] - Part 2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lT78wTJtX4M/mqdefault.jpg "1920s Lawn Mower [Restoration] - Part 2
This video is the final part of the Coldwell Model L Lawn Mower Co. of Newburgh, NY, USA in the late 1920s.
The other half of the restoration of this machine was much less frustrating than the previous half. Most repairs were just cosmetic painting issues although a few pieces were cracked and needed to be brazed back together. I did end up remaking the drive roller cover as the previous one had a large hole in it. The largest issue was the need for a new drive shaft that was longer than the max capacity of my lathe so I had to hire that job out.
I was incredibly grateful that the radiator did not leak and actually worked, although I did use RV anti-freeze instead of water as I didnt want the whole cooling system to start rusting again.
The helical cutting blades were a reel pain to sharpen as I used grinding compound and spun them by hand twelve million times so make sure they worked perfectly.
As for the actual function of this mower, its insanely fun to use and has a surprising amount of power. The lack of reverse makes it somewhat difficult to maneuver if you happen to get stuck, and the whole thing weighs 350 lbs so pushing around when its not running is tough. Having super smooth rollers is great for flattening the grass, but if it hits a patch of gravel it gets stuck immediately. I really wish this had a chair and some steering as I would have loved to drive this around my lawn.
Id like to thank @CRCAutoUS for sponsoring this video. Ive switched to a food-grade penetrating oil from them as a more safe alternative, and it as worked just as well as the usual penetrating oils Ive used.
You can check out the products from them used in this video in the links below:
https://www.evapo-rust.com/
https://www.crcindustries.com/evapo-rust/
https://www.crcindustries.com/smartwasher/
https://www.crcindustries.com/food-grade-penetrating-oil-11-wt-oz/
Wrenches, screwdrivers, and socket drivers are now for sale at https://www.handtoolrescue.com/
Watch narrated videos and help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
https://www.facebook.com/handtoolrescue/
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/
Podcast (with @jimmydiresta and Andrew Alexander) - https://anchor.fm/fitzall")
![[Stop-Motion Restoration] 1990s Super Soaker Water Gun](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ldXD2lKl0mU/mqdefault.jpg "[Stop-Motion Restoration] 1990s Super Soaker Water Gun
This video took me around 50 hours to make and just over 4000 photos. I have been wanting to get to item for a while now. Its a 1990 Super Soaker made by Larami Corp.
This was the video I wanted to release on April 1st, but I ran out of time. This thing is almost entirely plastic and most parts are permanently glued together. Those features make it very hard to actually restore, but slightly easier to repair. I had to break off the orange plastic caps at the back of the Super Soaker in order to get it apart. Once apart, it was a simple glue up to fix the broken pieces. The HDPE plastic water containers cannot be revived to their original colour, so I just had to repaint them.
I am pumped this works again as pressurized versions are not for sale anymore.
Wrenches are now for sale at www.handtoolrescue.com
Help secure more tools for future videos (if you want):
https://www.patreon.com/handtoolrescue
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handtoolrescue
Facebook Group - Share your restorations
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handtoolrescue
Reddit - Share your restorations
https://www.reddit.com/r/HandToolRescue/")
