So this past week I was asked by a friend to clean up a pair of shears that had been left out in the weather for quite a LONG time.  When she showed them to me I could recognize by the outline that they had been at one time a pair of pruning shears, but those days were long ago.  The rust was thick and very rough.  However to my surprise the shears functioned quite well.  I suppose it had something to do with the stainless steel rivet that was used to join the halves. 

I said I would give it a try but couldn’t promise anything.  I knew from the start I needed to remove the heavy rust to get the shears back to a smooth feel.  I started by spraying WD-40 all over and allowed them to soak for about an hour.  I then grabbed my Dremel tool with a sanding drum attachment and went to work.  It was pretty hard, and the rust was coming off rather unevenly.  In some spots the rust was still rough while in other I was down to bare metal.  They looked rather horrible.

Once the rust was sanded down I took a piece of sand paper and hand sanded the tools to smooth them out a bit more.  However again I couldn’t get an even finish, and the normal black finish was rubbing off.  I remember that my wife would “season” her wok from time to time and that gave me an idea.  I took vegetable oil and sprayed the tool with a thick coat and then put the shears onto my charcoal grill for about 45 minutes.  In no time, the oil had turn an even flat black, and the actually created a rust resistant surface.  They really looked great.

Keep in mind, you’re only trying to reduce the oil so that it adheres to the metal.  Don’t get the heat too hot as to get the metal to glow.  That is too hot.  Remember slow and low…

In the picture you’ll see an orange coloring on some of the steel suface that looks like rust.  However that is actually burnt oil.  In time it will rub off and you will never know the tools were even rusted.

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I recently learned a new technique for making real life photos look like scale models of the real thing.  I had to give it a try on a photo I took at Kunio Kobayashi’s Bonsai Garden in Tokyo Japan.  It’s a amazing how it makes these huge bonsai looks so small.

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1/2 PVC Pipe from Sprinker system.
This is the source that I chose to use for my irrigation system. All I did wascut one of the sprinkler heads from the lawn irrigation system. This leaves a plain clean 1/2 inch PVC pipe exposed

Threaded adapter
I then added a threaded 1/2 inch adapter with PVC Cement

T-Pipe added
Ince this is the water supply for two benches that are right next to each other I placed a T on the pipe to send a water source to the two benches

Thread adpater for flexible pipe
In order to attach the flexible pipe I needed to add the adapters to the pipe. As you can see this one has threads on the inside, and is made specially to attach the flexible pipe.

Adapters are now attached
I added two of the adapters to the set up. This way I can have a flexible pipe going left and right.

Flexible pipe male end fitting
This adpater attaches to the flexible pipe so that it can be screwed into the PVC pipe fittings.

Flexible pipe with fitting attached
As you can see the flexible pipe comes in a roll. I have attached the adapter to the flexible pipe by simply screwing it on.

Small line feeds from the flexible pipe
Using a small punch tool the flexible piping is punctured, and a small adapter is added. The adapter comes in two sizes 1/4″ and 1/8″ and are simply inserted into the pipe. from there the small tubing is run up to the tree.

Mist Head sprayer
There a numerous flexible head that can be used. Depending on the size of the tree helps me decide which to use. For smaller pot and trees I use a 1/8″ dripper which simply drips water into the pot. The mist sprayer above is for mid to small sized trees. It is a low force spray that does very well for over all soaking. For most of my tree I use the yellow stake sprayers. They are very good for soaking large trees and rarely clog.

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