1930s Tacker Restoration | Random Restoration

Welcome! In today's video I will be restoring this old 1930s tacker or stapler, which features what has to be one of the weirdest shaped handles of all time. I know what you're thinking: A tacker restoration? You've ruined your door hardware restoration spree you maniac haha.
Like every of my restorations, I started by attempting to disassemble this old tacker, and holy smokes it did not want to come apart! The three main pieces were rust free since they were aluminum, however almost all of the screws, which were threaded through a hefty steel guide, were extra rusty and had their heads severely marred up, making it effectively impossible to remove them. I ended up having to drill out two screws and two very stubborn rivets. Comedically, the entire tacker wasn't too rusty - I have an incredibly rusty restoration coming up in the next video which was significantly easier to disassemble than this was. Of all the tool restorations I've done this one gave me the most grief by far.
I then moved onto paint stripping. The original paint was a crinkle/wrinkle paint, and the paint stripper was able to loosen it right up within only about a minute. Following the paint stripping I threw all of the rusted parts into a rust remover, which is my current method of rust removal since I currently do not own a sandblaster. Following this I went ahead and tapped new threads, as the original threads were ruined by the drilling. I then countersunk the screw holes so that the new screws would fit nicely.
After that I moved onto bodywork. The surface was incredibly rough and needed a large amount of sanding, followed by a large amount of body filler. Also, there was a hole that I (totally intentionally) drilled early on when removing the screws that I had to repair. After all the sanding and bodywork was complete I moved onto painting the two main pieces. I started with a black primer and followed it up with a textured black paint. I wasn't able to get the wrinkle paint I purchased to cooperate, so I had to settle with the textured paint unfortunately.
After this I moved onto the small parts. A handful of them were wire wheeled and then blued. More specifically (chemically) cold bluing steel. The remaining small parts were then cleaned and received nickel plating followed up by copper plating. Then it was time for electroplating the larger parts. They were sanded, polished, extensively cleaned and also received nickel plating followed by copper plating. Then all parts were ready for reassembly. This went terribly, as while winding the spring the thing flailed around and chipped paint in a number of areas, so I had to tape it all off again and give it a few more coats of paint. The rest of the reassembly went swimmingly though haha.
Much like the RHC Windsor letter slot I restored recently I actually started this project many months ago, and finally came back to restore it after many months. I was looking for an antique restoration instead of something door hardware related this time to switch things up a bit. I'm sure some folks out there want some varied restoration videos haha. Although it may not be a perfect restoration, this thing was pretty junky looking before being restored, and was a nice trash to treasure transition if that makes any sense whatsoever.
Time Stamps:
0:00 Welcome!
0:40 Disassembly
4:28 Paint Stripping
5:18 No Clue What to Name This
5:41 Tapping New Threads
6:38 Countersinking Holes
7:32 Body Work
9:32 Paint Prep
9:55 Painting
11:06 Working on Small Parts
11:34 Bluing Parts
12:12 Fixing Oversized Screws
12:37 Plating Remaining Small Parts
12:52 Cleaning up Large Parts
12:36 Electroplating Large Parts
14:17 Polishing the Plunger
14:59 Ready for Reassembly
15:27 Actual Reassembly
19:20 A Quick Test
19:59 Before and After
20:35 Thanks for Watching!
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#restoration #howto #tacker #asmrrestoration #restoration #stapler #diy #staplerrestoration #asmr #RandomRestoration
Thanks for watching the video 1930s Tacker Restoration | Random Restoration

[@thisisdvd8094]

I don't know about most people, but I LOVED the original wrinkle paint finish.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Yeah I agree, that’s the one thing I wish I’d done differently. I think the textured paint I used looks good but it would have been better to go with the original. Thanks as always for watching!

[@martinbrace7195]

Another great project well done. You do make me giggle thanks

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a bunch, Martin!

[@MissLady-pq4hc]

Nice job.🙂🙂👍🏼

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

[@shaunmullings4153]

Beautiful. 👌

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot!

[@dannyhenson3141]

Absolutely 💯 excellent

[@randomrestoration6858]

I appreciate it, Danny! This one took way longer than expected to get done due to all the plating, but it’s a pretty cool little tacker! Thanks again!

[@SulienIanto]

I've been binging your videos, and I enjoy your captions as much as your projects. There were multiple moments in your videos where I paused and backed up to go frame by frame to double check little things you put on screen. lol

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha I appreciate it! I simply can't resist placing random text all over the place sometimes. Thank you very much for watching!

[@timsmith1589]

That's dope bro, very nice.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks, Tim! This one was a lot of work with all the electroplating, but it turned out pretty decent in the end.

[@timsmith1589]

@@randomrestoration6858 yes it sure did. Great job

[@ankermek]

Nice work 👍 Your videos are really well made as well. Keep up the good work.

[@tracymclaughlinholmes677]

That spring has a mind of its own

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha it sure did!

[@skoalonguys6788]

Very satisfying. Great restoration work and video! 👍🏻 Super relaxing to watch!🤟

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you very much!

[@Geniuz.Studio]

I've just come across your channel couple of days ago and I love it - the items you restore, editing, descriptions and your humour. Pleasure to watch! Cheers!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you very much for the kind words!

[@Castleknight]

I enjoy these videos so much. One wishes he could be an apprentice and learn all theses techniques, hands on.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks so much for the kind words, and thanks for the support!

[@BBB-rd2qi]

Great video! I love watching you work. It looks amazing now.

[@misterpatina]

I agree!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!

[@VintageTech1]

I am definately tacking this channel onto my Subscription list. A Beautiful Restoration. The copper plating and textured paint was perfect. I even learned a couple tricks too. Have a wonderful day and thanks for sharing your video.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Well thank you very much! I should probably leave a tacky joke of some sort but I can’t think of one haha.

[@neilfriesland634]

Excellent restoration. Love your attention to detail

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you very much, Neil!

[@urban_gse_]

Yay! Your channel is so cool.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha thank you for the kind words!

[@misterpatina]

Few questions on this one: - how much fun do you have while cold bluing? - how much fun do you have while watching the footage of cold bluing? - how much fun do you have while adding these subtitles? - how long will your one and only black primer and black paint can last? Serious, great job on this one, i love how you took care of recreating that structured paint. Looks all easy on your video, but i think it was a lot of work! Oh, the handle looks like something i draw several times a day...think you know...

[@randomrestoration6858]

-There's nowhere on earth I'd rather be than cold bluing 😆 -I normally grab some popcorn, sit down and by then the bluing footage is over. The popcorn is promptly thrown onto the floor in pure rage. -Clearly too much fun haha -I buy the 50 gallon/19 liter cans of overly pressurized black paint, so I'm hoping not to run out any time soon. Thanks a lot! It took a while, but I was pretty happy with how the paint turned out. Oh trust me, I know what you're talking about 😆

[@Bannimann2]

Great restoration, and what a unique - and a bit weird - contraption. lol

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you! It really is an odd looking tool, and some of the design choices make no sense at all haha

[@marcoboettcher82]

Nice love this

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you!

[@ForgottenShineRestoration]

Hey Bro. Nice restoration, the result ist awesome! 👍👍👍

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks, man I appreciate it! 😁

[@williamclark1633]

This was another quality restoration. It give me some inspiration as I look at some of my little projects. Nothing like this. Restoring old tools, hammers etc. I'm starting an Estwing project redoing the hammer and leather grip. Love your videos!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you, William! All the plating I did with this one took a lot longer than expected, but it really made for a nice looking tacker! Awesome - I'm sure they'll all be enjoyable restorations. As per usual, thanks for watching!

[@pascaljeske7307]

Wow thats a so very cool and great Job Love it ❤️❤️👍❤️❤️

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot!

[@jamesmoe9188]

Hello again, and congratulations on 10k! Thank you for sharing another project with us! It turned out quite lovely, even if it is a bit unusual in the handle department (perhaps useful for tacking sideways on a vertical surface, such as a large crate?). Love the copper plate, though my personal preference would have been to use oval head screws for the countersunk holes (I feel flat countersunk screws wouldn't match the overall aesthetic of the piece). The only other constructive feedback I could come up with would be to cast (or otherwise shape) a cover plate for the side opposite the handle attachment point, easy enough to mount courtesy of that unused screw hole. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the process, and hope the ideas are of some use. Until next time, be safe and well!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hey, James! Sorry for the later reply, but I've been pretty busy on my next project. The handle is quite odd. At first I thought that it may have been designed that way to hang on a tool belt, but it really seems unlikely due to how lop sided it would be. I like your idea about sideways tacking, but I found that you can grip the first half of the handle and use it very comfortably at any angle. I did some testing and found that there's no efficient way to hold the end of the handle and still be able to push down the plunger without your hand being in the way. There has to be a reason it's shaped like this, but I really don't know what it is so far haha. I totally agree with the oval head screws. The replacement ones were purchased online, and although they were actually oval head screws, the heads were too large and the countersinking would have to be drilled too deep for them to fit well. So I ended up having to file each of them down so that they would fit somewhat well, but like you mentioned, the heads of the screws stuck out more than the original and would have looked a bit better had they been sanded a bit more. The biggest problem with getting new screws is that it's about an six to eight hour round trip to a hardware store for me, so I buy pretty much everything online - The downside of course being that it's sight unseen and isn't guaranteed to fit. Agreed, a cover/staple guide on the other side painted black like the rest of the body would look a bit more finished, good idea! As always, thanks a lot for the kind words, and thanks for watching!

[@nielsantsorensen881]

Bom trabalho.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Muito obrigado!

[@crabtreeshep4969]

Love the finished look; colors came out perfectly. Weirdest handle I've seen on a tool! Great job as all I've seen you do. Looking forward to seeing all your videos. Good eye you have for detail and always an amazing transformation!!!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you, Roger! Haha yeah I still really haven't figured out what's with the shape of the handle, but it makes it such an interesting piece! Thanks a lot for watching!

[@k.george8722]

Loved the textured paint and copper plating. The colors go great together. I am guessing the weird shape was ergonomically more comfortable to use when it was manufacturered. I have seen old tackers (staplers in US) in offices but none that style. Another great find and restoration.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot! I still haven’t really figured out what they were going for with the handle, it has such a weird shape and gets in the way when you need to insert more staples haha. Thanks for watching!

[@k.george8722]

@@randomrestoration6858 Oh, so it wasn't ergonomically correct? Strange. Well, thank goodness they have found ways to improve them thru the years. I have seen old ones, left over from previous years when working in certain offices, but nothing like that. You found a gem 💜

[@randomrestoration6858]

​@@k.george8722 Nope, it really is a strange design choice. Right, they have been significantly improved over the years! Thanks again!

[@WorkshopDC]

Love this super ASMR video. And very good job on this Antique Tacker. Ps: Amazing copper plating.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you so much, man! The copper plating was incredibly time consuming, but almost all of it turned out pretty nice. Also, congratulations on hitting 1,000+ 😁

[@WorkshopDC]

@@randomrestoration6858 Turned super cool, I wish to know how do that. Thanks Bro! ♥️

[@misterpatina]

@@WorkshopDC Yeah congrats bro!

[@WorkshopDC]

@@misterpatina Thanks Bro! ❤️

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@WorkshopDC Well I'll give you a detailed rundown on my plating setup at some point, but you know me - it may take a month to get the message sent hahaha.

[@TDIMAXDIESEL]

Very nice restoration! I would like to find a paint with a wrinkle finish, it's rare to find.😊🇨🇦

[@randomrestoration6858]

I actually did find a wrinkle paint for this project, but when I tested it on a separate piece of metal I had very mixed results and decided I better not even try hahaha. Thanks for watching!

[@TDIMAXDIESEL]

@@randomrestoration6858 oh, ok, thank you very much 😊

[@georgeshelton6281]

I said to myself about this contraption that you were fixing, no this is not a ship's telegraph made for morse code. That's what the Japanese Zeros had, back in those days during WW2.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Well you could always practice Morse code with this tacker, though it may take some time to remove the large number of tacks afterwards haha. Thanks for watching!

[@ArtisticEndeavors]

Could you nickel plate the aluminum and then copper plate over that? Lovely resto - most satisfactory. ✌🏻🎨☕️

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks for the comment, Susannah! I didn’t word it correctly in the video, but although I can copper plate to the aluminum piece after nickel plating, the results are very uneven and murky looking unfortunately. It’s one of those materials best left to a professional plating company, and can’t really be done without any horrendously dangerous chemicals. Thank you for the kind words, and thanks for watching!

[@terrynicholls2975]

@@randomrestoration6858 j

[@user-dx6pt9oo6h]

Awesome restoration 👍👍👍✌🏻🇷🇺

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you!

[@garbagechan]

0:21 it's a pisces, good for him

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha you are very correct!

[@tailsdblack463]

4:43 "pants ripper" that one stuck around me in your other video.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha right. Thanks for watching!

[@tailsdblack463]

@@randomrestoration6858 no problem . Also it looks like the handle was made to have three postions for the hand for various staling angles such as on a clip board.

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@tailsdblack463 I still really haven’t figured out the handle, but I know there has to be a purpose for it’s odd shape - You may very well be correct about that.

[@ElPadre50340]

+1 sub... Très beau travail, merci pour la vidéo !! Continu comme ça.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Merci beaucoup!

[@oneshotme]

Congrats on10k subs!!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you so much!

[@oneshotme]

@@randomrestoration6858 You're very welcome!!

[@misterpatina]

Congrats!

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@misterpatina Thank you, man! The main reason I have 10k in the first place is because of all the help and suggestions you’ve given over many months ❤️

[@abo_fhad]

اعجبني الدهان كان حق رائع و المونتاج فكان واضح الجهد المبذول فيه , شكرا لك و اتمنى ان تكون جودة غالفيديو 4k

[@randomrestoration6858]

شكرا جزيلا لك!

[@raywood8187]

Beautiful finishes on that! Random looking handle for sure. I'd call it a randle. Is it maybe time to restore level on your workbench so springs don't keep rolling off the screen?

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot, Ray! Long story short, the workbench has seen some use and when looking underneath it there’s a cracked right down the middle of the work bench front to back, hahaha. One day I’ll replace it, but it has worked so we’ll so far that I’m reluctant to until it gets a bit worse. Until then springs are guaranteed to have a mind of their own haha. Thanks for watching!

[@misterpatina]

@@randomrestoration6858 i sometimes wonder that your projects - a tacker, mortise lock and so on - dont roll off that bench :D

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@misterpatina Im going to send you a picture at some point of it. It’s a miracle it hasn’t collapsed with some of the weight I’ve put on it in the past 😆

[@user-sq2ib6mk7v]

Скрепки забивает👍

[@randomrestoration6858]

Теперь он работает хорошо! Спасибо за просмотр!

[@serhatyapici5998]

👍

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks!

[@schmittschmitt7364]

Great job, good video! Just one question why you don’t use WD-40? P.S thank you for your answer

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks a lot! I do occasionally use penetrating fluid, and in a couple of my upcoming videos I put it to good use. That said, for this project since the screw heads were so mangled I really didn’t think I’d be able to remove them no matter how much penetrating fluid was used, so I figured I’d skip that step and moved straight onto drilling them out.

[@artnels2]

OK. So here's a guess... Is there supposed to be a base plate on this tool that will close the staple? It would be cast and shaped to attach to the back end of the tool with the "screw for an unknown purpose". It would have a shape to match the bottom of the "weird handle" but attach to the other side. It would then make a base under the whole tool up to the front where it would have a copper plated slide that would have a shape to close the pointy end of the staple. What do you think? Maybe you could cast one up! 👍

[@artnels2]

Actually, it looks like this machine was built to be used either way... like a stapler with a full base designed to close the staple, and a tacker to be able to like apply card labels to crates. Handle style for tacking, and a base plate for stapling. patents.google.com/patent/US2089573

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@artnels2 It looks like you figured it out already haha! Yes indeed there were multiple variants of this, one of which was a stapler with a base which is shown in the patent you found, the other this tacker with weird handle. I believe the unused screw hole would be where it would normally attach to the base in the stapler variant, and it seems like the holes on the steel staple guide are pre drilled for both versions. Maybe one day I’ll find the stapler variant for restoration and have a complete set. Thanks a lot for watching!

[@toongoos87]

Fuuuuck. Really cool!!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you!

[@oneshotme]

What's the reason for countersinking and so deep for if not using the countersink screws for it? The restoration looks good though Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks for the question! The new screws were meant for a countersunk hole, but the heads of them were larger than the original screws used and subsequently stuck out a bit more. If I’d had more time for the project I would have bought some better fitting screws, but unfortunately I didn’t. Thanks a lot for the kind words and thanks for watching!

[@jamesfield5346]

What brand of paint stripper do you use? I need to purchase some and could use some advise. Please and thank you.

[@randomrestoration6858]

I ended up using “Aircraft Paint Remover” by Klein-Strip for this project. In the time since this project almost all paint strippers had to change their formulas to exclude methylene chloride and as a result aren’t as strong as they used to be, so they may require a few coats to remove all the paint. I’ve used this brand after the formula change and have been able to strip any paint and japanning (though japanning needs to be scuffed up a bit for the paint stripper to work) with relative ease. Thanks a lot for watching, James!

[@doriWyo]

10,000. Great! But some of your captions flash by too fast.

[@misterpatina]

Guess thats part of his game :D

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha thank you so much, Dori! Mister Patina is correct in that there is some text that flashes up on screen for a very short amount of time (less than a second or so) and it’s more just a bit of additional fun for those that want to take the time to stop the video at the right time haha. So that text is intentionally fast, but I watched this video back after it was done rendering and I did notice some areas that went by a bit fast and the text should have been up on screen for longer. I’m trying to do better with the text length in each video, so hopefully next video will be a bit better. Thanks for watching!

[@doriWyo]

@@randomrestoration6858 ps, it's not so easy to pause in the brief moment.

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@doriWyo I totally agree with you there, Dori!

[@williamclark1633]

I just subscribed.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hey I appreciate it - Welcome aboard, William!

[@flokoeh4994]

I bet the original copper plating on the handle was vaporized, but that is really hard to do at home i imagine

[@randomrestoration6858]

Yeah I’m sure if I brought that down at any electroplating business they’d have no problem whatsoever getting it copper plated, but like you mentioned, copper plating and having it turn out looking nice is not something that is easy to do at home. Thanks for watching!

[@flokoeh4994]

@@randomrestoration6858 of course . Nice video, I actually instantly subscribed ^^

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@flokoeh4994 Thank you very much!

[@flokoeh4994]

@@randomrestoration6858 ^^

[@philanna38]

Nice work but I'd like to see how it works.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thank you! I did give it a quick test towards the end of the video, though I only did one tack through a piece of paper and into a piece of foam. Thanks for watching!

[@carlossesma1469]

Excelente trabajo..ya tiene 10,000 subscripted, conmigo serán 10,001..Saludos desde México..hasta la próxima.. 🕵️💯👍

[@randomrestoration6858]

Muchas gracias, se lo agradezco!

[@doriWyo]

Oh, wait...I finally found how to slow down the video!

[@randomrestoration6858]

Oh yeah, I forgot that KZbin has a built in speed option that allows you to slow down or speed up videos between 25% speed, or speed it up to 200% speed. I’m guessing that’s what you’re referring to, but it’s handy to have as an option for when you need it!

[@doriWyo]

@@randomrestoration6858 Yes, that's what I found. Now I can read all the funny.

[@randomrestoration6858]

@@doriWyo Hahaha well enjoy!

[@Castleknight]

Did I miss how you fixed that screw hole in the guide?

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks for the question! I’m not 100% sure which screw hole you’re specifically referring to, but all of the screw holes that were damaged were re-tapped with new threads. I did skip over most of that portion though in the interest of time, so it’s possible that the one you’re referring to was tapped off camera. Thanks for watching!

[@DavidJones-we7gr]

Back then things were built with function but like a work of art and now it seems everything is of cookie cutter design

[@randomrestoration6858]

I totally agree! you'd never find anything that looks anything near as neat of a design like this in today's age, and to top it off it's unlikely to last for 80-90 years without fail. Thanks a lot for watching!

[@raven-gb3yx]

6:53 *ahem* that's what you get for not using a proper sink bit *ahem*

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha, well the bit I was using was a countersink bit. The biggest problem was the second hole located along the edge of the hole that I was countersinking. It caused the countersink bit to wander around since it was like trying to countersink an oval hole, and thus the great countersunk monstrosity of a crater was born haha. Thanks for watching!

[@mikedonato880]

My mom been in her high school I wasn’t born

[@randomrestoration6858]

It was a long time ago for sure!

[@jamesfield5346]

You are evil... making me continually work on my pause game... lol. Not nice.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Bad news because this one had a fair few number of things to catch hahahaha.

[@rlm98253]

Very nice restoration, but the video was painfully slow-paced. Way too many shots of screws being removed and many of your attempts to be cleaver added only time to the video.

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks for the feedback, and thanks for watching!

[@lucasb1324]

Became wonderfully nice. But with body filler or primer 👎 Carsten

[@randomrestoration6858]

Thanks for watching, Carsten!

[@alexbrown7786]

Interesting work but BS commentary

[@randomrestoration6858]

Hahaha thanks for watching!

[@laskarkayuhitam5212]

too much action

[@randomrestoration6858]

Haha there's no such thing as too much action though! Thanks for watching!