I Stole TysyTube's Boston "Champion" Pencil Sharpener and Restored it

[@CatalystRestorations]

How many of you own one just like this or grew up with one just like this in school?! Anyone got any scraped knuckles to prove it?

[@razorboyXVII]

Very nice!

[@CatalystRestorations]

@@razorboyXVII thank you!

[@NolaGal2601]

I had one similar. Same brand, but slightly different style.

[@elizabethwatson71]

There was supposed to be a washer inside the handle. Also, I would have boiled those two sharpening drums…that damn crayon wax is hell to get out. Great job on the silver paint match. Those tabs inside the filings collector….try a kitchen knife. The ‘adjuster’ in the opening needs some grease. Lol, are those pegs to an old “Light Brite”?

[@sambow4u]

I own one sorta like it in my shop it doesn't have the self feeding option, from my grand fathers work bench !

[@lukefontes8970]

I wasn't sure if I was gonna subscribe since I follow so many restoration channels already but the fact that you listed what tools you were using in the top left impressed me enough to actually do it. Great work. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Luke! Really glad to hear that feedback! I also subscribe to and watch basically every restoration channel out there and I always found it frustrating when I had no idea what the name of the tool/liquid/device they were using in the video so I decided to finally be the change I wanted to see in the world 🌍🌈

[@JDB-XIVII]

Ditto. Very nice touch. Am subscribing for that reason as well! Thanks!

[@Beohun]

​@CatalystRestorations Thank you. I'm not a restorer, but I find it fascinating and like to see what you use.

[@debtoralive4693]

My mother has one exactly like that. She's been using it since before I can remember and it still works like new, and I'm almost 60. Even looks as good as your restored one. They sure don't make anything that durable these days. Glad to see that one get a new life.

[@CatalystRestorations]

That's amazing! And you're right - good luck finding a pencil sharpener today made from 25+ all metal parts (and 1 wood knob)!

[@caligulard]

Yesss, I love Boston sharpener content. I'm feeling extra nostalgic right now, I'm visiting my grandmother and I always see the Boston sharpener my grandpa (who passed away last year) installed on the door that conntects the garage to the house. It was there mainly for us grandkids to use when we were little, to sharpen our colored pencils like in school. It could use a little bit of restoring too, but my grandpa was the carpenter/handyman so I never really learned to do stuff like this without him. I've never seen one with that holder mechanism before though, it kind of looks like it has a face like an insect or something.

[@CatalystRestorations]

I love how everyone has their own stories and memories with pencil sharpeners, usually with their grandparents. I do too and I think I like restoring these so much because it brings me back to those moments everytime I work on them 😊

[@tommyherbert3931]

My first time watching your. An awesome restoration.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Tommy! Welcome aboard! 😁

[@jtolb65]

Watching that wax get removed from the sharpener teeth was a spiritual experience. I need a cigarette.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Believe me, imagine what it was like actually doing it in real life 🥴 ...I'm tempted to sharpen more crayons just to do it again.

[@raywood8187]

Nice! Brings back memories. You made this look too cool for school!

[@CatalystRestorations]

😎😎😎

[@yeagerxp]

Very good restoration 👍👍👍Thank you for sharing. Be safe🇨🇦

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thank you! 👍🇺🇸

[@jozsefizsak]

That brings back memories since I'm also an antique. I didn't see you lubricate anything so I hope you don't engage in cruelty to pencil sharpeners. At this point they need all the friends they can get.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Ah Jozsef you're only an antique in age, which is just a number! 😜 The grippers got a good oiling after all those years and I sharpened a good number of pencils to get some graphite dust flowing on the inside too!

[@joycegodsey]

great video!! I use black rubber stoppers for feet..I just trim the length. I find them more stable.

[@CatalystRestorations]

That's an amazing idea! And you could also shape them a bit to get the little "peg" part of the foot pad too that the originals had!

[@joycegodsey]

@@CatalystRestorations yes I've had to do that to replace a lot of old rubber feet that have deteriorated.

[@robertmanley7556]

Very nice work !! I love that you stuck with the hammered paint look !! Such a good old Pencil Sharpener....you wont find anything made today that is this good excellent work !! 👍👍

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Robert! Any chance I get for hammered paint I take it because it just looks so good.

[@ImCarolB]

Excellent restoration! We have the same one screwed to the wall in our laundry room, and every older school classroom has one.

[@CatalystRestorations]

A relic of a different era! So many people relate to having these at home or in the classroom!

[@georgebrown8312]

You really did a good job of restoring that pencil sharpener. It looks much better and it works like a charm too. Excellent work.

[@georgebrown8312]

I also noticed that you brushed on a nickel plating solution while the steel shavings case was connected to an electrical unit resembling a battery charger.

[@CatalystRestorations]

@@georgebrown8312 thanks George! Yes, for brushing on nickel plating you need to connect the piece you want to plate to the cathode and then swab with the anode. The alligator leads are connected to a power brick specially modified for plating, very similar to how electrolysis is done. I have a video on that if you're interested in checking it out!

[@kesami123]

These are the GOAT pencil sharpeners. TYSM for sharing!

[@CatalystRestorations]

The pinnacle of pencil sharpening technology!! ✏️ 🤌🤌

[@musicmedia-]

Man! Don't even know if you remember me. I've been here since 540 subs and you've grown LOTS. If you don't remember me, I think I commented on your most popular video. How much you've grown man. Hope you the best. I've been busy and couldn't pursue youtube and couldn't watch it lots either. Keep up the good work!

[@CatalystRestorations]

Of course I remember! You commented on my first bolt cutter video, I remember it well! 😊 Thanks for being one of the OG's - I owe it to subscribers like you that the channel has come so far!

[@vickieb657]

I have an old Apsco Chicago one. Not quite this complicated! Great job!

[@CatalystRestorations]

Love the Chicago! If you haven't already, go check on the restoration I did on my very own Chicago!

[@diyfireking]

Nicely done., 👍👍

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks!! You've an awesome channel yourself too!

[@rn6380]

Everybody knows crayons taste better after you sharpen them!

[@CatalystRestorations]

brb gonna do some taste testing

[@NolaGal2601]

I love the light blue Hammerite!

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks, me too! Always one of my favorites!

[@MarkMeadows90]

My first and third grade classroom had this specific pencil sharpener. You did a great job. Sorry to hear you couldn't get the main body apart where the shavings are stored. Still looks nice.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Mark!! Maybe when TusyTube restores his he'll be able to unlock the secret of the shavings container! 😁

[@StealthDonut1]

I've never seen anyone braze steel before, so this is new to me, and you did a really good job! Also...dude...I've been watching restoration videos for 3+ years now. Where in the US did you find HAMMERITE?? It's the ultimate in hammered paints and always comes out looking perfect. I'd paint my house in Hammerite if I could (blue metallic)...the only ones I've come across are prohibitively expensive! Great job! I miss the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil...

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thank you so much for watching since the beginning! Crazy how time flies and it's been over 3 years now. 🤯 I should've been more specific in the video, but I was brazing a small rod of brass onto the steel rods! Definitely wouldn't be able to melt steel with my little MAP torch, haha. As far the hammerite, it's not officially the Hammerite brand, it's Rustoleum's hammered finish in light blue. Even that's hard to find, but I've had luck at Menards (I'm located in the Midwest) and some small local hardware stores. It's gotten expensive too in the last few years - around $10/can now, but the upside is you only need one heavy coat of you do it properly. I reaalllllyyyy wish it came in more colors, it's just so beautiful.

[@jazzersten]

Very well done restoration! Great video. Loved the nickel plating too.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks! This was the first time I tried brushing on nickel plating instead of the usual immersion. Worked great!

[@user-br3ou2cs9o]

Nice Job 👍💯 Of all the pencil sharpeners in school or otherwise that I've used or seen, none have had that spring-loaded gripping mechanism. Users had to get a feel for when it had made a proper point. There were always those kids who would sharpen it down to the ferrule/eraser if the teacher didn't catch them and stop them. In the early 70's I had the chore of emptying the sharpener for the 3rd grade year. In 4th grade I moved up to using the machine that cleans those black-felt chalkboard erasers in the teachers workroom. But things became a serious responsibility when I was assigned to cutting various sizes and shapes of construction paper with the teacher's medieval broad-blade hand-guillotine.. I mean their huge paper cutter. Man that blade arm was Heavy. 😰😰😄😄

[@CatalystRestorations]

I'm a bit more on the younger side than you, but it's so funny that you mention sharpening them down to nubs because for the longest time in grade school (mid 90's) we would constantly be competing for who had the smallest useable pencil nub! 😂 We definitely had the paper guillotine too (have one at home now too) and I was always amazed when a teacher would let a student use it. Nobody lost any fingers when I was there but the teachers would always scare us into being safe by telling (probably not true) stories of kids who lost fingers or whole hands!

[@user-br3ou2cs9o]

@@CatalystRestorations 😄😄 Yes. It seems as kids many were always trying to make things more fun and/or challenging whenever possible. By 6th grade and beyond several teachers had electric sharpeners on their desk that had some type of internal stop at the bottom that wouldn't let it go beyond just getting sharp. Pushing wouldn't let it sharpen any further. And the teacher glaring at those who tried would stifle attempts at trying to beat the electric sharpener's system. Lol

[@ethangarrett9343]

Nicely done! It looks better than brand new

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks! I wish the shavings container was just a biiiit shinier, but still probably pretty close to new!

[@Mikey__Mike]

Brilliant work

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Michael! 😁👍

[@andrewgrace4410]

Amazing restoration 😊

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Andrew!

[@manuela_kral4983]

These machines are great! I just restored a 60 years old pencil sharpener made in the German Democratic Republic, an 'Asis 130'. It's a beauty and works so fine, way better than modern sharpeners which cut the wood very coarse.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Agreed! Amazing how sturdy these things are.

[@MASI_forging]

Well done.👍

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thank you! 😁👍

[@mjtunstall1976]

i still got one in my storage box, i would never forget to use it in primary school! now we got those plastic thingy

[@CatalystRestorations]

They don't make 'em like the used to!

[@johnthemainguy9059]

Paul Brodie has a number of good videos on brazing. He's an expert bicycle frame builder from Canada. Great job on the Hammerite. Most guys screw it up. 👍🏼

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thank you so much for the brazing tip, I will check that out pronto! I've clearly got a lot to learn as evidenced by my attempt here. 😅 The secret to a good hammered spray paint finish is ignore every instinct to do multiple light coats!

[@silvahawk7109]

My family is originally from Camden! I live about 15 minutes outside of it. Never even realized these were made there.

[@CatalystRestorations]

How about that! Yeah, they made all things Boston there for 30 years!

[@LFKGooner]

How many parts does that pencil ✏️ sharpener have😳? Our ancestors used to make cool stuff. Very good video 📹

[@CatalystRestorations]

If you count the shavings container as one piece then 25 pieces! And only single piece is not metal and it's wood!

[@ChrisEbbrsen]

I was told the twin helix better than single. Artist. Thank you.

[@lolcec81]

Комментарий в поддержку канала и ролика, а также труда мастера.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thank you! 🙌🙌

[@PINKWOMAN88]

so like new back 👏👏

[@CatalystRestorations]

Shiny! 🌟🌟

[@romansimon756]

good work

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks Roman!

[@guillaumeroncin5870]

Great ! IIRC there was a sort of lead counterweight (ballast) underneath hence the three screw holes on the base.

[@CatalystRestorations]

That would make a lot of sense!! I figured the holes were just for mounting it to surfaces like a lot of other pencil sharpeners do.

[@samuelfellows6923]

Using/operating them is easier if they are screwed/clamped to the desk or table

[@coondogtheman]

I've used these since 3rd grade. It wasn't until the late 90s that many of my teachers had electric pencil sharpeners.

[@CatalystRestorations]

I definitely used them in school into the 2000's - they were actually generally more reliable than the electric ones.

[@Rebel9668]

If you get tired of spending a lot on rust remover like evapo-rust, white vinegear will do the same thing (just takes a few days instead of 24 hours) and only costs about $2.50 a gallon.

[@CatalystRestorations]

@@Rebel9668 for sure! I do just need to make one point clear to anyone else reading these comments: rust removal with vinegar can give you a similar outcome as Evapo-Rust, but the chemicals themselves and the process in how they remove rust is entirely different!

[@GabyGibson]

Yeah, yeah, you **borrowed** the pencil sharpener 😉

[@CatalystRestorations]

Please don't say anything 🫠

[@sambow4u]

If you'll take your blades back out , put a bolt through them with a fairly tight fit ,, have the bolt about 2 inches longer ,,, tighten the bolt up with a nut ,, stick the longer end in your newly restored Drill press , oil each one down a smidge ,, place a sharpening stone tenderly against them and you can make em sharp as a razor ! i mark my blades up with a sharpie to check when there flat with each other !

[@CatalystRestorations]

You know, I've been pondering doing something like that for many months now. I think you've convinced me to do it! I'll make a short video on it too!

[@Deafjustin]

I remember this when I was use it at school and play it!

[@CatalystRestorations]

It seems like just about everyone has a similar story like that!

[@American_Jeeper]

Where are you getting Hammerite Light Blue spray paint? I can't find it anywhere. Same thing with Rust-Oleum Light Blue Hammered spray paint.

[@CatalystRestorations]

It's definitely not easy to find!! In the Midwest here I can only buy Rustoleum's hammered, not the actual Hammerite brand, but personally I've had the best luck finding the light blue at Menards and some smaller local hardware stores. Home Depot and Lowe's never seem to carry it.

[@American_Jeeper]

@@CatalystRestorations We don't have Menards in Idaho, unfortunately, which is a shame because we had one, when we lived in San Angelo, TX and it was a nice store.

[@beachthor1]

That blue hammerlite spray paint has been discontinued in the US. $180 on Ebay, woof!

[@CatalystRestorations]

What?! Noooo 😭

[@PamelaLinnell]

I have one in pretty good working order which looks like this. However, it chews up the wood in the pencil, which makes me think the cutting blades aren't sharp? I saw some cutters on ebag and got them, and now I am a bit too faint-hearted to try to take the thing apart to replace them. How would I know if dull cutters are the issue? any other suggestions for getting a cleaner "grind"? finally, are the cutters model specific? I cannot find a model number on my Boston per say, but inside the case, under the mechanism, are 2 numbers , a 5 and a 57

[@CatalystRestorations]

@@PamelaLinnell One suggestion for your existing blades to help maybe give them more "bite" is soaking them in vinegar for a couple of days. If that doesn't work, you could try repeating with stronger vinegar (sometimes called cleaning vinegar). If that still doesn't seem to help, finding fresh pairs would be a good next idea. You could try searching "Boston pencil sharpener 57" or something like that, but I'm afraid that's a bit outside my wheelhouse. I'm not sure if all/most Boston sharpeners around that time all used the same cutters, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were!

[@PamelaLinnell]

@@CatalystRestorations Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@tecumseh22]

You're still the best my friend

[@CatalystRestorations]

Aww, thank you Tony! 🥰

[@subramaniamchandrasekar1397]

You said it needs a little bit lubrication. I didn't see any. I gave a pencil sharpener and 6 pencils to 4 year kids. In an hour they asked for more pencils. You probably guessed what happened.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Gave the gripping mechanism a good oiling off camera and also sprinkled some graphite powder on the inside to keep everything nice and smooth! Hey, there are much worse things they could be attempting to sharpen in there 😂

[@Rebel9668]

I modified mine because operating it loose on a desktop like that with its pinch mechanism has always seemed like a three-handed job. I drilled out the two rivets on mine's base, slightly enlarged the holes and then screw mounted it to a wall stud. Made it much easier to handle...and yes, I do oil the two holes on the backside, lol. I like that you electroplated the pieces in nickel. What sort of power supply do you use? I thought an old school "dumb" battery charger like a Schumacher 12v 6-10amp might work as I have one of those. Me being me, I'd probably get a wild hair and plate everything in copper to have one that looked unique, lol. The main reason I never subscribe to these types of restoration channels is that I get bored with their silence. Not that I want a music overlay, which is even worse. But TALK to us. Let us know what mistakes you had along the way instead of just editing everything out. I mean, unless you sound like Fran Drescher or something it doesn't need to be a subtitled film.

[@CatalystRestorations]

For my nickel plating I use the same power source I use for my electrolysis - an old laptop charger. I have an entire video on my channel dedicated to showing you how to set that up. Also, I sound exactly like Fran Drescher.

[@julianpineda6291]

Great video. I inherited a Boston Vacuum Mount Sharpener from my father, and I love it! I just want to know i there´s a way to sharpen the blades. Everytime I sharpen a pencil, leaves the pencil with burrs, and the tip isn´t regular. Hopefully someone can help me to get it to work again properly.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Very cool! Honestly, when it comes to the blades you have two realistic options for sharpening them. But before you try to sharpen them try removing them and give them a good scrubbing in warm water and soap, just in case there's some build up stuck on the blades! Then if that doesn't work, it's on two our two sharpening options. The first thing you can try is soaking them in regular vinegar for a day or two. It slightly etches the blades giving them a little more "bite". People have also done it with ferric chloride (printed cricut board etchant) but that's pretty nasty stuff and I wouldn't recommend it unless you've worked with it before. If that doesn't work your next best bet is buying a new/gently used pair from eBay. Fortunately there were so many of these made the blades are not hard to come by and usually inexpensive. My dream is to invent a tool that can easily sharpen pencil sharpener blades!

[@julianpineda6291]

@@CatalystRestorations That will be awesome! Maybe you could research manufacture processes of helical gears as inspiration for your tool. They usually use different types of cutters and milling machines arranged in odd and eccentric angles. It could be useful to do some sort of reverse engineering. I´ll try everything you recommended to sharpen the blades. I don't know if they are heat treated, but maybe I could harden the edges after sharpening them to prolong their life.

[@ChrisEbbrsen]

In brazing you want to rid the pieces of oxygen. I suggest a charcoal. Block to retain heat. My knowledge comes from Silver soldering mini bicycle mirrors. My instruction, from a jeweler. I made a silver ring. I'm only a novice and inexperienced but the right flux, swab the grease off w. Ammonia, and use silver bearing solder. The charcoal block will make things much easier. Use eye shield of correct type for brazing or silver soldering. You can go blind if you don't use correct eye shield. Sorry so vague. Your materials may be different than what I used. My experience is with jewelery ergo, silver soldering stainless steel to nickel plated bicycle spoke ripple. Your brazing. So that may be entirely different than my delicate jewelery silver soldering. Suggest comprehensive course on brazing a local community college. Correct eye shield is the big issue I can anticipate. Please don't go blind over a stupid pencil sharpener, it ain't worth it. That's all I know, you want to draw the solder into the joint so place the flame the other side of the gadget your trying to attach the thing amabob to. If it's a cylinder and you want to secure it to a plate, aim the middle of the blue flame against the cylinder. Place a tiny snippet of solder on the opposite side of the cylinder between cylinder and plate, at the Sean. Were talking thin stainless and cadmium plated brass bicycle poke. Youl need a organic compounds welding mask to avoid breathing the fumes. It may not be organic it may be something different. Talk to your local welder and pick his brains. Sorry not any more help. Based on your other pencil sharpener restorations, you do exquisite work. All for now,bye😊

[@CatalystRestorations]

Great suggestions, thank you!

[@juliogalan1139]

Ingenisisimo macanismo de ese. tipo de "sacapuntas de un lapiz"

[@CatalystRestorations]

Cool right?!

[@terryleeist]

He forgot to oil it!

[@CatalystRestorations]

I should've done it on camera for everyone to see! Rest assured it's well oiled and I also sprinkled it some graphite powder for the rest of the sharpener internals as well to lube em up!

[@28Cryptic743]

just need to figure out a way to sharpen the blades if they get dull then you could keep it going nearly forever

[@CatalystRestorations]

I've seen people have decent luck soaking them in vinegar or ferric chloride for a while. Gives them a bit more "bite". There technically really isn't a "right" way to sharpen them because they were always intended to just be replaced with new ones when they wore out.

[@28Cryptic743]

@@CatalystRestorations the biggest problem with soaking them would be that it would also etch the inside of the cylinder which could cause problems with the gear or rod holding them. I know that to properly sharpen them would require having the right angle touching the blade and rotating the blades slightly to keep that angle to go along the length

[@CatalystRestorations]

@@28Cryptic743 i feel like it'd definitely be possible to build a proper custom sharpening setup where it rotates the blade over a sharpening stone/surface that contacts at whatever the perfect angle is. Where are my sharpening experts at?!

[@rogerpatrongonzalez5800]

👏👍👏👍👏👍👏👍👏👍👏👍

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks! 👍👍👍👍

[@juliogalan1139]

Yo poseo 2 semejantes y distintos marca Bosyon. . .

[@juliogalan1139]

Perdon marca Boston

[@juliogalan1139]

Quisiera ver el video de otro aparato marca Planetary

[@мимошёл-д7щ]

замечательно

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thank you! 👍👍

[@walterrobbins4470]

Still didn’t oil it

[@CatalystRestorations]

Pencil sharpeners lube themselves with graphite dust if you sharpen them regularly.

[@marshallramirez3068]

Can you restore my remline rollaway tool chest?

[@CatalystRestorations]

That's a serious project Marshall! A bit than I can handle myself these days, I'm afraid!

[@marshallramirez3068]

@@CatalystRestorations that’s understandable love your videos you do great work I just thought I ask! 🙏

[@CatalystRestorations]

@@marshallramirez3068 thank you for watching and thanks for asking - never hurts to ask! If you've got any smaller projects I would love to hear about them someday!

[@marshallramirez3068]

@@CatalystRestorations I think I might let me get back to you in that! 😊 and I will let you know ASAP!

[@x84pav84x]

Смазать то забыл, горе мастер.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Don't worry, I gave it a good oiling off camera! 😉 Running smooth!

[@ctiley2212]

What a horribly made product the original product was, too cheaply made, rivets where screws should have been, poor quality plating, typical American rubbish.

[@CatalystRestorations]

It would have been made the same way almost anywhere else in the world 70+ years ago too.

[@ctiley2212]

@@CatalystRestorations sorry, but my Staedtler (made in Germany) is far superior to that and has been in constant heavy use for at least 60 years.

[@johnnytoronto1066]

Got one, along with 2-3 newer models. My old one is in better shape so I won't be engaging in any restoration work soon. It was interesting to watch you dismantle yours, though. Thanks for posting.

[@CatalystRestorations]

Thanks for watching! Surprisingly intricate little buggers, especially the gripper mechanism!