Workshop Condiments: The Great Coke/Ketchup Controversy

[@battles151]

Something about your channel brings a smile, eases a bit of stress over the simple things, and...well, just makes for a good day at the shop.

[@impetus444]

Well said. The fact that he didn't even declare a winner here really helps you remember that you don't have to sweat every minor detail.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks folks. The winners, by the way, are are those of us who don't take ourselves too seriously. IMHO.

[@BobAbbott]

20 seconds in and I laugh out loud. All the other people in the Lowe’s bathroom are looking at my stall with concern

[@Paladin.Krieger2287]

Watching this, especially the part with the magnifiers on your head falling down and you putting them back up constantly, reminds me of Jim Henson and the Fraggles and that sort of stuff from when I was little. Very nostalgic.

[@reasoningtruth]

Coke/Ketchup Controversy, "so naturally we're not speaking". Puts the perfect humorous magnifying light on our pettinesses.

[@stevebettany8778]

If only all of life’s important arguments could be taken so seriously.

[@jethropebs]

Nick, you're not only an amazing woodworker and common sense, articulate teacher of your craft, you are a witty dude as well. I always enjoy your videos!

[@tonywolfemusic5920]

He’s great. He kinda rides that corny line, but is self-aware enough and very confident, so it makes it genuinely funny. I guarantee this guy and I could cut up for hours…see what I did there?

[@jethropebs]

@@tonywolfemusic5920 Well you NAILED it, and I WOOD have to agree with you.

[@craftedbykvg4649]

Good work. Hunt's is for the workshop. Heinz is for the kitchen.

[@DIYBuilds]

Thank you for that well done video. I enjoyed it very much.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Most welcome.

[@davidpalmer5166]

I stumbled on a few of your videos several days ago and kept wondering why you and your methods of teaching seemed so familiar. When I looked at your introductory videos and I see why. I've been reading your books for years. Thank you so much for all the help you have given me over the years.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for the kind words -- andit's good to hear from someone who stlll reads.

[@84oldnorthstate]

My 4yr old loved the magnifying glass headset gag. Thanks for the laughs, entertainment, and information. Keep up the stellar work!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

I know my audience -- 4-year-olds and border collies.

[@johnwente1413]

I'll be laughing for at least 20 minutes. That was outstanding! 🙂

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks. Every now and then we just have to get goofy to avoid taking ourselves too seriously.

[@oPtir3s]

Oh man, your Videos make me Smile. Thank you

[@tuesboomer1623]

Enjoyable. Love the humor.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks.

[@mmorlan1481]

Just brilliant !! Thank you ...

[@anonymousaccordionist3326]

I like to believe this man is a wizard of olde who set aside his cloak and staff many years ago to pursue woodworking and has simply modernized as the ages have passed, finally sharing his amassed library of knowledge from his centuries of experience.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

I like to believe that this man is just trying to share what he used to teach after people stopped reading and all his books went out of print...;-)

[@poppamichael2197]

Many thanks for demonstrating that two foods that go well with French fries also go well with brass knobs. And an even more hearty thanks for demystifying how my mom's homemade copper cleaner worked 70 years ago. She wiped the bottom of her copper pans with a rag dampened with household vinegar while sprinkling on a little salt. The pans became as bright as a copper penny (when they were really copper). Mystery solved. Thanks so much for both the woodworking and the chemistry lesson.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Most welcome.

[@doncanada1]

😂 Thank you for the blend of educational and fun videos. I really enjoy them and will use a lot of your tips. Regarding this particular video, I can’t argue with the scientific end results. Still, since I am interested in Stanely plane dating, I think there is some room for method improvements. Cheers!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

I understand. That's why I use the original Coke formula ONLY for anything earlier than a Type 12...;-)

[@brianlysne5436]

When I was on a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, we used koolade, at 5 times the normal concentration, to clean copper drain funnels that became completely encrusted with thick green copper oxide. After being immersed for two hours, with no scrubbing, the copper was shiny and clean... and smelled like strawberries.

[@pierra4716]

thank you for making me smile. many topics should be treated with as much lightness

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Agreed.

[@markkoons7488]

That magnifier bit was a crack-up. I laughed out loud

[@robertrussell6614]

My dad's old can of Brasso (with rusty 000 wool for a pad) from before I was born is all I've ever known. I thought this was a joke until I Googled it. Thanks for the content!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Most welcome. I use Brasso too, when I'm out of ketchup. And if you mix the ketchup with a little rottenstone, you get the same shine as Brasso.

[@jethropebs]

@@WorkshopCompanion And here I thought Nick was going to say that by mixing the ketchup with, say an aromatic variety of woodshavings would make for a tasty snack in between meals...

[@friendlypiranha774]

@@WorkshopCompanion - Nick, I ran out of ketchup, so I tried a little Brasso on my fish and chips. It gave it a very coppery taste😂😂😂

[@jerrystark3587]

I don't use either ketchup or Coke. I go straight to the white vinegar. Works every time -- and its a lot neater. Not to mention that Brasso works like a charm and very quickly, too. Thanks for the video.

[@aaronblackford981]

Love the video as always.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks.

[@TheUncleRuckus]

Neither. I use straight white vinegar for all my cleaning and de-rusting needs. It's cheaper than all other options and works better too imo.

[@maxi_heich]

Leftover ketchup from Mc Donalds counts as free xD

[@jessehunter362]

Straight white vinegar isn't quite as good as vinegar+salt. Luckily, salt's pretty cheap to add on!

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

When I joined the Marines in 1967, I was introduced to the mysteries of "Brasso" and "blitz cloth" - and have been using them ever since.

[@JesseFFT]

Lots of good humor in this!

[@gordonbradford1013]

I truly enjoy your content. I can’t wait for your next video!

[@mm9773]

That was fun. Thanks for keeping it short.

[@globyois]

“So naturally, we!re not speaking.” Funny!

[@jmanieri3651]

The shop is the only place I would use hunts ketchup

[@strix5309]

Agree. For me, it’s Heinz or nothing. Although , after living in Utah for 40 years, I’ve almost become OK with so-called “fry sauce.”

[@rhpsoregon]

You're both wrong. The correct answer is unsweetened Kool-Aid. It's what the US Navy uses, and they have a LOT of brass to keep bright.

[@larryrohr8083]

Nick really enjoyed the humor, not to mention the cleaning tip. Thanks

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Most welcome.

[@trurex007lee7]

Fun, lite, yet educational. Thank you

[@aresorum]

I just discovered your channel two minutes ago! You have a delightfully refreshing way of presenting knowledge! And I laughed hard at the joke at the beginning! Subscribed!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Welcome.

[@mikeamboy7292]

Loved it!!

[@frankhill9527]

I really like your videos, very educational and entertaining.

[@David.M.]

Thanks Nick!

[@robwiencek9608]

This is, by far, the best woodworking video I’ve watched in a long time!!!! Thank you so much for the info!!😂😂😂

[@stanleydenning]

The best brass polish is a polish that was never intended to be a condiment. Take some vinegar and add some table salt. Mix that with some flour to make a paste. Cover the brass part in this concoction. A ziplock bag or a cheap plastic container can be used too. Let it soak for a few hours. Rinse with water. Good results every time.

[@SealFredy5]

Bro just did more chemistry than every other woodworking youtuber combined. Great channel, love the content. Would love to see more builds like some of the stuff on your website. Also excited to see those resawn lumber get put to use, just built a dresser with client provided walnut. They chopped down a tree then had the Amish kiln dry it. Some of the best wood I've ever seen, and for sure yours will look amazing too!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for saying -- see you in a few months.

[@greglavallee7613]

Once again i am educated....entertained thanks it made my evening

[@gtsteel]

The corn syrup (which contains glucose, an aldehyde) in both of these products also helps because of it's action as a reducing agent, preventing or even reversing oxidation. Note that actual cane sugar (almost all sucrose) does not work this way.

[@davidpalmer5166]

Hi Nick, are there any other You Tubers that you would recommend. I hate it that I didn't find you earlier. You're one of the best teachers I've run into since Charles Neil (RIP).

[@IVIaskerade]

I'd like to see how it compares to jusy putting it in salty vinaegar and then running it through an ultrasonic bath, which has been my go-to cleaning method for ages.

[@skigglystars9525]

Yet again I was entertained and educated

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for saying.

[@Brad_R_LiveFit]

It seems to me that the Pepsi was brighter. Regardless, thank you for your sense of humor and the chuckles this video gave me. 😁👏😆

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Actually, it really was impossible to declare a winner. I had three adjustment knobs from three eras of Stanley manufacturing, and when I got the tarnish off I discovered I had three different brass alloys, all different colors and all machined slightly differently. If I had cleaned them all with the same chemical, they would have responded differently. I warned viewers at the beginning this experiment was "rigidly uncontrolled." I said it for a laugh, but it was the unvarnished truth.

[@Brad_R_LiveFit]

@@WorkshopCompanion I know. I laughed pretty hard at the "rigidly uncontrolled" comment given my research background. It is cool that you noted there was a difference in the alloys across the differing years of manufacture, though that does make sense as I'm sure they just purchased whatever large volume of brass bar stock that was available from their supplier that year. All that aside, thank you for your continued release of informative and entertaining videos. I have enjoyed bingeing them and have learned a lot.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

@@Brad_R_LiveFit Thanks for the kind words.

[@jimneely4527]

Thanks Nick. I needed a good chuckle. You never tried these on french fries for a comparison. I'm disappointed.

[@Dragon_With_Matches]

Lol, love it! Genuinely laughed!

[@jsnatherton]

They make sugar free ketchup if you want to go for the diet test. Great videos!

[@samspade4634]

My first (and only) chuckle of the day. The comment on mustard was just too much. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and wisdom for us little people that can not spin a hammer yet. My wife told me to take it outside. ha ha 😉

[@henrysara7716]

Great I will try Ketchup (never used), thank you.

[@breakinn403]

If I wasn't a woodworker I'd still enjoy your entertaining videos. Thank you for making them :o)

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Most welcome.

[@PawPawsClan]

Great video and a good explanation of 1st world problems.

[@FlyinTrapezious]

In the early 80s my high school shop teacher submerged a Volkswagen bug rear bumper in Coca Cola for a year. The acid in the Coke ate it down to the chrome finish. The chrome was nice and shiny and stayed in tact almost like aluminum foil.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

I wonder how it tasted. Show we consider "Volkswagen" as a flavor additive along with vanilla, cherry, and the others available at our local convenience stores? ;-)

[@Exodus5K]

Another age old debate, how do you clean and maintain your cast iron tools? Personally I used Krud Kutter for de-rusting (it's phosphoric acid), I use WD40 for cleaning cast iron, and I use Fluid Film for rust prevention.

[@raydriver7300]

That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen for a long time. So entertaining. And I think that sawdust in Travis’ shop is simply not allowed to settle 🌞

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks.

[@russcrawford3310]

The chemistry explanation is shockingly correct ... there's some more dovetails, but nothing that changes what's said ... I get better results with steel wool ...

[@WorkshopCompanion]

We do our research. Even when we're just horsing around.

[@russcrawford3310]

@@WorkshopCompanion - Oh, veterinary science too ??? .. how do we best fight climate change in the woodshop these days? ... [giggle] ...

[@toddwilson1230]

Love it great video good laugh, love your channel it’s probably my favourite, informative and a laugh.

[@keving8682]

Hilarious - loved it!

[@FearsomeWarrior]

This makes perfect sense.

[@jimrichards7014]

I know this was a spoof, but I’m in the process of restoring a plane and the brass needs some work. Thanks for the info. I’m definitely going with R.C. Cola

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Read what I wrote to Robert Russel about rottenstone. Works with colas too.

[@maggiec4777]

I stand by my earlier statement. The Albert Einstein of the carpentry world! I love watching your videos to fine tune the craft but they also make me smile & laugh a little!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks for saying.

[@par5endos562]

I'm pretty open minded, but I'm not polishing my knob with ketchup.

[@brucewelty7684]

Coke will leave it sticky

[@mikes-mz5xb]

No one would use Pepsi

[@davidpalmer5166]

As a after thought. If you had a extra little drill press could you put a hardened pin it and sharpen all your scrapers on it, both curved and straight?

[@floridabeardedwoodworker]

Always good stuff!! Could you do a video of the books behind you?

[@WorkshopCompanion]

The books behind me are mostly mine -- I've written over fifty of those things back when people still read to get information. Nowadays, Travis and I are mining those books for video ideas, so in a way I am doing a video on the books behind me almost every time I do a video. Thanks for bringing it up.

[@johncorrall1739]

The knob in the ketchup looked the cleanest.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

See my answer to Brad R.

[@lemhanback9595]

Lol loved the humor. However I have another suggestion on what condiment might accidentally clean the brass a little better that would be Taco Bell hot sauce. Placed a green gunny penny in that stuff in the late 80s after 2 hours it looked freshly minted. Haven't eaten the hot sauce since. 😂😂

[@itawad]

Great funny video and educational, I agree with all the comments below as well

[@jamesbrunk9817]

Being a Heinz guy, I have always wondered what Hunt’s was good for. Now I know! 😉

[@gsilcoful]

Awesome.

[@clausandersen8469]

Thank you for your very entertaining video. From the health aspect you could try with buttermilk next time. I don´t know if your buttermilk is different from the Danish variant, but it works in Denmark.

[@richardflorence3927]

Louisiana hot sauce is the best brass cleaner.... Let me explain.... 30 years ago I was a painter and we were repainting a high-end house with lots of brass door knobs, doorbell plates, mail slots, etc. We had on our crew a naturalized citizen from Mexico who would eat the traditional mexican sack lunch and always used hot sauce. Over the course of time, he showed us several times how the hot sauce would clean tarnish from a penny and make it look brand new within seconds. As I said earlier we were painting a house with lots of brass. My boss got the idea to go to the supermarket and buy many bottles of Louisiana hot sauce and pour them into a pail in which we soaked all the brass... Needless to say it worked like a charm. True story.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Many, many ways to skin this cat. Thanks for sharing.

[@carontiIV]

I love It mostly the magnifying glasses falling 😃😃😃, one more thing I don’t like pepsi 😂😂😂great job greetings from Arizona

[@philtoyarse6487]

Is there no brasso in America;) ty great stuff as always

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Thanks.

[@jasondoust4935]

Thanks Nick. A slightly pointless, but amusing video. Well done as always. Diet ketchup... I'm sure that it does exist, but not sure why it should. I remember when caffeine-free diet coke came into existence in the late 1980's. My friend Wayne proffered a bottle at a seven eleven (of course it was after midnight) and taken in by the shiny label, I looked at it, befuddled. He said "What's the point?" I replied "There's not much left, really..." and the sad artefact went back into the fridge. I'm not sure that it would clean brass either!

[@johnpayne6196]

Diet ketchup (tomato sauce in England) is horrendous I picked up the wrong bottle a few weeks back. Check out HP (Houses of Parliament) goods they are great. Again, UK stuff!

[@swampflux]

These dad jokes hurt! Just in time for Father’s Day

[@davidjohnson00001]

Many thanks for the chemistry lesson, Nick. You have just put me off ketchup and Coke for life. All those chemicals!

[@paulbatarseh7476]

Hahaha! That’s awesome! But I think the Pepsi soaked knob looks shinier. (Just for the record: I drink Coke.) the controversy continues! 😂

[@jamesparker8317]

I used Coke to polish my brass when I was in the Army ( I have never drunk coke again from that day to this)

[@WorkshopCompanion]

I used ketchup when I was in ROTC. Ever since I've preferred mustard.

[@ianpearse4480]

Best test ever. LOL.

[@vferdman]

Also, Brasso works well... ;)

[@kencoleman7762]

Insofar as I am concerned, this question has received all the answer it needs.

[@howelljo1098]

Raw potatoes with baking soda beat both and are more cost effective. I’d love to see you add that to your comparison.

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Have used potatoes to remove rust, so it's no surprise that it will also remove tarnish. However, having done it once, will never do it again. The smell was gawd-awful.

[@williamhector6863]

Very funny but very entertaining I have always said you should never drink or eat any of them if they can do that to brass what are they doing to your stomach at least now I know I have a brass cleaner

[@TheFishingExperience916]

Your whimsy has no bounds ....👍👍👍👍

[@draganzeta1602]

👍👍👍

[@malkomalkavian]

Which is cheaper?

[@DowneastThunderCreations]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@loubob21]

Your link for the Workshop Companian store is not working!!!

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Try workshopcompanionstore.com/ .

[@neilbrown3902]

just loved it. FYI Dr Pepper would have done better.

[@samrix5793]

Great content apart from rounding up pi

[@pattyanndoyle502]

There is sugar free ketchup lol love your videos

[@markchadwick77]

One person’s tarnish is another’s patina. To me, polishing brass is like using steel wool on a cast iron skillet.

[@JenniferEliseAtchiso]

How about just vinegar with salt?

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic video, Nick! Thanks a lot! 😃 I had never heard about any of this, but it's fascinating indeed! 😂 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@WorkshopCompanion]

Most welcome.

[@woodshopnerdery]

To Travis, Coke performs best as brass cleaner when shaken vigorously just before application. Perhaps Nick can hold the camera for you while you give it a go?

[@WorkshopCompanion]

There's a video idea...

[@MyGrowthRings]

And don't forget the catalyst; a Mentos tablet or two.

[@woodshopnerdery]

@@MyGrowthRings to be fair the ketchup can also be shaken and mentos laden.

[@MyGrowthRings]

@@woodshopnerdery Hummm. Now you’ve got me thinking about the southern classic condiment, piMentos cheese.

[@BartonMaxwell]

Used Pepsi and Coke because some people prefer one over the other. Then doesn't even use real ketchup. Where's the Heinz?

[@jimwalker5412]

Hope you make up with Travis.

[@NamedMyTaco]

This is hilarious 😂😂😂

[@G1951-w1y]

No waitress ever asks "We don't have Pepsi, will Coke do?"