Nipping Press Restoration Part I

So the nipping press is in my drive as I'm going to need natural light to see my work while restoring the press. The press was made by Hampson Bettridge and Co. I've not been able to find much information about them other than this bit of information about them attending the 1922 British Industries Fair.

1922 Listed Exhibitor. Manufacturers of Machinery, Tools and Material for Fancy Leather Goods Makers, the Printing and Allied Trades. (Stand No. J.103)

What a mess! However it isn't really insurmountable.  This is just going to require a ton of hard graff, a hammer drill, brass brushes, sandpaper, good weather, and time.

I started by using an old scraper that had a few nicks in the blade and started scraping all the dirt and rust off of the cast iron.

Once the majority of rubbish was scraped off I tried out my new drill which I purchased specifically for this job.  Not overly expensive but the 1050W motor with  0-3000 rpm & Impact Rate: 0-48000 bpm gives me enough power to get through the rust.

After two hours I had to stop as I could no longer feel my fingertips. However I've made some progress.  I then took the drill with brass brush to the threaded shaft and worked the rust off of that.  Then I sprayed some WD40 on to it and brought it all the way down then all the way up.  Then I took the drill/brass brush to it again and oiled it heavily.  Once the entire Nipping Press is restored I will use machine grease not WD40.

Once I've stripped rust and paint off I will coat it with POR15 Rust Preventative Paint. POR15 will chemically bond/alter any rust it comes in contact with giving this press a longer life.  I will then repaint the press Hunter Green as it was originally. 

Hopefully I will get more done this evening once the feeling in my fingers return.