Use a flat fine-toothed file to file the cutting edges to about the angle shown in the enlarged drawing of the working end of the hoe scraper.
When the tool is filed into shape, heat the end again to a dull red and plunge it quickly in a pail of water several times until it is entirely cold. The tool is then ready for use.
The hoe scraper is a very simple tool to use. The cutting edge is simply dragged with slight pressure over the solder to be removed, and will remove a little solder each time it is dragged over it. This tool may be sharpened easily with a smooth file or on a grindstone when it becomes dull.
Do not try to remove too much solder at once and do not take away too much solder from the joint as you will weaken it. Simply smooth up the solder so that it will look well when painted over.
Plumbers’ and Roofers’ Scrapers.—Two very handy scrapers may be purchased from a dealer in tinners’ tools. One of them is called a Plumbers’ Scraper and is shown in [Fig. 97]. The other is called a Roofing Scraper and is shown in [Fig. 97]. Either of these tools will prove very useful for removing solder.
Fig. 97.
Boiling the Toys in a Lye Bath.—When the toys are completely assembled and before they are painted they should be thoroughly boiled up in a lye bath to remove all grease, soldering paste or acid, paper or painted labels, etc.
The lye bath is made by adding two heaping tablespoonfuls of lye or washing soda to the gallon of boiling water. Lye or washing soda may be purchased at any grocery store.
The lye solution should be mixed up in an old wash boiler or a large can or pail, placed over a hot fire and kept boiling gently during such time as the toys are immersed in the lye bath. Enough lye solution should be made up so that at least half of the article to be cleaned will be covered with it. The toy is left in the bath until that part of it which is covered with the solution is clean. It is then removed from the bath, rinsed, and then that part of the toy that remains to be cleaned is placed in the solution. The whole toy should be thoroughly rinsed with warm water when it is finally removed from the lye bath. Make sure that it is thoroughly dry and also that any water or lye solution that may have gotten inside any partially sealed-up parts of the toy is removed before attempting to paint it.