Awesome Rusty

We love how metal can be used over and over again. After one object has served out its life, it can often be melted down and turned into something new. In this clip by metalsmith Random Hands, he shows us how he took a rusty link from an old piece of ship’s chain and hand-forged it into a beautiful new samurai sword.

MW Restoration paid 15 euros for a gumball machine that was in terrible shape. The machine was subjected to decades of wind and salt spray by the North Sea in Germany, along with what appears to be fire damage. But MW was undaunted and disassembled, sandblasted, repaired, and powdercoated the machine to make it look as good as new.

Maker Random Hands created an impressive real-world version of the Valhalla Axe from Assassin’s Creed using a rusty old anvil. To create the weapon, he heated the metal in a furnace, shaped its head with a power hammer, cut it with an angle grinder, then ground it into its final shape. The finished piece has cast metal and wooden handle.

We always enjoy watching rusty old things made to look like new. In this video from KILO Restoration, they take the process to the extreme, scrubbing off caked-on rust from a mid-20th-century socket wrench, then painstakingly polishing it back to an amazing mirror chrome finish.

Random Hands pulled off one of the most dramatic transformations of an object that we’ve seen. They started off with a rusty old industrial drill bit, heated it up in a forge, and reworked it into a pointy Japanese kunai. It took a whole lot of work to get it into the right shape, then they polished and finished it with a 24K gold plating.

We always enjoy watching rusty metal objects being reworked into new ones. In this satisfying blacksmithing video from Faraway Forge, they start off with a big old industrial hook, get it fiery hot, and hammer it into a bar shape. From there, it takes huge amounts of handwork to shape and hone it into a blade for a katana.

This rusty toy double-decker bus has seen much better days. But with a little time, effort, and epoxy, Restore Machines made this busted out London transporter look as good as new. Given the huge amount of rust outside and in, we’re shocked at how clean the finished model looks.

Lost & Restored got their hands on a vintage pilot’s knife that dates back to the Vietnam War. It landed on their workbench in terrible shape, caked with rust and its stacked leather handle weathered and distressed. But after disassembly, grinding, cleaning, and replacing the leather, the completed knife looks amazing.

This vintage WWII-era knife was caked up with a massive amount of rust and grime. Lost & Restored shows us how they managed to remove the rust and bring this commemorative pocket knife from the U.S.S. Wasp back to life. We were surprised to see how many parts it had when it was fully disassembled.

After turning himself into an ostrich, Bobby Duke took a rusty railroad spike and transformed it into an mini fighting knife inspired by a design by Kyle Royer. Towards the end of the video, the normally ebullient Duke opens up about his struggles with depression, reminding us that mental health issues can affect anyone.

The Michelin Man, aka “Bibendum,” is one of the most iconic advertising mascots of all time. Awesome Restorations, got their hands on an antique metal sculpture of the rotund character and sandblasted away years of rust, then repainted it, restoring its former glory. He looked like a toasted marshmallow man before his makeover.

In this video from Odd Tinkering, they took a rusty old tabletop fan and make it look as good as new. The process involved multiple stages, most notably the use of a laser cleaning machine from W2M, which burns away rust and paint without damaging the underlying metal, along with electrolysis to pull away rust from the fan’s cage.

Even though we’re weren’t very good at it, we always enjoyed playing Skee-Ball at Chuck E. Cheese. If we had this vintage Skee-Ball toy, it might give us a chance to perfect our skills. All we’ve got to do is watch and wait as Rescue & Restore sandblasts off the old paint and rust, and makes it as good as new.