To Smooth or not to Smooth?

buzz sawyer · Feb 21, 2007

I'm in the process of restoring a '55 or '56 Mall GP. In some very visible areas, the casting is pretty rough (from the factory). I've always believed in leaving things as close to original as possible, but wonder if the roughness will detract from the appearance of the finished saw and I considered sanding these areas smooth. Will this reduce the value of the finished saw from a collectors viewpoint?
I'm leaning towards leaving it alone but want the saw to look as good as possible.

Thanks in advance for any input!

MacDaddy · Feb 22, 2007

Dont do it stock is always the best for value.

cbfarmall · Feb 22, 2007

All the time I see farm tractors that have had the castings completely smoothed over. You can bet the factory sure didn't care much about the finish, and half the time they left flashing somewhere. To me, it just isn't right to cover it up. (The fact that my way is a lot less work is beside the point.) Remember the old saying, you like someone for their qualities, but you love them for their defects.

On the other hand, International Harvester didn't really believe in primer. That is one departure from original I'm happy to take.

Personally, I lean more towards the keep-it-original camp.

Chris B.

JUDGE1162 · Feb 22, 2007

Are you doing it to sell it?

If not do whatever you like, if you are going to keep it and you like the look smooth then do it.

buzz sawyer · Feb 24, 2007

JUDGE1162 said:
Are you doing it to sell it?

If not do whatever you like, if you are going to keep it and you like the look smooth then do it.

Hadn't considered selling it but if the time comes, I agree with MacDaddy, original is better.

I also agree with cbfarmall - no primer on this one. And leaving it alone means less work. As I get further into this thing, I'm amazed at how well it's built. Maybe that was the plan - don't waste production time building a "pretty" saw, put the quality into the machining into the fit and functional areas.

Thanks for the feedback! Hope to have this done in a couple weeks - I'll post some before and after photos.