In Ernest’s set of tools there was sweet 8″ brace that needed a little TLC.

Braces before.

First I had to figure out how to get the ratchet apart so I could get the gunck out and grease the parts for good working.  Wiktor Kuc helped me figure out that I need to tap the pin out in between the ratchet teeth.  Once I did that, I could go into the mechanism, clean it out and pack it with grease.

Knocking out the pin.

Pulling out the ratchet and threaded head.

Spring inside jaws ready for grease.

After some scrubbing, look what I found.

Sweetheart Logo

Then I took the upper part of the brace to the wire brush wheel the grinder, removed the crud and cleaned it up after with some metal polish.  

I also sanded the wooden handle which lightened it up significantly.  I left the pad alone so the contrast looked kinda silly.  I mixed up some boil linseed oil and some black dye.  And this is how it turned out.

8″ Brace after

Before for comparison

Here is the metal polish I used:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67014&cat=1,43415,43439,67014