Rust is bad

WD-40 is awesome! I used it to restore the innards of the Craftsman mower we got from our friends about 7 years ago. It hadn't been used for a few years, and the carbon build-up was ridiculous. A wire brush and a can of WD-40 is all it took to get everything clean as a whistle and running like new.

And, of course, it's great at getting rust off of tools (and preventing it, which is what we should all be doing).

Also, did you know that you can use those little silica gel packets that come with your shoes/jackets/etc. in your toolbox or tool chest to absorb moisture and help prevent rust on your tools? Pretty cool.

WD-40 even unfroze a pin in an aluminum assembly on an old Craftsman Radial Arm Saw. It takes some repeated soakings, but it worked.

Rust can really creep up on your tools.

I found out "the hard way" to never leave a metal tool box sitting on a concrete slab floor.

Wire Brushes

I found some really good "bargain tools": them little brush sets they sell at the Sears KR bargain tool display.

Those little toothbrush-style wire and fiber brushes are GREAT for maintaining tools.

If there's a lot of rust to remove, there are also those drill mounted wire brushes, too.

I do a LOT of tool restoration.

So, I own a Craftsman variable speed grinder, with the left-hand wire wheel.

Actually, mine no longer HAS a right hand grinding wheel.

One side is a coarse wire wheel and the other side has a fine wire wheel.

Relax...

I have a vintage (Emerson) Craftsman bench grinder for taking out serious nicks from tools.

Umm...

A Dremel or Craftsman (same OEM) rotary tool is really a must have power tool for rust removal and some sharpening chores.

The variable speed models are the best way to go, unless you're only going to be doing full-speed grinding wheel/point tasks.

Those high-speed wire wheel cast-off bristles sure can hurt - stuck in your chin and cheeks.

How about PB Blaster......I usually use it when I have to crack a bolt that is rusted up.  Powerful stuff.

For a little extra body, 3-in-1 oil leaves a heavier film of protection on a tool than WD-40.

I haven't tried PB Blaster. An old tool has to be really special for me to "adopt" a severely rusted one.

I'm a real sucker for old honing stones, though.

Especially, the natural quarried stones.

Them stones just don't grow on trees and once cracked or chipped, have lost a lot of sharpening value.

They're only 25 cents to a couple a bucks at the Swap meets, anyway.

Lee Valley tools is carrying a rust removing product, called Rust Erasers.

The 3x2 by 3/4 inch thick rubberized abrasive blocks of material come in different "grits" that are very useful at very gently removing rust.

They're around $4.50 each.

Sears carried them, one holiday season.

But, sadly, they weren't too popular.

It was a good assortment kit - with block "holders".

A good power rust remover is the various sizes and grades of Cratex rubberized abrasive wheels and point, used in Dremel/Craftsman rotary tools.

Boxes of sample Cratex products can be purchased, that do a great job of spot rust removal and deburring.

Them Craftsman variable speed bench grinders are right handy for wire wheel rust removal.

A got a coarse wire wheel on one side and a fine wheel on the other side.

I can really remove a lot of surface rust quickly with one of these power tools.

From this baseline, I proceed with any "problem area" clean up.

Sometimes, the tool goes into a nice... WD-40 bath for a few hours, to days.

I buy the stuff in one gallon cans.

I had a chance to buy a 5 gallon drum of the stuff.

But, I hesitated and the opportunity faded.

Rust is to tools, as Cancer is to people - it must be REMOVED.

Both, are invasive growths, that have no value-add to their victims.

Fortunately, rust is a whole bunch more easy to remove off of a tool.

The good news is, generally a rusty tool is an OLD tool, which makes it "more valuable" than a new tool.

I don't make these rules, I just inherited them.

So, the rust removal project is automatically more worth doing than driving down to your local Sears to turn-in your old-gold tool.

Plus, "driving" uses GAS. And, gas costs MONEY!

I've got all my rust removing stuff right here in the workshop (kitchen, shed, back patio, trunk a my car).

That tool ain't shiny no more!

With the rust removed, it'll start getting that nice gray patina - prized by most tool users.

Look! This here one is old AND well taken care of.

Being old and NOT shiny also tends to significate its being a good "user" tool and not just a well preserved shiny/pretty tool.

:)

I like the rust to cancer analogy, very true.

And, neither rust or cancer is "funny".

What about using Coca Cola to remove rust?

Yes!

Turns out Coke and rust remover have a common ingredient: phosphoric acid.

What...

True!

That nice "bite" colas have is the acid.

And, now YOU know...

Maybe a diet cola.

Sugar is hard to wipe completely away.

A great rust remover for tools with circular openings, like ratchets, is a Plumbers' 1/2 inch copper pipe wire brush tool.

It really gets in there and routes out the rust and a lot of dried oil and grease.

I also have been known to use swap-meet acquire dental probe tools to scratch out tool contaminants.

Adam, what we do at our store is get a wire brush attachment for a drill and use it to drill out the rust and impurities inside the ratchet in seconds.

Mineral Spirits do wonders for woodworking tools. Good Call on that.

Yup. And, the K & R wire brushes are on close-out sale of a buck each!

A good thing to carry with one, during used tool search and gather session is a piece of green Scotch pad, handily stored in one's wallet.

You can rub off just... enough years of "use" to read tool maker's names and tool sizes with this little handy "kitchen" tool.

I always ask the seller's permission before performing this operation on one of their tools.