Tools for Trade--Part 2

Cleaning Rusty Tools

Some of you may have found that your steel tools have started to rust a bit. This can happen if your tools are in a garage and exposed to the elements a lot or you happen to live near the ocean. That salty air will rust anything.

The best way to clean up rusty tools is Vinegar. Good old vinegar from the supermarket and soak the tools in it.

Recently I purchased a bunch of old tools from an jeweller who no longer made jewellery. HE lived near the ocean and the tools needed a little TLC.

The picture above shows the tools soaking in the vinegar overnight. After they come out of the vinegar give them a good rinse with water and scrubbing brush to remove the rust and vinegar.

At this point the rust will be gone but the tools may appear dull in colour. You can give them a polish with some metal polish and a soft cloth, you can buff them up on a buffing wheel.

IF its important that it has a high shine on them such a ball pein hammer or a hammering block you can sand it with some sandpaper starting at about 1200 and work finer. This will get a nice mirror finish on them.

After doing all this work to clean them up you will want to keep them looking new. You can coat them in machine oil. I use singer sewing machine oil purchased from the supermarket and lightly coat the tools and them cover them with glad wrap. This is for tools that do not get used all the time. The other thing you can coat them in is Vaseline, again this is readily available from your supermarket and this provides a coating over your tools stopping the air from getting them.

For tools such as files which tend to get used on a daily basis, I don;t use anything on them. I just keep them away from water and liquids and keep them in my drawer when I am not using them.

[From: Wendy Hearn]