Cleaning Hand Tools

[zanyad]

The heads were soaked in Evaporust for about a week, wire wheeled, and painted with a rattle can.

@four.cycle, do you leave the head on the handle when you do the Evaporust soak? If so, how do you prevent the Evaporust from soaking into the wood?

 

[Ohio Andy]

@four.cycle, do you leave the head on the handle when you do the Evaporust soak? If so, how do you prevent the Evaporust from soaking into the wood?

If the head is on a handle, I don't soak it in evapor rust. The only thing I've ever soaked with a handle on it would be if I soaked it in either linseed oil or boiled linseed oil... I've used both.

 

[bornbadbob]

Fill the kitchen sink with very hot soapy water, soak the tools in the sink for a while and then hand wash each one. Kinda like washing dishes in the pre-dishwasher era.

Note: This is best done while "She" isn't around.

“She” maybe unhappy with washing tools in the sink

 

[four.cycle]

@four.cycle, do you leave the head on the handle when you do the Evaporust soak? If so, how do you prevent the Evaporust from soaking into the wood?

I removed all the remains of the rotten and broken handles from both heads before soaking them in the Evaporust. The hammer was really badly pitted, and the handle was really badly deteriorated from having been left outdoors for several years.

 

[Etchase]

Great save, and nice job on the handles.

 

[felixleo]

I bought a 30 liter ultrasonic cleaner and I have never regretted it. EVALORUST works 10X faster in an ultrasonic bath. I like to wash all secondhand tools I bring home.

That’s a solid setup! Ultrasonic cleaners are amazing for bringing old tools back to life, especially when you’re dealing with rusted threads or tiny parts you just can’t scrub by hand. I’ve used Evapo-Rust too and it’s impressive how fast it works in a bath.

For larger tools that don’t fit in an ultrasonic, I usually go the opposite direction – hit them with a rinse and then a pressure washer to blast off the bulk of the dirt and grease before treating any rust. Saves a lot of time on shovels, wrenches, and sockets that have been sitting around. Pairing it with a good detergent like the ones from Dirt Killer for cleaning tools and equipment (https://www.dirtkiller.com/) has been working well for me.

Ultrasonic for the precision work, pressure washing for the heavy lifting – between the two, just about anything can be brought back into service.

 

[four.cycle]

Before / After - 16 ounce Stanley claw hammer was missing handle. Handle was missing head. A bit of sandpaper, a bit of belt sander, and about 45 minutes brought it back to life, albeit a bit shorter:


.... the valve spring compressor is soaking in the Evaporust bath right now...

 

[YoshiMoshi3]

Never understood why people degrease their tools. Isn't grease and oil supposed to stop rust?

 

[four.cycle]

^ None of my tools are greasy or oily. Or rusty. And I live in one of the wettest environments on the planet, less than half a mile from tidewater.

 

[seber]

Never understood why people degrease their tools. Isn't grease and oil supposed to stop rust?

Tools, knives, and weapons all get wiped with an oily rag before putting away.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I usually just use paper towels... that way I'm not running greasy oily rags through my washing machine.

But hey, if you're more in more comfort zone using greasy oily tools, have at it!

 

[Steel_Rain]

This might be off topic for the direction this tread has taken, but has anyone had luck cleaning the red PB Swiss "swiss grip" handles?

If so, what did you use on these:

 

[four.cycle]

^ I don't own any PB Swiss. I had a rubber-handled German "Wurth" ratchet that had grime embedded in the handle. I used Simple Green to clean it. Not really the same material as what I think those handles of yours are.
It's for that very reason I don't use my Vessel "ball grip" drivers with greasy hands.

 

[HannibalLecter]

This might be off topic for the direction this tread has taken, but has anyone had luck cleaning the red PB Swiss "swiss grip" handles?

If so, what did you use on these:

Mine were greasy and it actually affects grip. However the only way I got it back to smooth but not slippery is by working paper towels with much pressure, to squeeze the grime of the little indentations of the rubber. Too much work imo, I should have gotten the acetate ones probably. Isopropyl alcohol will only get you half way there

 

[Ohio Andy]

This might be off topic for the direction this tread has taken, but has anyone had luck cleaning the red PB Swiss "swiss grip" handles?

If so, what did you use on these:

Google AI overview says...

"wipe it with a rag and use cleaners for synthetic materials or car interior cleaners, as the handles are resistant to solvents like methanol and oils but not to benzene or gasoline. For stubborn stains, a soft-bristled brush and soapy water can be effective, but avoid harsh solvents like acetone or thinner"

The emphasis is mine. This comes almost directly from the PB Swiss website, see the link below

Cleaning Instructions | PB Swiss Tools

How to properly maintain your PB Swiss Tools – cleaning instructions for long-lasting tools.

www.pbswisstools.com

The vessel megadora aren't bad in terms of how they feel and vessel tells you you can straight up clean them with WD-40. But if I'm really going to get them nasty, dirty and grimy, I'm probably going to grab the vessel wood combo handles or something like that.

And if he can handle a hard handle. Screwdriver, the snap-on and the Williams hard handles. You can clean with brake cleaner.

I view my PV Swiss comfort screwdriver says something I don't use when things are getting down and dirty and disgusting. In other words, anything I can get off with something gentle.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

@Steel_Rain

Show us your pb swiss tools!

Looking at bit holding screwdrivers, what would you go for? I have one of all common bits in 89mm, and multiples of everything else in 25mm. Don't really want to go buying more in 50mm, although I do have impact ones. 8451 short (32mm shaft, 135mm overall) - short, but a little longer than my...

www.garagejournal.com

I use the orange colored & textured tool cleaning wipes that should be readily available & more or less similar no matter the ”brand”.

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[Sumboodie]

Watch out for old screwdriver handles containing cellulose acetate butyrate. As that old plastic deteriorates, it starts to smell like vomit.

We had some at work that was in a case in the CTK. someone would get the case out and stuff it in someone's face.

Well one day that case ended up getting smashed.

 

[four.cycle]

K-D Tool model 600 valve spring compressor (patent 1330542)
"Before" photo below.
Soaked in Evaporust, then disassembled and cleaned up with brass brush and WD40.

 

[four.cycle]

Railroad track anvil.
This chunk of iron was given to me by a lady in Castle Rock, Washington.
Soaked for over a week in Evaporust. Required use of angle grinder with aggressive cup brush and flap wheel to get it cleaned up.
ACE doesn't stock an oil-based, brush-on dark blue enamel, so it got a nice coat of "Harbor Blue".

 

[four.cycle]

I originally thought this abused and neglected old pipe wrench was going to be a complete waste of time:

My "Evaporust" turned black a few months ago, and it's starting to get thick, so I let this thing soak for about a week before I pulled it out.

I went at it with a pad of #3 steel wool, but that wasn't doing what I wanted, so I dug out a soft brass-bristled scrub brush and went at it with boiling hot water, trisodium phosphate, and Simple Green. I spent maybe half an hour scrubbing it to get it cleaned up, dried it in the oven, and applied a coat of BLO.


Walworth Mfg. Co., Boston, Massachusetts 18-inch "Stillson" pipe wrench

 

[four.cycle]

In response to an issue raised in a now-revived zombie thread concerning stiff pivots on pliers:

I picked up this pair of Diamond linemans pliers back in November, along with some other oddballs I found out in the yard over at Earthwise - items which had been left out in the rain. These were rusted solid when I got them (as well as the small diagonal cutters just above.)
When I say "rusted solid", I mean that I was not able to open them using both hands:

Diamond SL58 9 inch linemans pliers 11/12/25

Using a soft-bristled brass brush and a can of WD-40, I got them cleaned up and loosened up enough to open them part way, but not fully opened.
Then I grabbed my tiny little oiler can and flooded the business end with Marvel Mystery Oil, then grabbed the handles and started working them open-close-open-close-open-close-open-close-open-close-open-close as fast as I could until they started to loosen up.
Flooded them again, and repeated the process several times.
Now I can grab one handle, wag them up and down, and the joint is loose enough they just flippity-flop open and close.


Diamond SL58 9 inch linemans pliers 11/14/25

It worked so well, that I didn't hesitate when I found this pair of Crescent 9-inch linemans pliers a couple weeks ago, also rusted solid:


Crescent Tool Co. 1950 9-inch linemans pliers (prior to cleaning) 01/08/26

These got the same treatment: brass brush and WD-40, then the MMO and lots of open-close-open-close until they loosened up.

A few days later I acquired a brass wire wheel for my little grinder, so I figured I'd try it out with both pairs of linemans pliers.
They came out looking pretty snazzy:


Crescent Tool Co. 1950 9 inch linemans pliers 01/27/26

You will note in the last couple photos several other pairs of pliers, most of which were in similar condition - they all got pretty much the same treatment, but just to experiment, I used "3 in 1" oil instead of the MMO. Worked just dandy.

 

[four.cycle]

Wiss model A9 12½ inch Straight Pattern Snips 06/02/26

After a week in the Evaporust bath, wire wheel, and some nice "Harbor Blue" enamel (and a bit of BLO on the business end)...


Wiss model A9 12½ inch Straight Pattern Snips 06/15/26

These will be going to my buddy, as he's informed me he does not own a pair of metal snips.

 

[four.cycle]

Disston "Quaker City" model 328 adjustable hacksaw frame:

06/05/26 as found

Disston "Quaker City" model 328 adjustable hacksaw frame 06/15/26

This piece was in fairly good condition. A bit of #00 steel wool cleaned up the frame. A bit of Meguiar's Cleaner Wax worked wonders on the handle and put a nice shine on the frame.
Reasonably confident in stating that "Quaker City" must have been a short-lived venture by Disston into the "economy" world of tools.

 

[ecotec]

Sometimes Tub-o-Towels, and other times wire wheel and then Fluid Film.

Often, if they are not rusty, I just don’t clean them.

Sometimes, if they look too new and clean, I trade them out with my work tools.

 

[four.cycle]

This lovely piece had suffered from neglect and improper storage:

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw - as found - 06/20/26

The "collector appeal" on this unit is in that fancy yellow handle, so I wanted to be sure to not damage it in any way.
Removing the scales was a challenge, as both screws were rusted tight. Soaking in Kroil overnight got one loose enough to remove, but the other one just wanted to spin around and around. After several attempts, I laid that smooth convex-head button headed screw on a rubber "jar lid remover" sheet - just a thin sheet of rubber with a grippy surface - and managed to get that second one out - not, of course, without stupidly buggering up the slot on the head of the screw.
With the scales removed, I dropped the frame into the Evaporust overnight and let it soak.
The piece had been subject to wanton neglect and was tossed around in somebody's box, causing that pretty yellow handle to get all scratched up and faded.
Meguiar's introduced a line of "plastic" products in the early 1980s. There were about 7 different SKU's. We brought in two of them: a "cleaner" and a "polish". I still have a bottle of the cleaner. Not sure where the polish went. The product was made just for this sort of thing. Don't know if they still make it:

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw scales after cleaning with Meguiar's Plastic Cleaner

This was close, but not what I was hoping for, so we went old school:

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw scales after buffing with toothpaste

Not sure if any of you fabricated the clear plexiglas "Letter Opener" in junior high shop class. (My class didn't make them, but others did.)
The boys would sit in class with a rag and a tube of "Crest" and buff those things until they were crystal clear.
It has to be one of the "old" brands that still contain a tiny bit of chalk powder - just use a piece of terry cloth and go at it.


1939 Craftsman catalog pp 27 - hacksaws

You'll note in the catalog description that this unit was produced with a polished nickel-plated frame. That being the case, the last thing we'd want to do would be to scratch up that nice finish with steel wool or - God forbid - putting it on the dreaded wheel, as was the case with this unfortunate victim of abuse:


Craftsman 9AC3558 hacksaw (ebay 277962753883)

Craftsman 9AC3558 hacksaw (ebay 277962753883)

Aside from the crazy asking price (of $100.00), I would posit the reason this piece still hasn't sold - notwithstanding its rarity - is that the seller has compromised its intrinsic value by putting it on a wire wheel - something I consider "last resort" stuff (although I've found myself doing quite a bit of it lately with horribly rusted items.)
But I digress....

Still chanting my mantras of "Do No Harm" and "It's only original once", it was time to pull the frame out of the pickle pot and see what it looked like. There were still some splotchy areas and some tiny dark spots here and there, so I dug out Mom's favorite:


Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw - Wright's Silver Cream for the win!

Then it was time to put it all back together - just before the sun went down:


Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw ready for reassembly

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw all back together with a snazzy new blade!

 

[four.cycle]

Even better in the daylight!

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw

Craftsman 9AC3558 "Master Grip" hacksaw

* The "BB" production code stamped on this unit is somewhat puzzling. Lauver's list does include "BB", but only on a few other items (screwdrivers and a plane.)
GJ member @d42jeep's Craftsman "Master Grip" side side by side next to a Millers Falls indicate the original manufacturer was Millers Falls.