How to you treat your tools?

[kiwiwrench]

It interests me to know how people are willing to treat their workshop tools. Do you buy shiny tools and clean them down after every use? Or buy cheap tools and give 'em death? Personally I'm pretty gentle on the things- I'll always break torque with a breaker bar before switching to a ratchet, I'll never use a crescent wrench or ratchet as a hammer (although I've seen it done plenty!). I'm generally of the opinion that the effort it takes to slide out from under wherever you are and get the right tool for the job out of the box pays off it the end. I clean my tools down at the end of a project, but that's incase I need to grab a wrench for a quick 'clean' job in the house one day, and I don't want Diesel engine grime on my washing machine etc. not because I treat my toolbox like a show pony!
Not sure if I'm part of the majority or minority here. I guess my attitude comes from 9 1/2 years on military aviation, and growing up around a dad doing heavy maintenance on airliners. In saying that there's a surprising amount of guys at work who swing on decent American/German chrome all day at work, and are happy having $49, 149 pc sockets in their garage at home.

 

[ephotrod]

Like a visit to the ex wife; Get the job done, clean up and leave!

 

[CWP1616L]

I take very good care of my tools. Every time I go to Costco I pick up some cardboard trays to keep my tools in as I'm working on the car. I never let my tools come in contact with the concrete garage floor. They're either in my hand or sitting in the cardboard tray. I clean them before putting them away in the toolbox. Most of the time they just need a quick wipe down with a towel. I am NOT a tool polisher. I just like keeping my tools clean.

 

[Haveblue]

I give them hell. on a really nasty job, where tools are getting slick from hydraulic oil, or black as hell from clutch dust, its gonna be a quick wipedown right before lunch. It only takes a minute or so, and things are better when I get back at it. When your tools stop working well because they are too dirty, its time to clean em up! I like to quickly wipe down, and organize all my tools at the end of a project, it saves some time to be organized. I also take a few minutes at the end of each day to do a little organizing, and cleaning. I probably dont spend more than ten minutes a day doing this, but it saves me a ton of time at work!

 

[Caconman424]

Im fairly OCD about cleaning my tools. Even though I use mostly generic cheap brand ****, I hate having to use oily greasy tools, and therefore always clean them after use. I try to keep them oil free for the most part during jobs and clean them while doing a job by quickly wiping them down or shortly after finishing the job. I work at the airport as a fleet mechanic for all the vehicles that service planes, so you can imagine how messy that can get sometimes

 

[amlv20]

I get the Job done, then I wipe them down and put em away.to me organization is key.i can't stand a pile of tools on my box or cart after finishing a job so I take the time to quickly wipe them off and organize them away.the last place I worked at had some one with sticky fingers and tools would disappear out of people's boxes especially 1/4 7 and 8 mm swivels.so it's become an obsessive habit to make sure every tool is in its place and every drawer closed and locked before I go home at the end of the day.knowing my tools are out in the open at night would drive me insane.its my money in all that metal and chrome so I make sure all my hard work is well taken care off AFTER the job is finished.

 

[karrbass4life]

Mine are beat. They are often coated in hydraulic oil, anti seize, mud, thick grease, and garbage juice (the lovely brine that leaks out of garbage trucks). I try to keep them clean while doing job, but there is only so much i can do. I wipe mine down and either clean them with brake clean and a rag or leave them out and use my snap-on toolbox cleaner on the tools with grips or finishes that brake clean could harm. Then they are put away after each job to remain organized and keep track of my inventory. I roll up my cables and any specialty tools and put them back in their cases or designated area in my box.

 

[Exceller8]

I use and sometimes abuse my tools. A tool is meant to be used but I try my best to take reasonable care with them.

 

[pendragon1998]

I expect to be working on garage stuff for the next 40+ years and I make an effort to buy USA made quality tools (or proven-quality foreign stuff on occasion). I therefore clean my tools and take care of them so they will last that long. Ideally, I'd like to pass them on to my children. That's not to say I baby them, but I try and use the correct tool for the job. If they're worn out through honest use, I'm not going to cry about it.

 

[theknurl]

very nicely.......

they made me a lot of money

hell, my Grandfather's 1895 Starrett micrometers are still dead nuts on....

and my Father's ~1928 Thuillier Lefrant tin snips will out cut anything ever made....they made the Northrup Alpha hanging in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

i've been using the same Purox 00 O/A torch for 53 years......don't even THINK about picking it up......you won't like my reaction

set a beer on anything but my 3/4" stainless welding table..... 1 warning, 2nd time it goes flying out the door

hell, the bottle opener is riveted to the inside of the trash can so i don't step on any bottle caps

 

[monster1]

My tools always end up on the ground. They occasionally get used inappropriately but at the end of the job, they are wiped clean and put away so that the next job starts fresh. I like my tools but they are in fact just a means to an end.

 

[ATC]

I respect my tools and the money I have spent on them. I don't care if they get dirty...hell, that's part of being a mechanic and using tools! But you will never catch me throwing a tool across the floor, hammering with a ratchet, using a screwdriver and hammer to drive a bolt out, etc...


A friend of mine is horrible with tools. He has lost and broken more than I can keep up with. He leaves them strewn about his entire property, left outside for days on end, ran over and stepped on on the shop floor, uses his ratchets as hammers, etc...

 

[jeremy v]

I don't care about my tools getting dirty or dinged up, but the dings will never be because of abuse, only from proper use. If jaw teeth get chipped or too worn down I redress them with a dremel or a file until they are as good as new and then put them back to work. Any tool that breaks or wears out in a way that is not easily fixable gets customized or re-purposed.

Any tool that I come across for a great price (that is a duplicate or isn't a good all around tool) gets modified and set up to do one specific job only and to do that one thing very well. Any tool that can be modified when new to perform a task better or accomplish more has that modification done immediately. I buy a set of good but cheap screwdrivers just for prying and replace them as needed. My better screwdrivers only turn screws.

I do give all the tools used for a task a quick wipe down with an oiled rag when finished just to keep them clean and to keep rust at bay, but I prefer the look of use and patina to the look of new. Patina proves to me that a tool was worth the money I spent on it by showing me that it is actually being used. If a tool gets dirty on a project, I wipe it down and/or clean it off because I never know in advance if tool cleanliness will be important for the next task or not. If I buy a tool used and it is rusty or very dirty I just clean it enough to completely restore proper function, then I oil it and leave the rest as patina.

I am on the same page as some others here in that my main effort beyond general tool preservation and cleanliness is organization. I am always figuring out ways to make it so that I can store more tools in a smaller area, make them more portable, the storage solution more flexible, or to allow for easier and quicker access and/or greater tool security from possible theft or misplacement by others. If you can't find a tool when you need it what is the point in having it?

 

[Rico.]

I think I'm like most people here....

I always use the right tool for the job, so I never abuse my tools unless it's absolutely
the only way to get the job done. I don't mind if they get scratched or marked, I think it gives
them character, but I don't throw them around.

After I'm done, a quick wipe and put them away... If it's a really messy oily nasty job then
I will clean them before I put them away, and once a while I'll give them a squirt of WD40
to keep them free of any possible rust.

I look at it this way... They're just tools, but treat them with respect and they will
always look after you.

 

[Hako86]

I always use my tools for the right job and I clean my tools after each time used them. The only thing I ever did wrong was hammering with a ratchet, but no worries, it only costed about 1/2 dollar

 

[Nocturnal-G]

I always use the proper tools for the job... Do the job, clean them, back in the box.

 

[Johnny chaos]

I buy the highest quality I can afford........and give them hell.....I do always clean them before they go back into the tool box.

 

[Gary S]

I bought good quality tools 40 years ago and am still using them. I store them carefully in my toolbox and don't drop them on concrete so they still work like new.
But, I do not clean and polish my tools. That promotes rust and wears the finish. Mechanic tools benefit from a thin film of auto grease on them.
People who spend their lives polishing their tools should get a life and live it.

 

[Iron Cat]

I don't mind if my tools get dirty or caked in grease but when its all said an done, they're wiped clean an put back in order.ill even spray some wd40 in my sockets an chase it with a rag if its a nasty job. I don't want to fumble around searching and wiping tools off to find the right size. I don't knock guys that have decent tools but just use them to earn their living and toss em back in the box, whatever works for you and gets your job done.But me, I don't find it that hard to maintain clean tools and truthfully I take pride (or obsession) in my tools really enjoy opening my toolbox drawers and seeing shiny-*** tools.

 

[joedodge]

Give them he'll make the money wipe them down when done. I don't polish or baby them just a wipe down

 

[KPSquared]

My tools always end up on the ground. They occasionally get used inappropriately but at the end of the job, they are wiped clean and put away so that the next job starts fresh. I like my tools but they are in fact just a means to an end.

This is pretty much my approach. I buy good enough quality go get the job done and I wipe them down and put them back in their place at the end of the day. It takes very little effort to have a clean bench/tool box when I go to bed. All of 5 minutes to set up again the next day. Leaving your project and tools spread all over the garage is bad form IMHO.

 

[nahuebsch82]

I want to say, my wife wants to hear, that I baby my spendy work investments. However it's a tool, they get dirty, dropped, hammered on etc. Do my best, I wipe them down but if I need to get a job done I'm not going to make a ton of trips to the box all the time for the "right tool"....

 

[justanengineer]

Its a tool, not a piece of art. They get used, hammered on when necessary, and if theyre nasty I wipe them down and put them away If they did a job and didnt get nasty who cares? All that matters is that I can handle them without leaving hand prints elsewhere.

 

[nahuebsch82]

All that matters is that I can handle them without leaving hand prints elsewhere.

LOL this is a skill one can not be taught...You can almost always tell the new apprentice who is covered head-to-toe in grease paperwork a mess, the journeyman whos paperwork is good face is clean coveralls still messy then the "old guys" who always seem to look like they just got in for work.

funny thing is this seems almost opposite when it comes to tool care....Journeymen tend to "showoff" their collection everything is pristine, Apprentice wants to show off but can't keep anything clean, the old guy just doesn't give a $h1t anymore messy jumble

 

[TOOL MASTER]

a clean tool is a happy tool..;-)

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Not a perfectionist with the tool polish, but my tools are reasonably clean, properly used and well organized... Some things that piss me of are messy, disorganized tool boxes, filled with abused tools.. a n d the bozos responsible for that Manifestation of Shadetreeism; asking if they can borrow my tools. I point them in the direction of the tool box heap they have been throwing tools at..... If they can't find them there, they had best retrace their steps from last week and check the parking lot and the floor under their pile of garbage..

 

[Bogdan M.]

I believe that tools must be treated with respect.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Tool polisher here......And they are long overdue for cleaning....

 

[crewchief888]

i may be the only member that works on both ends of the spectrum...

garage tools are wiped down, put away, everything in it's place.
true, i leave tools laying around while i'm working on something, but as i finish up what i'm doing, it may be tomorrow, or next week, i but every thing away....

my work tools are another story

when i'm out in the field, they get a quick wipedown (sometimes) before getting tossed back in a drawer, or back in the socket tray or holder.
then i'm off to my next call.
if i'm working in the shop, i make the effort to at least wipe off all the grease and oil before i put them away.

my tools get beat on with hammers, i use cheater pipes, prybars, double wrenching....
whatever it takes to get the job done...

 

[d.mcfarland]

... then there are the beater set of tools that we all have. They get used randomly, cleaned just enough, but refuse to rust for some reason. We love them but treat them like ex's.

 

[jeffmoss26]

With multiples of just about every tool, there are some that get abused and some that get polished. Depends what I am working on and what tools I have with me. Most of the garage sale stuff is well worn by the time I buy it, I think it adds character

 

[Farmall450]

I think I'm like most people here....

I always use the right tool for the job, so I never abuse my tools unless it's absolutely
the only way to get the job done. I don't mind if they get scratched or marked, I think it gives
them character, but I don't throw them around.

After I'm done, a quick wipe and put them away... If it's a really messy oily nasty job then
I will clean them before I put them away, and once a while I'll give them a squirt of WD40
to keep them free of any possible rust.

I look at it this way... They're just tools, but treat them with respect and they will
always look after you.

+1 Well put.

 

[dirtmister16]

tools get wiped down after use before put away. nothing is more irratating to me then a greasy messy tool i have to grab for.

i wipe my tools off during greasy jobs sometimes if i have to otherwise it waits till that job is done.

my hard handle ratcheting drivers get a wipe down with a gassy rag to keep them somewhat clean.

rest of the tools are just a wipe down most of the time. idk what to do with my soft grips, nothing really works good on that stuff.

 

[december45]

I have always cleaned mine,I have never put a tool away dirty. I will confess that mine have touched the concrete garage floor but never layed in the dirt. I have been guilty of polishing a hammer or two.

 

[Craptain]

I have the luxury of a shop that NO-ONE else goes into. That means that I have the option to leave tools out at night and sometimes uncleaned. However they are always cleaned and stowed at the end of the job, and sometimes more often if needed. I have to move some tools outside my shop to work. Like the table saw. So I clean and put that away every night before locking up. Same for the planer. But hand tools are often left where I am using them on the bench.

 

[zkling]

Let's see.

Micrometers double as c clamps.

ANYTHING can be used as a hammering device.

Torque wrench makes a good breaker bar, when I can't find a long enough pipe to fit over the ratchet.

Screwdrivers double as chisels, pry bars and punches

Hammers are used as paperweights

Large pliers are a much easier to store and find substitute for sockets and wrenches. If it needs to be precise the visegrips may come out.





I think Rico said it best. Use tools in the way they were designed to be. Take care of them and they take care of you. I always wipe mine down when placing back in the box. I really don't enjoy playing "WTF goo did I just stick my finger in"

Most of the garage sale stuff is well worn by the time I buy it, I think it adds character

Same here. Alot of my tools show signs of abuse, but not by me. Before I die I need to make sure I write a letter to their next owner making sure they understand that I was not the one that abused the tools.

If character was defined as dings, dents, scratches scuffs and stains, my garage is chock full of character then.

 

[crewchief888]

I have the luxury of a shop that NO-ONE else goes into. That means that I have the option to leave tools out at night and sometimes uncleaned. However they are always cleaned and stowed at the end of the job, and sometimes more often if needed. I have to move some tools outside my shop to work. Like the table saw. So I clean and put that away every night before locking up. Same for the planer. But hand tools are often left where I am using them on the bench.

the wife seldom sets foot in the garage, the dog wont come anywhere close when the door is open..

 

[vga]

My tools all get dirty while being used, no worries about that as this is what they are here for. My garage floor is carpeted so I can allow a tool to hit the floor with out having a fit!! After the job is completed I clean each tool and place it back into its place in my tool box and lock everything down. I like clean tools to start a job.

 

[ZRX61]

They don't always get cleaned the day I use em, but they do get cleaned before they get put away. They may sit on the bench for a week or more...
The blue handles on my various Channellocks look like new because they get a wipe with lacquer thinner & then a quick wipe with Pledge. Screwdriver handles also get the Pledge deal... & no, it doesn't make them too slippery to grip tightly.

I also restore old tools, & I don't want my stuff to need restoring so they get looked after.

I take very good care of my tools. Every time I go to Costco I pick up some cardboard trays to keep my tools in as I'm working on the car. I never let my tools come in contact with the concrete garage floor.

If I'm next to the bike or under a vehicle I will either throw down a moving blanket or two or a pad made from several of those 2x2ft sq foam floor pads they sell at Horrible Fright & Sears etc. Saves on tool damage & ****/knee fatigue.

I've also used the cardboard trays or the larger TV dinner plastic trays etc to hold tools when I'm under something.

 

[tatra]

personal tools , respect.......work tools , treated the same as the company , supervisor atm treats me.......they buy **** anyways......being in mtc. i dont always have the luxury having exactly what i need at hand and the gun is cocked and loaded so going back for a breaker bar when a pipe and ratchet are handy happens at times......of course being in the game this long i have yet to bend or break even the cheap ratchets they buy us and most times i just need a little oomph to get it loose.......ringing wrenches are also another technique that has to be utilized at times also..........now my home stuff which is a mix of snappy and other brands , i try to keep clean and organized.......