$5 rustbucket

[BFBOB]

I went to my favorite flea today, found a few nice things and then ran across this tool box full of -- um, **** would be putting it kindly. Somehow I just couldn't walk away, so I made a lowball offer just so I could tell myself I tried.
Darn if he didn't take the 5 bux.
I didn't take a picture til I'd culled out about 50 that were US made, mostly Craftsman. Some were still pretty shiny, others completely rusted-over. I'm now waiting for the E-Tank and Evaporust to work their magic and we'll see if I can manage to make my money back. Wish me luck!

 

[dwcon1431]

I went to my favorite flea today, found a few nice things and then ran across this tool box full of -- um, **** would be putting it kindly. Somehow I just couldn't walk away, so I made a lowball offer just so I could tell myself I tried.

Darn if he didn't take the 5 bux.

I didn't take a picture til I'd culled out about 50 that were US made, mostly Craftsman. Some were still pretty shiny, others completely rusted-over. I'm now waiting for the E-Tank and Evaporust to work their magic and we'll see if I can manage to make my money back. Wish me luck!

Sometimes the value is in the effort you expend on something!

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[driz]

How do you E Tank those guys hang em on a wire off an electrode.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SweetD]

Less than a cup of boutique coffee, I think you got a good deal!

 

[bonneyman]

Heck, the box cleaned up and repainted would be worth the $5!

My friend had good luck with Evaporust. If I were hard up I'd soak em in vinegar for a week and see what came out.

 

[BFBOB]

How do you E Tank those guys hang em on a wire off an electrode.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yep, I have a piece of perforated angle going across the tank, just hang a hooked wire, thread 'em like a necklace.
E-tank doesn't get much of the inside, so they get an Evaporust bath to take care of that.

 

[nadogail]

It looks like you have found a diamond in the rough.

 

[BFBOB]

Heck, the box cleaned up and repainted would be worth the $5!

.

Gee, I hadn't thought of that! And on top of it all, the scrap value of the dead sockets. Let's see... a nickel a pound--Fat City!

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Any name on the box?

 

[3jakes]

Well,
I for one am not surprised he took your $5.00.
Look forward to your results.

 

[BFBOB]

The $5 RustBucket is bearing fruit. The first batch is done, and it came out much better than I'd dare hope. It turned out that on most of the sockets that still showed some chrome, the rust and **** was from others. It mostly just wiped off, leaving minor rust or none at all. This batch of 40 is largely Craftsman with a few Fleet and one or two others. That's typical of the usable ones. There are nearly 250 that are beyond saving, nearly all Taiwan, and will go for scrap.
Another 50 or so are in the E-tank and Evaporust and will be usable, though probably not as nice looking as the first batch.
I'll make money - unless you consider the time I've spent - but it's a fun project.

The box is waayyy beyond redemption. Broken latches, sprung hinges, holes rusted through the bottom, no labels, no mfr marks, rust EVERYWHERE. Painting it would be ... you've heard about lipstick on a pig?

...oh, and I found one of the missing 10mm's!

 

[bmwrd0]

Yeah, I have done this. Which is why I end up taking stuff to my neighbor who volunteers at the Restore.

 

[bushmechanic]

The $5 RustBucket is bearing fruit. The first batch is done, and it came out much better than I'd dare hope. It turned out that on most of the sockets that still showed some chrome, the rust and **** was from others. It mostly just wiped off, leaving minor rust or none at all. This batch of 40 is largely Craftsman with a few Fleet and one or two others. That's typical of the usable ones. There are nearly 250 that are beyond saving, nearly all Taiwan, and will go for scrap.
Another 50 or so are in the E-tank and Evaporust and will be usable, though probably not as nice looking as the first batch.
I'll make money - unless you consider the time I've spent - but it's a fun project.

The box is waayyy beyond redemption. Broken latches, sprung hinges, holes rusted through the bottom, no labels, no mfr marks, rust EVERYWHERE. Painting it would be ... you've heard about lipstick on a pig?

...oh, and I found one of the missing 10mm's!

If you want to sell the box, slap a huge price on it in the attempt. That can be enough to attract interest and take less but still get something out of it.

I'm talking $250-$300. If you can't sell something cheap, sell it expensive as hell for what it is. It works more often than you might think.

Had a stupid Matchbox car I couldn't sell for a dollar over a period of eight years. I later billed it as "the rarest, most undesirable Matchbox car I've ever owned"; under the obviously illustrated contention that a Matchbox car nobody wants is clearly a rarity.

It was a damned joke; click-bait for other products... Meant to be obvious to everyone, so I'd at least get a single can of soda for it eventually...

Sold it for $500. Unfortunately for the world, I immediately realized I was on to something, and now whenever I can't make something move, I jack up the price astronomically.

 

[BFBOB]

If you want to sell the box, slap a huge price on it in the attempt. That can be enough to attract interest and take less but still get something out of it.
I'm talking $250-$300. If you can't sell something cheap, sell it expensive as hell for what it is. It works more often than you might think.

Yeah, you're just trying to get me written up in the "Craigs List Dreamers" thread.

 

[RTM]

Dang. Those are cleaning up nicely. My local rust reseller has a similar box full of big sockets, I may have to gamble. I'm not sure the bottom is rusted out, so I may be ahead there. Will check back if I score.

 

[bushmechanic]

Yeah, you're just trying to get me written up in the "Craigs List Dreamers" thread.

Ebay or Amazon is where that works the most; but Ebay is a faster sale.

 

[Don1357]

I did just what you did with a huge lot of sockets and wrenches.

https://webbauctionak.hibid.com/lot/73228-242705-24273/huge-lot-of-wrenches-toolbox-tool-carrier

Mine had 'valuable stuff' but value is in the eye of the beholder; the amount of effort spent trying to recover that value eats up all the alleged profits.

Two hours messing around with it, which I'll chalk down as entertainment. I did manage to fill a few missing holes on my sockets plus got two extra 10mm and 13mm sockets. I'm about to put the rest, a lot of 21 pounds of random sockets and wrenches on ebay for $23 plush $8.40 shipping. This means that even if I get that, economically speaking this was a fail.

But it was entertaining.

 

[engineer2]

You found my 10mm socket!

 

[jgromada]

I've bought tool lots like that on ebay. Can't really go too wrong

 

[BFBOB]

This ought to increase the value substantially. It's not just a junk pile, it's got a LOGO!

 

[captain14]

After you clean all the sockets up do you have do anything to keep them from developing some Sort of rust again?

Presuming you just out them in your toolbox to use.

 

[MushCreek]

I knew a guy that carried Craftsman tools in his boat (salt water environment). Once they got all rusty, he'd bring them back to Sears for replacements. The warranty use to say 'If you are dissatisfied for any reason' or something like that. They never argued; never even really looked at the tools.

 

[BFBOB]

Cap'n- yes- what I do is blow them dry with compressed air and then spritz them with WD-40. That gives pretty good protection, and of course repeat as necessary.

Doing such things as de-rusting vises which are particularly bad about flash-rusting, I tried hair dryer and heat gun which didn't work very well, and just sitting and air-drying which was disastrous. Blowing nearly eliminates flash rust, and then QUICK, paint it! (or BLO it).

 

[BFBOB]

Cap'n- yes- what I do is blow them dry with compressed air and then spritz them with WD-40. That gives good protection, and of course repeat as necessary.

De-rusting such things as vises which are particularly bad about flash-rusting, I tried hair dryer and heat gun which didn't work very well, and just sitting and air-drying which was disastrous. Blowing nearly eliminates flash rust, and then QUICK, paint it!

 

[BFBOB]

aaaaannnnnndd here it is, the final tally!
I was quite surprised to restore 90 sockets to usable condition. All but a few are Craftsman- Fleet was the next most common brand.
I wasn't counting hours but it seems like it really didn't take too long. They spent days soaking the the E-tank and Evaporust. I just let 'em sit until it took very little wire brushing to finish them off. Some are pitted badly enough to compromise their strength and some are nearly new. I've answered my original question in the affirmative - but of course only because it's just a hobby - I work for free.
Here's a group photo showing all 90. At four feet, they look pretty nice!

 

[Shelbylex]

Another perspective: you just helped the environment by avoiding melting from recycler and creation of new tools, most likely overseas; gave the money to a person who will use them and not to China/Taiwan/CEO+other rich guys running the show and tax man, saved some tools...
I would keep what you need and sell the rest for some money. I sometimes clean rusty sockets to relax and sell extras I do not need for little (can not collect them all, limiting myself to several brands and periods)
Recently sold 27 sockets (SAE + metric, SK, Thorsen, Craftsman (older USA), etc to some guy who got layed off, sold his tools (rushed from my perspective...) and then found another job few months later. He was extremely happy to get some quality stuff for $8 before his plan to buy SO sets after he gets some money(I gave him discount given his situation), I got few bucks for more wirebrushes (do it by hand, relaxing) and towards next bottle of Evaporust... A win-win for everybody... (...yes, in case you wonder, I know I could have gotten much more on eBay - I got them cheap and passed along cheap to pleasure the tool gods. : )