How to keep tools from rusting

[JakeKohl]

Boesheild T-9. It is designed for this purpose. I use it on my cast iron tool surfaces to keep them rust free and it works very well. If you put it on thick and let it dry it will leave a slightly tacky surface...spray on and wipe it off is all that is needed.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2000984/207/T-9-Rust-Protectant-12-Ounce-Spray.aspx

 

[colin39]

I'm in the process of putting together a 24x24 2 story garage. My current shop is in the basement but I would like to move some of it out to the garage. My concern is that the tools will rust up out there. The garage will obviously be waterproof but I am concerned with humiditiy causing flash rust. Insulating it isn't in the budget right now and the only source of heat will be a torpedo propane heater in the winter and an in-wall air conditioner in the summer. Any suggestions on how to keep the rust at bay?

Keith

Use them

 

[vankaye]

I am in Florida and have to fight the humidity hard. In the winter the temperature drops to dew point in the garage and the tools in my box simply start sweating. I turn on my droplight with a 100w bulb and place it in the bottom drawer. The warmth from the bulb is enough to keep the entire box from dropping to dew point temp.
This will be my first season with 4 HF boxes. Guess I need a few more drop lights!

I also regularly coat my tools with WD40. I use a mobile cart to collect tools before they go back in the box. Or sometimes I just throw the tools in an oil catch pan. Anyways, I squirt the whole pile of tools with WD40 and then wipe each tool down before I put it in the drawer. Its a very good habit I formed early.

I use my tools a lot but not all of my tools get regular use. Some of the specialty tools hardly ever leave my box.

T-9 is the ****! I use it on my boat motors and it keeps them looking clean and new. I also use it on my unfinished welding table that would normally form a layer of rust in one day. It's $20 a can but the cans go a long long way. I am on my 3rd can since I first discovered the stuff about 12-13 years ago. WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

 

[Lassen Forge]

Don't leave them out overnight. (Well, that's what my daddy taught me!)

Everything I have that gets used (and I have a lot of non-stainless, non-chromed tools) gets a spritz of aerosol 3 in 1. Keeps the rust at bay. If a tool gets wet - take time to clean, dry, and oil it. Treat it like it's your new religion, and your holy relics, er, tools will stay bright, shiny, and servicable!

For table surfaces (table saw, scroll saw, etc.) I use Johnson's Paste wax. And cover them when not being used.

 

[AP514]

best way to keep rust off of tools is to use them.

lol

WRONG.............Here in houston I get rust on the tools I use every day

 

[olytdi]

I find WD-40 to be worthless and useless. You want something that will seep into the micro nooks and crannies of a metal surface and stay there without evaporating. WD-40 does the former but not that latter. Boeshield T-9 does this. Fluidfilm does this. Boeshield leaves a heavier waxy film that is the ticket for anything left outside, in a marine environment, etc. Excellent for stored machinery exposed to the elements.

Fluidfilm migrates better and is more easily wiped-off making it good for hand tools, undercoating cars for the winter (what it was designed for) and the like.

I use T-9 for stuff stored outside that I might not touch for years. I use FF on the vehicles prior to winter and for anything day-to-day.