Polishing sockets

[mjoekingz28]

I am wondering what you all (some of you) use to clean the inner wells off your sockets.

Of course keeping a film of some kind of lubricant on the chrome visible/outer surfaces of your sockets keeps them clean and rust free: but we SHOULD worry some about the business ends.



Where the socket drive engages and where the fastener is surrounded is my focus. I am no metallurgist (although sounds like a great career) but it seems it by coating the bare surfaces that may or may not have been oil quenched with SOMETHING is a good idea.


I suggest getting SAE30 weight and pouring it in a metal bowl, getting it to some uncomfortable temperature (say, 180f?). Letting your socket collection soak until cool. Taking them out and laid on a towel to soak excess, then hit with gun cleaning mops/bore pads, maybe a light brushing, then a final wipedown and possibly a windex or pledge coating to keep dust from accumulating.




This procedure could probably be done one in a tool's lifetime and help keep it rustfree, structurally strong, and pretty looking for many generations to come.






My suspicions is that the tool trucks perform some kind of quenching and polishing that homeowner grade tools can't perform because of cost/price factors. So, your Craftsmen might need a 'lil extra help after getting them home. While your Snappers would be good with an occasional wipe with a paper towel.

 

[pepi]

Man talk about a waste of time.....no rust on my 35 year old sockets

BTW all Craftsmen

 

[McFarmer]

I lay a towel heavily sprayed with WD-40 over the tools in each drawer of my box. I wipe the tools with it when I put them away at the end of a job, if I'm not in a big hurry.

I don't use it for my hands, just lay it out over the tools. The humidity in my shop during the summer can cause the tools to sweat, never had a problem with rust even on seldom used tools.

I am cautious about sparks and such, I don't think WD-40 would be to bad as far as spontaneous combustion.

Am I on a thin edge ? I've always wondered.

 

[Tony G]

Are you serious about cleaning sockets or just pumping up your post count? If mine get too cruddy I throw metallurgic caution to the wind and blast them with brake cleaner. You sound like the poster who doesn't know what to lube his ratchets with. However I think that you ought to keep your mongrel sockets separate from your Snapon so they don't interbreed.

 

[Know Wosad]

Mine make their way to the parts washer like everything else when I'm done working on nasty shiite. I use it like Irenee does the kitchen sink.The air is a foot away as is the paper towel hanger.

 

[APEowner]

What?!

 

[brownbagg]

i have never cleaned or polish a tool. I dont even wipe the grease or dirt off of them

 

[chrism0107]

I keep my engines nice and greasy so when i work on them they preserve my tools and my hands (untill i go back in the house and my wife sees my greasy hand prints on the faucet)

 

[ilovevocs]

I clean all my personal equipment before I service it with a hot water pressure washer. It makes servicing easier, simplifies leak identification, ect. Personally see no benefit in leaving my equipment greasy unless the joint is intended to contain grease. Dirt and grime buildup on surfaces helps to retain moisture and accelerates oxidation and surface degradation.

That said in not too concerned about my tools degrading as a result of a lack of polishing. I wipe them down with a shop towel and call it a day. As said above they get a solvent bath if needed. The only thing that gets coated or some form of treatment are bare metal machine tools.


I honestly feel your post would be better received if you didn't use the word "polish" in the title. Seems like trolling. I understand your desire to wax intellectual about the subject, however, most will believe that your true intention is to stir the pot. Just my $.02


On a side not my wife polishes my tool a few times a week.


Was some guy who posted in the tool forum a while back who was a chef and he expressed how he enjoyed cleaning his tools in the sink with soapy water after every use. That was different.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LXCam]

Call me ole fashioned but I've found actually using my tools keeps them from rusting. Quite the concept huh.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I wonder how many people actually read the first post...he's talking about a one time treatment to keep sockets from rusting.

 

[jumbojak]

Yep, definitely not a metallurgist. The fact that a socket, or any heat treated steel part, was quenched will have little to do with rust prevention and using 180F oil to soak your parts will do nothing more than make it much more likely you burn yourself at some point during this operation. For an oil hardening steel yes, the heat treat will benefit from using warm oil (typically in the 130F range) but you have to remember that the steel you are hardening must be fully austenized - temperatures well into the incandescent range - when they are immersed.

Another thing to keep in mind, and this may be true for my sockets and not yours, is that the business end of a socket is chrome plated as well. They aren't bare steel. The nickel and chrome provide very good rust prevention without much need for intervention on our part. The part is fully heat treated before any platings or other finishes are applied so there really isn't much we can do besides use them and maybe add a little light oil from time to time as an extra barrier.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Guess I was trying to have fun by saying polishing. I get tired of using the word treat.


I am referring to the inside of the socket, not the chrome plated outer parts that are all we generally see or pay attention to.




Basically, I hate what New England winters do to car frames. Between that and pavement degradation, we have IMO the two worst problems in traffic.


But we'll start small and with tools. You have apiece of metal that has been formed into somethng useful. Sure it is only a buck or two, but some team of workers spent time, money and materials and techniques (prbaly lerned over several generations) to bring to you a quality item.

Now, I would like to keep it alive. Not let it get soft where it chews up fasteners. Not dry out and become brittle where it may fracture and snap. Dont want rust eating away at it either.

 

[jumbojak]

Guess I was trying to have fun by saying polishing. I get tired of using the word treat.


I am referring to the inside of the socket, not the chrome plated outer parts that are all we generally see or pay attention to.




Basically, I hate what New England winters do to car frames. Between that and pavement degradation, we have IMO the two worst problems in traffic.


But we'll start small and with tools. You have apiece of metal that has been formed into somethng useful. Sure it is only a buck or two, but some team of workers spent time, money and materials and techniques (prbaly lerned over several generations) to bring to you a quality item.

Now, I would like to keep it alive. Not let it get soft where it chews up fasteners. Not dry out and become brittle where it may fracture and snap. Dont want rust eating away at it either.

Get soft? Dry out? It's a piect of STEEL, not a cookie or a gasket. And, I can assure you, steel doesn't behave like either of the aforementioned objects. It's pretty stable so long as excessive heat isn't applied.

Also, what sockets are you buying that aren't plated inside? Even my Pittsburgh Pro set that lives in the trunk is plated inside and out.

 

[sonic.apex]

I use my tools and while I have a pretty much brand new Proto socket and spanner set. I clean them as best I can, just using a rag every now and then but I don't go out of my way. I have tools from my grand dad used in the 30's - 50's. Sure they have a bit of pitting, wear etc but they're nearly 100 years old and still do their job just fine. I'm fairly sure my proto gear will be the same when they're 100 and I'm in the earth.

Point of what I'm saying is, I'm not going out of my way just so they look pretty or last. I want to use them and keeping them clean is more than likely good enough.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If your sockets are plated on the outside, then they are plated on the inside too. They will look not as shiny because the manufacturer does not polish the inside. The difference in sheen between inside and out may be what is leading you to believe the inside isn't plated. No need for extra treatment on chrome sockets. Impact sockets however are not chromed and a good oil bath may help, but I have never gone that far. I would probably use fluid film and wipe with a rag and call it a day.

 

[mattygee]

The best way to polish the inside of a socket is to place it over the head of an appropriate sized bolt/nut and turn.. Lefty loosey righty tighty. The frequency of this interaction between socket and fastener is usually inversely proportional to the owner's giving a damn how shiny they are on the inside.

 

[brownbagg]

my impacts i cover with the most awful color of paint i can find, this week its lima bean green, not for protection, well kinda but more to locate my tools in my buddy toolbox

 

[brianh]

The chrome plating process is usually a three step process, and all steps are done by electrolysis and in all steps, the parts are completely submerged in one of the three main solutions.

The first is a copper plate which sticks very good to steel, whereas chrome and nickel don't. Next is a nickel plating which sticks well to the copper. To make it shiny the nickel is buffed. High quality operations buff the copper as well.

The final step is the chrome which is acts as a sealer to the nickel plating and is actually yellow when it comes out of the bath. When rinsed the very thin coat of Chrome becomes transparent and if the nickel plating was buffed before the chrome plating then it will look shiny. If not, it will be the satin finish.

In any case the Chrome plating is only a clear lacquer, and has very little, if anything to do with the appearance of the finished piece. It's only there to protect the softer layers of nickel and copper, and to seal everything from corrosion.

In the case of sockets, all surfaces inside and out get the same coating of copper, nickel and then chrome.

Sounds like a google ninja answer, chrome is a clear lacquer? please cite some more info.

 

[Al Borland]

Are you serious about cleaning sockets or just pumping up your post count? ,,, However I think that you ought to keep your mongrel sockets separate from your Snapon so they don't interbreed.

Do we get prizes for high post counts????
As far as your other point,,, This is the 21st century, There is NO PLACE for this kind of intolerance. They can use whatever toolbox they want. Calling sockets "Mongrels" Sheesh...What a Caveman...

 

[mjoekingz28]

Sounds like a google ninja answer, chrome is a clear lacquer? please cite some more info.

It sounded like inside trade secrets to me.

 

[csp]

You have a really bad misunderstanding of the plating process if you believe that the chrome layer is a clear laquer.

 

[Al Borland]

Not really a clear lacquer, but a nearly clear layer that protects the polished nickel and lets it shine thru. When you see a chrome plating flaking/peeling off, usually what you are seeing is the copper/nickel/chrome package peeling free of the steel.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Akalian,

I heard before, when talking about motorcycle rims, that chroming weakens the wheel. Maybe they meant it makes it heavier. What do you think? How else does it affect the parts besides looking different?