Tool Stowage--Keeping Rust Away

[Scott Rosen]

How do you stow your tools on board? Have you found a good way to keep them from rusting? If you use oil, what kind do you use?

[Donn]

All my hand and small tools (and almost everythng else) are stowed in Zip-Loc Freezer bags, and kept in 5 gallon buckets with watertight lids. Inside the top of each is a gallon zip-loc with an old washrag and a can of WD-40. Every tool gets wiped off before it gets put away.

My at-the-ready tools hang on a home-made tackle stand, or rest in slots. They also get wiped down all the time, some with Salt-X and some with WD-40.

PS...that 3M Metal Restorer and Polish, also protects against rust and corrosion...and shines fishing lures.

[ 06-07-2002, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: donnwest ]

[Memphis Mike]

Good ol WD 40, the wonder drug. And it smells
good too.

[Memphis Mike]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Its a picture of
donnwest!

[Donn]

Who was that masked man??

[Cedarhill Boatworks]

The local Stop&Shop sells imitation tupperware plastic containers in a million and a half sizes. Round, square, rectangular. They are great for tools. They are stackable and nearly indestructable. Mist them down with WD40 before the tools go in, wipe the tools doen once in a while with the same magical stuff.
WD40 makes a great anticorrosive for electrical components as well. All those multiprong and pin connectors inside the little rubber boots for the autohelm, depth sounder etc. Give 'em a shot before you plug them together.....

[Bob Cleek]

I saw a set of bronze mechanics tools, the whole shebang. The guy had liberated them from a wooden USN minesweeper. Now, THOSE didn't rust! Wish I had 'em. HE WHO DIES WITH THE MOST TOOLS WINS! (How's that fer a tag-line, Scott?)

[Memphis Mike]

Put it back donnwest! I wuz only kiddin.
You know me.

[Wayne Jeffers]

For dry storage, another choice is the plastic ammo boxes you can find in the sporting goods dept of your local discount store.

For electrical switches, etc., silicon spray is a better water-proofer than WD40.

Wayne

[Pelican]

Bosun' Supplies has stainless tools. They ain't cheap tho. http://www.bosunsupplies.com/ProductTools.cfm

I picked up one of those stainless adjustable wrenches made in New Zealand on ebay for about 1/3 of retail. I think it is called a deckmate. :confused:

The bronze tools are extremely expensive. When I worked for an LP Gas Co in the late 60's we used bronze adjustable wrenches and pipe wrenches as they are non sparking. I don't remember the exact figures but I do remember thinking I could buy a large set of craftsman tools for what an 8"& 12", adjustable and 8"& 12" pipe wrench cost. :eek:

It seems we all agree that the main thing is just to simply take care of your tools and they well take care of you. smile.gif

[Todd Schliemann]

Scot,

While on board my tools are well packed (and available for immediate use)in a canvas carry-all. They are rubbed down with WD40 every once and a while. I have always wondered why they don't get rusty more. I'm afraid I'm not that religious about the WD40 tratment, but they never get much rust. I also don't carry my best tools aboard. Generally use very little WD40, only a very thin wipe will do it.

Just a word of caution. Ya gotta watch that WD40 though. Get it on wood you might varnish or paint and you better prep it REAL well. That stuff penetrates and won't let anything hold, paint varnish, even grease. I generally do the tool rubdown OFF the boat.

[PeterSibley]

Well ,I use a homemade wax.......beeswax and turps mixed to about the consistency of honey.Painted on steel tools its the best thing I know.Much better than WD40 etc.The turps seems to vapourise and it leaves a thin coat of soft wax on all surfaces.

[Pelican]

I just checked Bosum's. A 3/8 drive ratchet and a set of 13 sockets (1/4 - 1 inch) - by the time you add shipping and ins ------a tad over NINE HUNDRED BUCKS!!!!!!! :eek:

Ya know, a feller can by a lot 'o cheap tools with 900 dollars!!!

[ken mcclure]

I met a guy a few years ago who had an amazing set of carving gouges, as well as an amazing array of carvings he had done with them.

He kept mothballs in his tool chest, and claimed that they kept things from rusting. The tools were inherited, and were well over 90 years old IIRC and there was not a single pit or rust mark anywhere.

Dunno if that'd work in a salt air environment tho.

[imported_Ola Sylwan]

Silicone spray must have been invented by Lucas, the inventor of darkness.

[G. Schollmeier]

I use WD-40 all the time, it's a great solvent, can strip the greese off a dirty tool faster than anything I know of. After the tool is clean use a light spray of LPS-3. It's a wax in solution. Once it has dried you have a thin wax coat that prevents rust. This is what the aircraft industry uses to help prevent corrosion.
Gary

[Memphis Mike]

We used to use LPS in the mines in WV
years ago. I haven't seen a can of that stuff
in years.

[paladin]

I picked up a set of Cupro-nickel tools in metric and U.S. in the former soviet Union for less than $300 American......they were old but made in the U.S.....could some of those bronze tools actually be cupro Nickel? I have seen these sets before for use aboard ships.....

[Keith Wilson]

Rather off the subject, but a previous post mentioned silicone as waterproofing . . . One needs to be VERY careful with any kind of silicone spray around surfaces to be painted or glued. It takes only a miniscule amount of silicone to screw up adhesion, and the damned stuff seems to spread almost magically. (I know this from bitter personal experience, involving bookbinding adhesives and silicone fuser oils from copiers, a very long story with which I won't bore you.) I wonder if some of the mysterious glue failure stories we've heard are actually the result of very low levels of silicone contamination. I won't let it anywhere near my shop or boats; I have enough trouble already.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Ther was a time when oil tankers routinely carried bronze tools. This was before the days of COW and IGS, when tanks were routinely kept over rich. Very few of these tools seem to have survived....one wonders why and suspects that they were "liberated: wholesale by crew members!

[Wayne Jeffers]

Good point, Keith, about silicone spray and adhesion. Best to avoid overspray.

My experience in using silicone spray to prevent corrosion of electrical switches, etc., from water infusion comes mainly from a non-boating environment where water is also a major concern (motorcycling.)

Ola – Have you had a bad experience with silicone spray?

Wayne