Tool Question

[Septimius]

Before you ask, no it's not what's the biggest tool in my garage, I know that's me :wink2:

I have a big bucket of old sockets/wrenches/random tools that have been sitting around for a while. They are dirty and rusty.

I'm wondering if there's a smart / easy/ relatively cheap way to clean them up. I would normally douse in WD40 let soak then scrub but there's too many for that.

Any suggestions?

 

[thegipper]

If you know someone with a tumbler, perhaps you could tumble them with some kind of rust removing solvent. You wouldn't want to tumble them for very long or it would remove what's left of the plating. If you don't, check around for a local metal fab shop, most will have a tumbler. You can ask if they can tumble all your stuff for a decent price.

At the metal fab shop where I work, we tumble parts for various reasons. One of them being, when the mild steel parts have rust on them. They come out super clean with no rust.

However you end up cleaning, I like to coat my tools with something like LPS 2 or some other kind of short term RP. You don't want to use a long term "wax" like RP like LPS 3.

Most of my good hand tools like Snap On stuff or Craftsman stuff (ratchets, breaker bars etc) that is chrome plated doesn't need any RP. It's the impact sockets and pry bars kind of stuff with bare metal that needs some kind of protectant or it will rust, at least in any climate where it gets humid.

Most of my tools are in my garage and will get rusty if I don't put some kind of RP on them. I just wipe them off before using them and put a light coat of LPS 2 before I put them away.

 

[69project]

Before you ask, no it's not what's the biggest tool in my garage, I know that's me :wink2:

I have a big bucket of old sockets/wrenches/random tools that have been sitting around for a while. They are dirty and rusty.

I'm wondering if there's a smart / easy/ relatively cheap way to clean them up. I would normally douse in WD40 let soak then scrub but there's too many for that.

Any suggestions?[/QUOTE

I have soaked tools in gasoline before to clean them up. Gets rid of the dirt/grease pretty quick but it probably won't touch the rust if its bad. You need to do this in a safe area and have a safe way to dispose of the gasoline. It can also jack up your skin so wear gloves. If you don't want to do that then you can get some carb cleaner. You can get that in a gallon can but it's expensive but you still have the disposal problem. You can also use Simple Green but it probably won't work as well as gas but it is safe for the environment.

I have seen ads/videos claiming coke will get rid of the corrosion on a tools but have never tried it.

 

[slomatt]

You can soak them in white vinegar for a few days, it will loosen the rust and make it easy to remove. I've restored multiple tools this way.

 

[tvpierce]

You can soak them in white vinegar for a few days, it will loosen the rust and make it easy to remove. I've restored multiple tools this way.

+1

And even then, there's going to take a fair amount of tedious cleaning wiping to clean them, and coat with some kind of rust preventative.

 

[ladywolf]

he could always just go get MEK. But that stuff is nasty.

Try one of those non abrasive power buffer deals you can get at harbor freight that they use for stripping stuff after soaking.

Not a wire one. Insert into a drill and whamo. easy peasy.