Preventing rust on tools

[sailorladd]

Tools must breath, so wrap them in a lightly oiled rag or rags, and dont store them in airtight containers ...

[CarlF]

I bought 50 of these 10g silica gel packets for about $15 off Ebay. Each one is about 2"x3". Two or three of these in the tool box makes a huge difference. When they turn pink (which takes a long time), I just leave them in the sun on a low humidity day for a day and they're blue again and ready to go.

I got some smaller ones too and put them in the salt shaker, flour, soaps, crackers, etc

[Cheechako]

A sealed case should do well enough. Store your tools above the floor. I never had much problem except anything that was bare steel, even that was not much of an issue for years. I wrapped things that rarely get used, like a torque wrench, in saran wrap.

[hellosailor]

martin-
The Wiki says "Older mothballs consisted primarily of naphthalene, but due to naphthalene's flammability, many modern mothball formulations instead use 1,4-dichlorobenzene."
Naphtha, benzenes, all that stuff is not good for humans. It is regulated as a pesticide today, and I can tell you that one spring, after I had generously dosed the cabin and other spaces with mothballs and left it closed up over the winter, I went below to open things up, and practically passed out before I could get back to the companionway.
On the other hand, nothing was rusty and not a critter was stirring. (Well, except the yellowjackets in the boom and cockpit drain, but those got mothballed the next year.(G)

I tried some of the gen-you-whine camphor from Ceylon, and it seemed to work just as well, turning into crumbly white cakes instead of sublimating away. With some of the anonymous import stuff, I'm just never quite sure of what it is. So I'll still use the toxic new stuff (hard enough to find!) I just use it less generously, and make sure it is in sealed or semi-sealed containers. (Like a metal or plastic tool box with no special seals on it.)

Practical Sailor tested stuff including Boeshield maybe 30 years ago. All I remember is that they found a lot of variation, but the most important thing was to reapply it all from time to time. Some products were best at resisting exposure, rain, etc. others penetrated better. But in a closed box?

The stuff 3M and others make, designed to protect expensive tool steel in drawers and cabinets, still gets my vote. No toxic fumes. Long lasting. And if professionals trust it to protect $1000++ firearms in long term storage? Yeah, it should work well enough on my screwdrivers.(G)

I don't know which "mothballs" the Navy used to use, maybe we've got some old ghost ship staff hanging around here?

[Cheechako]

I tried things like oils and wd40. Absolutely hated picking up a tool and getting oily residue everywhere from my hands.

[dfelsent]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Won’t work. “Salt air” is not some sort of myth. If you’re offshore or spending long periods in bodies of water connected directly to an ocean or sea, salt just gets in and there is very little you can do about it as far as prevention goes. It’s why laptops and other non-marinized electronics don’t last if you just leave them sitting out, even if you’re not letting salt in through port lights and hatches or tromping in the cabin in wet foulies. It finds a way.

A friends brother used to work as a computer geek in a salt mine. Literally a salt mine. Very dry down there, but lots of salt dust. He told me that any electronics that went down into the mine would run forever. Until you brought them up then massive corrosion and instant failure.

[SuW]

I made some tool wraps for the sets of metric and imperial ring-ratchet wrenches. We found a large tool wrap at a hardware store for the larger tools.
Keep things in the wrappers. Put in a dry locker, or dry bag if you have to.

Chrome-plated tools are usually rust-free. Things like screwdrivers, adjustable wrenches and vice-grips occasionally get a quick wipe with a paper towel with a dab of light mineral oil. Never had much problem.

To get a tool that rusts out more than once per season? Obviously, it's being kept too wet. I did see a boat that had vice-grips as a semi-permanent part of the rigging, though...

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I tried things like oils and wd40. Absolutely hated picking up a tool and getting oily residue everywhere from my hands.

Feel your pain, that's why I went to INOX, it dries to a thin film coating that lasts remarkably well and if needed can be re coated easily.

[hellosailor]

"Tools must breath, so wrap them in a lightly oiled rag or rags, and dont store them in airtight containers ..."
Tools do not breath, and storing them in airtight containers can only hurt them if you've locked in excess moisture. Wrapping them in oily rags ensures they cannot breath, the film of oil they pick up cuts off the air attacking their surfaces. And that's another good thing.
The only "breathing" going on will be porous materials (wood) thermal cycling and "breathing" gasses. But in a dry airtight container, that's not going to hurt them.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Store the tools in a drier place? I've got tools that I've had on my various boats over quite a few years that are still fine. I keep them stored in a dry location inside the cabin and give them a wipe down and the occasional squirt of lubricant spray after use. I also avoid buying tools that don't have a chrome or black finish for the boat's kit.

This ^^^^^^
I don't buy expensive tools, but I do look after them.
Except for chisels, they get treated terribly, continually beaten with a hammer.

[Bulawayo]

Crikey...some amazing prevention tips. I keep my hand tools in large clip and lock food boxes. I just spray them liberally with WD40 and wrap them in an old rag. After a while the rag become filthy and soggy and is replaced - and most of my tools have lived on board since '95. We have never had air con either.

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Curious to hear if anyone here has ingenious ways for preventing rust on steel tools. I'm on my third pair of lock pliers this season.

I'd really rather not coat my tools in anything, and my boat isn't air conditioned, so humidity levels are high.

What about an air tight tool container with damp rid pads or something? Anyone doing anything like that?

Any info appreciated.

[cyborg054]

In Canada we have a product called Llyod's Moovit from Lloyds Laboratories. Think of WD40 on steroids. After finishing up I will wipe tools down using a bit of Moovit.

Not only is it good for preventing rust, but for those tools that are even frozen spray well and put in sealed container and periodically wipe down, brush down etc and respray and seal again.

I have also gotten seized spark plugs out of a block after it was rated toast. Took going back to it all day with plug wrench on breaker bar and taping end of bar with hammer to give shock.

Even though Moovit works in a lot of ways like WD40 and similar but it has far superior penetrating properties and leaves some oil behind. I used to have a print shop, old style, and did a lot of numbering. WD40 did a great job of cleaning the machines and the following morning there was so little oil left I was able to just put back in press and use. If I tried Moovit reuse would maybe have been possible after major soak in brake cleaner.

I live on a small island and rust is an ever present problem, both on and off the water.

[RaymondR]

I've never had much of a problem with tools corroding but used to have a lot with the chain on my pushbike (because it rode in dingys and hung outside the boat when on passage) until I started coating it with Marine Penetrol, or later on boiled linseed oil. The drying oils remained viable much longer than WD40 or the lanolin spray on stuff.