Preventing Rusty Tools!

[Tspringer]

Thanks! Excellent tips.... I will try several.


Terry

[Christian Van H]

I dont know...that 8" adjustable for $434.00 is looking pretty good... Now we know why our medical bills are so freakin' high!

[SabreKai]

Get some drywall scraps, and remove the paper. Break the scraps into small chunks, put them in a net bag and put it in the tool bin. It will absorb moisture and can be reused by baking. It works similar to silica gel.


Sabre, 119 days n a wake up.

[SkiprJohn]

Some sailor has a tool that doesn't have rust on it? Come on, get serious! : )

I do have one bronze adjustable wrench (spanner for the Brits). It hasn't been able to rust but gets next to the others sometimes so my hands are still red.

Here in Hawaii I live 4 miles from the Pacific on the windward side with an average of 110-120 inches of rainfall a year. That means that everything rusts with vigor. So not only boat stuff but also anything made of steel has rust and anything made of aluminum has white powder and windows fog up pretty quickly. I ride rusty bikes and drive rusty vehicles, except the Saturn which is mostly plastic.

Its a way of life.

JohnL

[yardpro]

fluid film is simply the best long term corrosion inhibitor made.. period...

it is environmentally safe as it is basically thinned out lanolin (skin creme)..

I have grown up at the coast, and been involved with motorboats my whole life, and i swear by it. I run a landscape business and our office is on the island, as are 95% of our accounts, so our equipment is subjected to salt spray daily.... fluid film is the best product i have efer found...

the down side is that it leaves a slight film, and if you are in a dusty environment it will have soem dust stick to it.

[Bash]

I drop my tools overboard so frequently they never get a chance to rust.

[Bash]

...that took place aboard this vessel:

Wonderblond: "Why do you have two of these wrenches?"

Bash (better known as Wonderblond's Husband): "That's so I can drop one of them overboard."

Wonderblond: "Oh."

[SkiprJohn]

Is Fluid Film something you can get in a Big Box Store or a regular automotive parts outlet?
Thanks,
JohnL

[hellosailor]

Camphor OR mothballs are supposed to do. The official USN material is para blocks and as noted "I'm not keen on mothballs, Paradichlorobenzine is a neurotoxin." That it is, you want to ventilate well before reboarding.

Or course there are also a lot of berylium-copper alloy tools on the used tool market. That's a fairly durable alloy used in the munitions business because it doesn't spark and it is harder than bronze or brass would be. The tools are usually used and then sold off before they are totally worn out. The problem there, is that berylium dust is on the list of things you never want to inhale. Same for berylium-copper alloy dust, which is why they don't resharpen cutters, etc.

[Flatsflyer]

Throw a handful of penny's in the tool box, especially older ones that where all copper.

[DRS]

Hey Bash. Get an old style umbrella with the curved handle. Open the umbrella and hang it on the side of the boat or what ever is handy so that it hangs below your work area. Anything dropped ends up in the umbrella. Can be used above or below the surface

[stevensc]

I have seen Fluid Film at John Deere dealers (in the parts department) and in some fishing tackle stores. The big box stores here don't carry it.
Steve

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by yardpro

fluid film is simply the best long term corrosion inhibitor made.. period...
it is environmentally safe as it is basically thinned out lanolin (skin creme)..
... the down side is that it leaves a slight film, and if you are in a dusty environment it will have soem dust stick to it.

Fluid Film is a lanolin (wool-wax) based product containing no solvents, which will not evaporate or dry from the surface. Fluid Film will leave a wet, non-drying film.

Locate Fluid Film Dealers ➥ Fluid Film® | Corrosion Preventative, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor

[Aqua Vitae]

I gotta agree with Bash. Tools on my boat not only actively seek the ocean, but it would be entertainment to watch them bounce over the umbrella on their trip. I once lost 5 of the same size allen wrench trying to tighten my wind generator to its mast.

As for coating the tools with oil, that just keeps 'em slippery so they are pretty for their trip to the deep!

As for me, I happen to love the smell of moth balls. It reminds me of home the same way chemical furniture stripper does. And I would like to try the drywall idea. It seems that if you had any excess moisture overwhelm the gypsum, it would turn into a soggy mess. I have seen this happen. But, then again, wouldn't moth balls do the same?

[hellosailor]

"Tools on my boat not only actively seek the ocean,"
A fellow who was an old marine aviation mechanic when I knew him, used to have bronze or brass tools with some kind of lanyard attached to almost every one of them.

He said something like "Son, when you've put down in some beautiful clear lagoon in the middle of nowhere and dropped your only half inch wrench in the water, you can see it quite clearly five hundred feet below you. And there's not a damned thing you can do to get it back. So if you want to get home again, you tie things on."

OK, I don't have lanyards on EVERYTHING but my #1 pliers sure has a lanyard on it. Besides, these days there's a serious MARPOL fine for dropping anything overboard, including your Allen keys.<VBG>