Official Luthiers Forum!

What are some of the best ways to remove rust from tools and blades and such.Sometimes after working with a hand tool it starts developing a little rust.Sweaty hands ,I`m not sure.I try to make sure I wipe stuff dry but it seems like if it`s steel or cast iron,it always winds up having a little rust on it.I have oiled some tools lightly after use,But I hate getting oil all over wood, or having a slimey feeling tool.Ideas?
James

_________________
James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Depends on the tool. I use steel wool to clear it on "iron" type tools, I use scotch bright on chrome tools. I always use some kind of oil to cut the pressure. wd-40 works has a light touch. In some cases they are going to rust. Like files, not much you can do, they are going to develop some rust.

Skin bro not to be a nag here....... but I have yet to see any rust on any of my tools ever and I think it is because I maintain as close to 45% RH as I can at all times in the shop. No oil required and of course guitars under construction love it too.

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars

QUIT NAGGIN ME HESH.Really though ,Rh may be part of the problem.In Tennessee in the summer the humidity is off the charts.And even tough I have a shop with vents from the heat and air unit.A perfect RH is unattainable.I do have a room where I keep the Rh as level as possible for stash storage,But it still is never perfect.
James

_________________
James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I put Renaissance Wax on my tools to protect them from rust. It's available at Woodcraft. A little expensive, but it does a great job.

As for getting rust off, Frets.com had this tip using a car battery to remove rust. I haven't tried it, but if it's on the internet it has to be true.

http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/QuickTricks/RustRemoval/rustremoval.html

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

James I'm sorry to say that you probably have what we termed when I was an apprentice as "Rusty Fingers" you don't even seem to need to break out into a sweat to make tools rust. There was a guy who if we stopped for a short tea break 10mins or so would when we came back have left a full set of fingerprints over everything he'd touched chuck key, steel tools, any metalwork his make up was just corrosive, it looked like the police had been in dusting for prints, in the end he used to rub the everything he'd touched with fine steel wool soaked in a cheap engine oil, and that kept it all at bay.

_________________
Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

John I believe your right.Everything I touch turns to Rust.I did as Joe mentioned with steel wool and WD-40 and it removed nearly all of the rust.
Thanks for the tip
James

_________________
James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

There's a word in German that translates as "poison hands", something that shows up with me when humidity is high - no longer a problem since I discovered luthiery and humidity control. Before that my fix was a (quite dirty) can of Butcher's wax with it's own permanent scotchbrite. The wax lubed the abrasive, and then left behind a resistant coating - polish as much off as you can, or you'll foul the wood. Since I've started to hear that WD-40 may now have silicones added (havn't checked for myself) I've really limited it's use.

Dan

_________________
Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com