Finish on tools after restoration ?

[whatknot]

Thanks for that, a little out of my league methinks ;-)

Shell Ensis DW1255 and DW6055 are good for medium/long term protection of metal but the smallest quantities you can buy is typically 20 litres which makes it a bit dear for hobbyists. They leave waxy deposits, better for big machines you don't use very often than everyday tools.

 

[bridger]

For old tools where I don't want them to look too New, I soak in vinegar until the rust will scrub off. Then wash off the vinegar but leave the grey haze. Dry the tool and let it sit in the sun for an hour or two until it gets a haze of red rust too. Then wax it with carnauba. This makes a reasonable facsimile of well used tool Steel patina.

 

[essexalan]

I have used ACF-50 on motorbikes for years and it works just fine so I have coated the insides and working parts of my metal planes with the stuff. Sort of sets but is not tacky. Chisels and plane irons get a wipe of camellia oil, outsides of planes get waxed.

 

[whatknot]

I haven't heard of that before, like a few other suggestion, not cheap is it

I will keep it in mind though

I have used ACF-50 on motorbikes for years and it works just fine so I have coated the insides and working parts of my metal planes with the stuff. Sort of sets but is not tacky. Chisels and plane irons get a wipe of camellia oil, outsides of planes get waxed.

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for that, I have been using white vinegar to good effect

But after reading the various threads on restoration it seems most suggest rinsing the vinegar off thoroughly, I have done both and haven't noticed any difference myself

So far waxing seems to be okay but time will tell

For old tools where I don't want them to look too New, I soak in vinegar until the rust will scrub off. Then wash off the vinegar but leave the grey haze. Dry the tool and let it sit in the sun for an hour or two until it gets a haze of red rust too. Then wax it with carnauba. This makes a reasonable facsimile of well used tool Steel patina.

 

[custard]

Silbergleit is a proven lubricant for wood processing machines, used by industry and trade users as well as hobby practitioners. The lubricant makes a dry and stick free surface that makes wood glide and machine parts protected against rust.

http://www.baileysonline.com/Woodworkin ... ML-Tin.axd[/quote]

I think you're confusing the over excitable claims of a retailer with the more knowledgeable insights of the manufacturer. The actual makers of Silber Gleit don't pretend it brings any rust proofing benefits,

It's the same story with Waxilit, the other workpiece/surface lubricant for woodworking machinery that I often see in UK workshops, no reference to rust prevention.

Another thing, amongst UK antique restorers there's a view that says most waxes should never be applied to metal work (i.e. hinges, metal drawer pulls, escutcheons, etc) the reason being most waxes are slightly acidic and promote corrosion or tarnishing. That's also why top quality restoration work will often apply a resist on metal furniture elements. I'm not a chemist so I can't comment one way or another, but I believe that the reason microcrystalline wax was endorsed by museums isn't because it's a good furniture wax (IMO it's not, compared to a shop made hard wax polish it's a bit cloudy and flat) but because it's not acidic so can be applied to furniture without worrying about the metal work.

 

[Awac]

Too many tools? I don't understand?
Anyway. I prevent my hand planes rusting with these two products. Good luck.

Camphor tablets. Rust prevention.
Get a small plastic container, like a film roll tube, drill some small holes in it to let the camphor fumes out, place it inside the toolbox and the camphor fumes form a molecular film on metal surfaces that retards rust. I personally like the smell!

https://ballistol-uk.com/product/ballistol-universal-oil/
I always find Ballistol Universal oil good for many things, rust, leather, wood, workshop cuts!...read the story very interesting. Can also be diluted with water, so you can immerse and get everything then as the water evaporates the oil is left on the metal protecting it (think gun barrels etc), which is handy to oil parts you can not quite get into.

https://ballistol-uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ballistol-story_engl.pdf
"Around the turn of the 20th century the imperial army was in need of a universal oil, which was not only suitable for maintaining the metal parts of guns but also for the upkeep and preservation of wooden stocks and leather gear. Simultaneously, it had to serve the soldiers as a wound oil for minor injuries, lacerations and bruises".

Now if you can leave guns for 25 years, it gives hope for a hand plane....

Things are different with BALLISTOL. BALLISTOL belongs to the group of alkaline oils, which, due to their chemical structure, do not tend to resinify anyway. If you spray BALLISTOL for example on a metal surface or on complicated fine-mechanical parts, then the natural solvents contained in BALLISTOL will vaporise in the course of time. What remains is a white, Vaseline like coat, which is both protection against corrosion and lubricant for moveable parts.
A long-term experiment proves this. We had a sworn authority on weapons and explosives store several rifles for us after the Second World War. The rifles were all well-preserved with BALLISTOL and wrapped in wax-coated paper.
After twenty-five-years - so to say on the occasion of the silver jubilee - the sworn expert opened the wrappings for the first time. All rifles were free from any signs of corrosion, which was not surprising to us. After pulling through a dry tow, there were some trial shots. The rifle was fully intact although even the lock was wetted profoundly with BALLISTOL for storage. The protective white coating looked immaculate, no signs of resinification whatever.

 

[Torx]

PS88 lubricant is supposed to be very good, it’s a bit pricy though

 

[Awac]

This is why I love the Ballistol for price as well. Dictum in Germany are a great company, never had any problems with orders, great catalogue as well.

https://www.dictum.com/en/grinders-...l-purpose-oil-storage-container-500-ml-705440500ml 12.50 Euro but postage is a flat 10 euro. So ok if you are buying more than this, lasts ages.

 

[D_W]

Shellac, paste wax (or bees/mineral mix), mineral oil.

The more permanent fixes (a very thin coat of clear shellac, by the way) needed due to lack of use the further to the left on that list.

Most of us don't have tools that matter enough to worry about what kind of wax we're using. The virtue of a very thin shellac layer on non-bearing surfaces is if you ever want to get it off, it can pretty much be wiped off with alcohol. If it's not wiped off, it's decades of protection.

Also a fairly good idea to sell tools that rust enough that you spend any significant percentage of their care+use time equation on care.

 

[thetyreman]

I use the 1/3 meths 1/3 turps 1/3 linseed mix for wooden planes with wire wool, followed by alphie shine, I like renaissance wax for coating metal planes.

 

[weekend_woodworker]

I am fortunate that my planes don’t seem to rust in the garage, but my Record No7 was squeaking a bit when using it today. My wife had just given me a tin of bees wax polish that she had made as she is the beekeeper in the family. I put a bit on the sole of the plane and it was like a different tool it slid a long the wood with virtually no effort. I am sure other people with more experience know about this already but it was a revelation for me.

The wax polish is just a mix of beeswax pure turps and carnauba wax. She tells me it sells for about £4.50 for a small tin. I am just hoping she doesn’t decide to sell it all so I have enough for woodworking!

 

[D_W]

I am fortunate that my planes don’t seem to rust in the garage, but my Record No7 was squeaking a bit when using it today. My wife had just given me a tin of bees wax polish that she had made as she is the beekeeper in the family. I put a bit on the sole of the plane and it was like a different tool it slid a long the wood with virtually no effort. I am sure other people with more experience know about this already but it was a revelation for me.

The wax polish is just a mix of beeswax pure turps and carnauba wax. She tells me it sells for about £4.50 for a small tin. I am just hoping she doesn’t decide to sell it all so I have enough for woodworking!

I've long used 1/2 mineral oil and beeswax (that makes it spreadable) as a non drying wax, paste wax when drying, or paste wax blo applied at the same time, and paraffin for waxing planes. I'd say I wax the sole of a plane every hundred feet or so (wooden planes about 1/20th as much) - without the wax you spend a lot of energy heating the sole of the plane for no reason.

 

[Droogs]

My workshop is literally 100 yards from the North Sea. It is an ex rope/net drying house next to the old customs lighthouse. I have never had any problems with rust at all really apart from the odd little surface spot. All normally non contact surfaces of all my tools, hand and powered, are sprayed with Boshield T9. Contact surfaces get Wurth's Wood Slide wiped on (haven't been able to find Silbergleit for a long time). Then they are covered in dust sheets if being left for a while. In the last 7 years the workshop has been left unused twice. Once for six months while I recovered from major foot surgery and learned to rebalance and walk properly and now during my current Illness and covid period.

Once again apart from the odd spot none of my tools are in any way rusted. I was in there yesterday for the first time since the middle of December- so basically a year (unbelievable I know).

 

[AESamuel]

My workshop is a not very well sealed conservatory by the sea so temperature swings, moisture, salt, you name it, I have it causing rust on my tools. I even seem to have skin that can rust tools quickly too!

Renwax is definitely economical and I like using it on restorations to bring back lustre but I haven't found it very good for stopping rust. Wax isn't impermeable as far as I know.
Protectool wax is microcrystalline wax with contact rust inhibitors. Better than renwax but not an all in one solution, especially on blades because I don't want wax contaminating my sharpening stones.
Oil coatings such as mineral oil are out of the question for me, I don't like how sawdust clings to it, and I don't want it on anything I'm handling.

So what I've found actually works is keeping anything that might rust in a box or drawer with protectool wax coating as much as possible, and a vci pot in there too. Anything that can't be stored has a more permanent coating such as boiled linseed oil, lacquer etc.
I wouldn't trust any one solution completely, and if something has started to rust, no solution seems to stop it, you have to start from clean metal.

Vci pots seem expensive but honestly they are great.
I have found a product called vaporol which is an oil with vci component. It can be used similar way to the vci pots using sponge or a piece of cloth to hold the oil. It stinks, though, and will cause green fuzzy stuff to grow on brass so it's for ferrous metals only. But like I said it is a cheaper solution. I don't actually coat anything with it though, and if left in the open it seems to polymerize eventually.

 

[AESamuel]

I've just noticed this thread is three years old and recently resurrected. Oh well.

 

[Droogs]

at least you noticed, I didn't

 

[Max Power]

I've just noticed this thread is three years old and recently resurrected. Oh well.

And still as relevant now as it was then