Cleaning New Tools

[Steve Benson]

What do you use to get the gunk off new tools and what do you put on tools to protect them. IE Planes and Cast Iron Surfaces?

[Charlie Plesums]

Kerosene is the best solvent I have found for cosmolene. You don't need much, so it may be cheaper to buy a pint of diesel fuel - basically the same chemically.

Furniture wax works great for me (done multiple times until it stops soaking into the cast iron), but you will get lots of opinions on protection.

[Walt Caza]

Hi Steve,
I clean off the cosmolene shipping gunk with WD40 or citrus degreaser and
plenty of paper towels, followed by mineral spirits to remove residue and
leave a clean surface to be rust protected.

Here is a link to a thread I made a while back:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=71406
Due to high natural gas prices, I choose not to heat my shop in winter
when I am not working in it.

Since then, the only changes in my approach are:
I am using Minwax paste wax on my cast iron. You want to avoid silicon,
which is an ingredient in most car wax, which can contaminate surfaces and interfere with subsequent wood finishing.
Even a call to Minwax would not confirm having no silicon, But I have gone ahead with good results.
Someone mentioned that T-9 is mostly just paste wax with spray propellant, in a convenient but spendy form.

and the other detail is I still wipe handtools with mineral oil, but I no
longer follow with a paper towel, just leave them oily.
My best source for straight mineral oil, without perfume or aloe, is the
drugstore, with the stomach remedies. dirt cheap too!
Many rust threads could be searched here in the Creek,
best of luck in your fight against rust,
as Neil Young sang, rust never sleeps...
Walt
:)

[Walt Caza]

Hello again Steve,
I did some snooping, and found that other thread (link):
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=80357

If you switch your Creek display mode to linear mode, which I prefer,
the specific post was #13 by Tom Henderson2 from Cali.
I felt he had a valid point, and found that for all practical purposes he
was correct...paste wax with no silicon has proven just as effective on my
machines as Boeings T-9 spray applied as I was using it.
Which is to say, spray on and wipe off leaving a thin film.

The wax is cheaper, almost fun to apply, and no overspray on nearby surfaces, such as extension or outfeed tables.

ps It is never mentioned, but TopCote has a nifty barbershop aroma!
I was using T-9 then TopCote to make slippery, I find paste wax accomplishes both...
Thanks Tom H2

take it easy,
Walt
:)

[Dave Bender]

kerosene or diesel fuel to get the the cosmoline off (kerosene is the proper solvent for cosmoline), then a quick wipe with naptha (zippo lighter fluid) to clean up. Paste wax works very well for a surface treatment, however it falls short when things get very humid. For longer storage, or periods of high humidity I like to apply a coat of Boeshield that I don't wipe off, just spray and dry. That combined with a breathable tool cover is very effective for avoiding rust.

[Jim Becker]

Kerosene is my choice to do the heavy removal. (with the help of a carefully employed scraper) And then I use mineral spirits to remove the residual oils and small cosmoline deposits before waxing.

[Jack Briggs]

I don't keep kerosene around the shop, but naphtha works great for removing Cosmolene.

[John Shuk]

I use WD-40 or Power Lube by CRC. Both work just fine for me and I really can't stand the smell of kerosene or diesel.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
WD40 does two things pretty well.
It's a good remover & it displaces water.

S C Johnson paste wax will make wood glide over a metal surface.

It's no match for drops of sweat that go unnoticed though - as my new & newly blemished TS3660 can attest to.:(

[Chris Stolicky]

So far, I have only used citrus cleaner and lots of paper towels to clean the CI tops. I have then put two thin layers of Renaissance wax on them. The wood just slides right across the tops. I have heard that standard paste wax does a good job. That's an interesting point about the silicon issue...