Keeping tools ship shape

[Lindyloo]

Can anyone give me some advice on keeping hammers and stakes clean and shiny? My stake has developed some blackened marks that look like fingerprints, so I assume that the oils from my skin have left an unwanted residue. In his book, Tim McCreight suggests cleaning with an abrasive called White Diamond, but I can't find any source for that in the UK. And I also don't understand how you could use an abrasive on a shiny hammer without damaging the shine.

[ps_bond]

IIRC White Diamond is similar to Flitz - or even Autosol in a pinch. Forgot to mention those in my comments on keeping rust off tools...

They're quite fine abrasive pastes - rouge is pretty fine too

[Lindyloo]

Thanks Peter. Where do I buy those products from? Autosol sounds like something for cleaning cars - am I right? And do I just apply them with a cloth? I already have some rouge, so which would be best, i.e. the least abrasive?

[Charlotte]

Lol, I thought white diamond was a cheap cider?

For keeping rust off (not removing it) I use plain old oil from a DIY shop for my tools, just rub it in with an cloth!

[Lindyloo]

Thanks Charlotte. I've been to the DIY shop today and got myself some oil. I will try it tomorrow. I've been painting and gardening today, and just ran out of steam in the end.

[ps_bond]

I double-checked; White Diamond is marketed as a "non-abrasive" metal polish - so Flitz is probably closest. It can be tricky to find; my last lot came from EBay. Autosol liquid is gentler than the paste - Halfords carry it.

Both make good stropping compounds when worked into a bit of leather too.

Diamond White can probably strip the tarnish off most things - I'm not convinced it's a good idea to drink it (but then not all of my ideas as a student were good ones....)

[Lindyloo]

Peter,

You seem very knowledgeable about all the products, so I hope you don't mind if I pick your brains a bit further. And I apologise in advance for being so pedantic. I have read your other thread about cleaning old tools, and so far, I have tried a little machine oil with emery paper (as opposed to wet and dry, which I don't have). I started very sheepishly with grade 6/0, then when I realised that it still had very fine pits, I went to 3/0, 2/0, 0 then 1G. After all this, and a lot of elbow grease I might add, I still have some fine blackened pits (not to be confused with hammer marks) on my stake. I am worried that there will still be some rust in the pits, and if I don't remove it, or convert it, that it will keep eating away at the stake, even if I use a wax protector on top.

So my options now seem to be the hammerite or the autosol (I haven't the patience to wait for Flitz on ebay). So my question is, you said that hammerite converts rust, does autosol do that too? And what is the difference between wet and dry paper and emery paper? And how do the grades I have used, compare with the recommendations you made to use 600 grade wet and dry? Should I try a toothbrush or something to try to get into the pits? Help!!

[ps_bond]

I've tried quite a few products in other situations, so I tend to try to apply them elsewhere...

To answer some of your questions straight off, Autosol is a polish - it will only remove material; the various rust removers like the Hammerite one convert FeO to Fe2O3. If I've understood correctly, it doesn't sound as if you need remover. More polishing perhaps - it depends on the depth of the pits.

Wet & dry uses a silicon carbide abrasive and a backing adhesive that can tolerate getting wet, whereas emery paper uses a mostly corundum abrasive and doesn't usually tolerate getting wet. And, of course, the grit scales are completely different... It'll take me a little bit of digging to get proper comparisons (and mucking about with micron to grit translations), but according to some of the bits I've read, 3/0 is equivalent to P1200 wet & dry. Makes sense, as I don't usually switch to 4/0 until after using P1200. Oh, and remember a lot of the info around is for US grit designations.

If the pits are affecting your work, you'll have to remove them. If they're not, I'd give them a blast with WD40 (Water Displacement - not a rust preventative!), wipe it off and wax the stake. The simple version is that rust needs oxygen, water and steel (and a little bit of heat energy) to form - without all of them present, it can't happen.

[Lindyloo]

Thank you Peter. I will give it a bit more elbow grease as you recommend.

[Ominicci]

Fantastic advice Peter! Thanks for all that. And thanks to Lindy for asking