What oil do you use to wipe your tools?

[David Barnett]

Renaissance wax is expensive, but has the advantage of being right on the edge of being a heavy oil and as a result is very easy to apply and leaves a good film.....

I, too, use Renaissance Wax and have nearly two decades. Living less than a couple hundred feet from ocean saltwater, RenWax has kept my tools and machines rust-free with only casual and infrequent reapplication. Until I switched to RenWax, I tried machine oils, mineral oils, camellia and so on. As far as oils go, mineral oil works as well if not better than the rest.

You're right when you say Renaissance Wax is "right on the edge of being a heavy oil", the main differences being that the hydrocarbon chains are even longer and the molecules are more highly branched alkanes. Microcrystalline waxes are much tougher.

[george wilson]

I had to loan my Ren. wax to a friend a few days ago. He needed a wax that would show as few fingerprints as possible. I could not think of anything better. Any ideas from you,David?

I actually would rather use it on my tools than oil,which I don't want on wood. But,the question was what oil,so I had to say mineral oil. Starrett Instrument oil,to be exact. But,it's only high grade mineral oil,as mentioned.

One time I was asked by one of my 5 (successive) bosses to loan a brand new Cuban mahogany stuffed steel jack plane I just made. He wanted to show it to some group. I loaned it on Friday. On Sunday,I went to his office and took it back. It had HORRIBLE barnyard brown rust fingerprints on it!! It took me about 8 HARD hours to sand the blasted things out of it and re polish it. I don't know what caused that. But,I'm still miffed over it. I can assure you,I used company time to fix it,but still had to sand all day by hand with wet or dry paper. He was capable of being a real jerk,so I didn't bother to ask him how that happened.

[Jim Matthews]

I use 3 in 1 machine oil.
No rust on my cast iron, plane blades or chisels with that.

I have had other oils fail to keep the rust at bay.
(Camellia wasn't barrier enough for my favorite MF 9)

I slather the stuff on, if storage is longer than a few days.
My shop is in my rather damp basement.

I'll use Camellia oil when planing, on the sole but only because I still have so much.

[Shawn Pixley]

Hand tools are wiped down with camilia oil (gift) or jojoba oil (garage sale for a quarter). Then they are stored in a plane sock in a drawer with anti-corrosion agent. Maybe overkill for some, but I live in a marine environment. Power tools get Boeshield and or paste wax (carnuba, no silicone). All are covered or in a drawer, box, etc....

[David Weaver]

Hand tools are wiped down with camilia oil (gift) or jojoba oil (garage sale for a quarter). Then they are stored in a plane sock in a drawer with anti-corrosion agent. Maybe overkill for some, but I live in a marine environment. Power tools get Boeshield and or paste wax (carnuba, no silicone). All are covered or in a drawer, box, etc....

Having seen where you and david barnett live (in terms of proximity to the shore), it makes me glad to just deal with saltless moisture.

[george wilson]

No WOOL socks,I hope!! In fact,I would not use a sock at all. Fabric might store moisture more easily than bare metal.

I saw a Civil War pistol stored in a wool sock for many years. Like new internally,but the sock's rough weave had eaten itself very deeply into the surface of the gun.

[David Weaver]

Presume that was a union pistol if it was wool?

[David Barnett]

I had to loan my Ren. wax to a friend a few days ago. He needed a wax that would show as few fingerprints as possible. I could not think of anything better. Any ideas from you,David?

RenWax is, in my opinion, simply the best wax for protecting against fingerprints in fairly challenging venues, such as arts & crafts shows, galleries and retail settings. It's the standby for high-end knifemakers and engravers at shows and gets used by metal artists, silversmiths, goldsmiths and so on. Not only is it the answer to heavily-handled metals, it's also excellent on photographs and other paper art and is a mainstay archival product for museum conservationists.

Even if you don't worry about rust, it really keeps the fingerprints from showing, so I've used it on stone sculptures, too. Although I have used it on wooden objects, for furniture I live with I rather prefer the look and feel of beeswax-based waxes, more satin or matte coatings, and especially the non-greasy look of plain rubbed beeswax applied dry or with a squirt of water—no turps, no spirits. Lots of strenuous rubbing and buffing, though.

Yes, it's more expensive than non-microcrystalline waxes but I think it's easily worth it. Besides, a very little truly goes long, long way and it simply works where others don't when protecting what I want wax to protect. Many of my woodworking hand tools, such as moulding planes, haven't been waxed for years and are still rust-free. Other tools that got more frequent use were waxed more frequently but not with anything approaching a regular schedule. If one uses RenWax primarily for tools, a small jar should last years, which is a pretty good return for cost in my book.

In the metalsmithing areas, highly-polished anvils, stakes, daps and blocks, hammers, rolling mill cylinders—all get RenWax. Although nearly everywhere I make things is climate controlled, microcrystalline wax is my first line of defense where rust is concerned. Again, it is so worth it.

I actually would rather use it on my tools than oil,which I don't want on wood. But,the question was what oil,so I had to say mineral oil. Starrett Instrument oil,to be exact. But,it's only high grade mineral oil,as mentioned.

On certain tools, mostly in my little machine room, I use mineral oil but more because it lubricates as well as protects, but I don't like anything that might transfer to porous materials, so for those, I use wax. Starrett's good, doesn't have any significant traces of acids that might cause problems, but I tend to use pharmaceutical mineral oil in USP 10 and USP 20 weights.

If someone needed to examine my gold and silver replicas of ancient Etruscan, Mycenaean or Egyptian jewelry without cotton gloves or actually wear it before they owned it, you can bet it got an invisible layer of Rennaisance Wax before that happened.

It had HORRIBLE barnyard brown rust fingerprints on it!! It took me about 8 HARD hours to sand the blasted things out of it and re polish it. I don't know what caused that. But,I'm still miffed over it.

There was this one woodworker—everything he touched rusted—everything. Left his fingerprints in rust, so you knew it was him. Fortunately, he tried to be careful about it, but his body chemistry was plainly corrosive. Had a severe allergy to nickel, too, and was even pretty hard on anything but fine silver (.999) and gold alloys below 22k.

At an ACC show in Sarasota one year, several jewelry artisans had tarnish and corrosion quickly develop from handling, probably all by the same client attending that first day. Happens.

[Winton Applegate]

My first thought is to use Camellia Oil wiped on with a dedicated rag.

You can't do that !
Camellia Oil will evaporate right off the tool without a trace.
(sorry . . . poor, inside, joke. See the Camellia on oil stone thread. Or maybe you would be happier, and smarter, if you didn't)

I have nothing of value to add here. I live in The Wild Wild West and it is high desert and no prob. with rusty tools in a dry shop. I was once in a basement but . . . that's another story.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I need a lab to analyze what my stuff is wiped with and there is no rust, no brown crusting, just simple patina that comes with age.

What do I wipe with (in the shop, don't poke at my Charmin) is the same the CS (dare I mention those initial?) uses, though I believe I may have been first! I have shop rags laying around, either old t-shirts or terry cloth or what ever. I use them to wipe my hands, to wipe of tools, to mop up whatever spills, to get the oversprays of WD-40 or any penetrating oil (Rust Blaster), to mop up the Marvel Mystery Oil that misses my stones, etc. Don't know what all is on the rag(s), but I use them without regard on whatever tool I use, though I'm not anal about wiping done after each use.

What shall I do? Shall I abandon my methods that have left me a corrosion free batch of tools (albeit with patina, especially on brass)? Nah, ain't gonna worry about it, ain't gonna go buy any special oil, just gonna keep doing what I've done for more years than I can remember, and that's "keep on wiping".

[Daniel Rode]

Where I live, summers are warm and humid, winters are cold and dry. My shop is a 2 1/2 car garage that has never see a car. It's heated in the winter but mostly ambient conditions otherwise. This year I added a window air conditioner but I only run it when it's extremely humid and I plan to work for a good while.

I'm fortunate in that tools in my shop can sit for years and not develop any surface rust provided they are left clean and dry. A basic wipe down before putting things away is about all I need.

[Curt Putnam]

FWIW - I use Corrosion-X HD http://corrosionx.com/corrosionx-heavy-duty.html Nothing I have ever used it on has ever rusted. I keep a rag (well sprayed) in a canning jar (so the volatiles don't escape) by the tools. When used, they get a wipe down. Over the past 10 years or so, everything not wiped down has rusted. I am told that purely synthetic motor oil works as well - haven't yet tried it. Anyway, the stuff seems to bond to the steel. The layer is so thin that it appears to "dry" out. I've never had an issue with oil contamination on my wood. OTOH - if it feels oily, I wipe it dry before using. I have to xtra wipe the chisels before sticking them in a honing jig - other wise they slide around. I got turned on to Corrosion-X HD when I was doing a lot of offshore saltwater fishing. 7 days of continuous salt water and salt spray will rust unprotected gear in a hurry.

I also hear mutton tallow touted for its lubricity and rust prevention qualities.

The Corrosion-X HD works for me. The other stuff is put forth by people I respect.

Micro climate makes a huge difference it what works. I live in an upslope area that gets about 3 - 4 times the average rainfall for SoCal. Humidity yesterday ranged from about 70% to 30% (generally drops during the day as the marine layer burns off.)

JMO & YMWV

[Barney Markunas]

I'd be careful about using synthetic motor oil. Some may be fine but it is my understanding that at least some of them are hygroscopic. This info came from someone who specialized in mothballing equipment for the military. I can't say for sure but I suspect there was research to back up his claim. I use camelia oil but probably less often than I should.

[David Weaver]

I rather prefer the look and feel of beeswax-based waxes

George will be horrified to find that there is someone else who loves beeswax

I love it.

[David Barnett]

George will be horrified to find that there is someone else who loves beeswax

Oh, the wonders of soft, sticky beeswax. No sir, no shiny carnauba for me. Actually, I will use carnauba if there's lots of lovely beeswax to mitigate the gloss. Can't help it—just love that dry waxed look.