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Thread: What oil do you use to wipe your tools?

  1. #1

    What oil do you use to wipe your tools?

    As the thread says, looking to see what oils you guys use on your hand tools. Do you use the same for all the tools? How do you apply it? Do you instead prefer using the anti-corrosive inhibitors such as LV sells in conjunction with a chest?

    I'm a hybrid worker, still relatively new to adding in hand tools to the mix. Right now everything is basically stored in cabinet drawers until I finish up a proper tool chest. I'd rather they don't turn to rust in the mean time.

    Probably relevant: My sharpening system is Norton water stones, this is probably my biggest concern with respect to rust prevention.

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

  2. #2
    I use Camellia oil too. It does not work as well as wax . Wax works better for long storage.
    If I would use it the next few days, I use Camellia oil else wax.

    For sharpening I just wipe down with paper towels first. The rust does not build up that fast when we sharpen. Unless it is horrible steel......... In this case upgrade your tools O1 and A2 are fine.

  3. #3
    Mineral oil (anything you can find anywhere - vet supply, whatever, agricultural supply? Should be just more per gallon than camelia oil is per 8 ounces)

    For surfaces that get little use and more neglect, paste wax (not a bad idea to apply paste was before the oil, anyway), and for surfaces that get extreme neglect and are not wear surfaces or contact surfaces, a very light coat of shellac - very light (or if the tool is ugly, just go ahead and slather it on).

    Shellac can always be gotten off later with an alcohol soaked rag.

    it's my opinion that the stuff sold to us for rust protection is just sold to us because it's expensive enough to make it worth selling. No woodworking supplier will ship a $13 gallon of mineral oil, it's not worth their time. But it's better for your wallet and at least as effective as the various plant oils peddled by woodworking suppliers.

    And you'll find other uses for it, like mixing with beeswax, which is another excellent non-drying rust protectant that you can just wipe on - mineral oil and beeswax, as well as being a great salve, lip balm, razor burn soother, sanding wax, light scratch filler on floors, etc.

  4. #4
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    Pneumatic oil. It's really all I've got around the house, it's light, and it works for now.

    If it's a tool that's going to sit for a while, I'll take some paraffin wax, really cake it on, then buff it all over the tool with a shop cloth.

    Other than that, my basement is fairly cool and dry, and unless I sweat on my tools, I don't have much of an issue.

    Though I can't tell you, don't use 50W motor oil to protect your tools. Bad, bad idea.
    The Barefoot Woodworker.

    Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.

  5. #5
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    I don't use oil and never have - there, I said it. In fact to me its not something I would have considered. My garage shop in Minnesota and I haven't notoiced any rusting problems. In fact, if I need to start worrying about this I will probably get even less work done

  6. #6
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    There are a few depending on where I am standing at the time.

    Most often used is a rag saturated in furniture polish. My recollection is this is just mineral oil and beeswax.

    Sometimes Johnson's paste wax is used.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  7. #7
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    I usually wipe my tools down with WD-40. No idea if it's better or worse than any type other oil. It's what I have available, so I use it.
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  8. #8
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    Camilla oil for hand tools, paste wax for machines. Beeswax on plane soles.

  9. #9
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    Usually just oil (mineral oil/mineral spirts, cuz its cheep and I have it) it the first time I clean it up to put it back to use (I use most vintage plane. I use paraffin wax often on the sole, but thats more for making the tool a little slicker. Most of my tools came pre-rusted (patina) so the bar is already set kinda low

    But I also don't use water stones.
    Last edited by Judson Green; 08-18-2014 at 8:33 PM.
    I got cash in my pocket. I got desire in my heart....

  10. #10
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    It has often been mentioned on machinists forums that WD 40 can leave a brown residue that dries up and is murder to get rid of.

    I just use Starrett instrument oil. It is a high grade mineral oil. I only use it if I'm suspicious that someone with rust making fingers has handled a tool. Otherwise nothing. But,I have a dry,heated shop above ground.

  11. #11
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    Just plain old 3in1 oil. Few drops, and rub it around with a rag.

    Damp celler for a shop.

  12. #12
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    shootingplanesmall.jpgAfter the rust inhibiter test in FWW a year or two ago, I gave their highest rated product a try-CRC 3.36. I like it a lot. I haven't used anything else since I started with it. Here is a picture of a LV shooting plane that I bought right at a year ago. It's been sitting out in a "shop"-unheated 1828 house room over a basement with open vents, in an old house in Maryland for a couple of months, and now in a 50 year old house this Summer. This Summer is the only time it's been in an air conditioned space.

    I ended up using it by holding the metal body, rather than the tote. You might be able to see a smudge where the 3.36 is worn off. I've had no rust on anything that the 3.36 has been put on. It's the only new plane I have, and the only thing I can think of that is bare metal that has never had anything else on it other than 3.36. None of my old planes have ever been that shiny, so none of them would be as good an example.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 08-18-2014 at 4:26 PM.

  13. #13
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    I've bought and use CRC-36 as well but mostly on power tool surfaces like the table saw and jointer.

    A similar study was done by Browning and WD-40 was at the top in terms of rust protection. CRC-39 was not part of that test. I suspect they work about the same for hand tools but I can buy WD-40 everywhere.
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  14. #14
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    I have tried many different things, and then got a great deal on Camelia Oil on eBay. I have used it ever since because it has worked better than anything I have tried, including the spray-on stuff they sell at HD, and WD-40. I also store my planes in plane socks and I can assure you they do help. I live in the tropics where literally in one day if I leave a saw on the bench overnight, depending on the humidity that day, it can start to rust.

    I put the camelia oil in small spray bottles and spray the planes and then wipe with a cloth to spread it around. I spray down into the areas I cannot reach with the cloth. I like the camelia oil because it wipes off rather easily. Some of the rust preventatives I have used in the past left quite a mess.

  15. #15
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    I've been using wax and camelia oil so far without problems for a few years - but my workshop is very dry and probably only a challenge for a few days a year. WD 40 before that, but it didn't really leave a stable coating and wasn't very effective. It's daft but i ended up buying the last lot of oil from Stu in Japan because the local prices were much higher - even including shipping. It doesn't seem to stain to any significant degree, and it's easy on skin and smell free apart from whatever rust blocking capability it has. I tend to keep a pen oiler (lots on EBay) that will dispense a drop when needed, and to use it on moving parts. Also a cloth with some oil in it in a plastic tub that will apply a light film when needed.

    It's sometimes used in cooking, and i thought for a while that maybe it could be bought bulk on the cheap. No luck here, but it might be different in the US….

    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.....
    Last edited by ian maybury; 08-18-2014 at 6:49 PM.

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