How to Keep Tools From Rusting  

by Jeffery Herman, silversmith

Moisture and steel. Bad combination. On my hammers, I use gun bluing then burnish the surface with 0000 steel wool to give it a shine. The bluing helps keep rust at bay, but to insure that my tools remain pristine, I use, sparingly, Butcher's Wax or Renaissance Wax for the final hard finish. In my rather wet basement, my tools rairly rust. When they do, it is on the working surfaces that I forgot to recoat. I also wax my surface plates, heads, stakes, band saw and drill press tables, lathe ways, bench pin, mandrels, scratch brush extension spindle, and other assorted steel tools. Before bluing and waxing, I make sure all moisture has been eliminated from the tool by heating it on top of a radiator or with a heat gun. My tools need extra protection, for they are all exposed for quick and easy access. Oil and penetrating fluids tend to attract too much dust and abrasive elements that may be planished into a pristine piece of silver. Though most penetrating fluids do a good job driving moisture away, they can be toxic.