How to stop tools from rusting in garage?
 

I have an unconditioned garage, so overnight it gets really cold, then in day it warms up and so on. Especially at this time of year. In Winter obviously it just freezes and stays frozen, but I'm thinking it's this time of year that's worse where it goes through a constant freeze/unfreeze cycle.

I noticed that all my tools are starting to rust, hammers, squares, screwdrivers anything metal. I'm guessing this is bad for the power tools too. The garage is actually vented, as I do plan to finish it eventually so when I had to hire a guy to do work on my roof I got him to put a vent while he was there.

Anything I can do, such as spray something on the tools, or is storing everything in the house the only answer?

Run a dehumidifier.
Spray the tools with a light film of WD 40. or one of the CRC films.

I was thinking a dehumidifier as well, though because it's unconditioned space that's also not sealed I wonder what good it will do. I never thought of WD40 though, I will have to give that a try.

WD is easy to find and work good, this one is more expencive but does not leave an oily film.
http://www.crcindustries.com/auto/?s=06026

When I used to have to deal with delivering machinery with an open trailer and there was a threat of rain all I did was spray it down with WD and wipe it down once it was inside the building and there would be no rust at all when I got there even though everything was wet.

Might just go with the WD-40 route for now, besides, that stuff smells awesome and I have at least 2 cans somewhere in the house. :P

Mind you, it was not for huffing, it was for spraying your tools! Lol ;)

Oh right. I need to go buy another can now. :laughing:

Growing up, a few years back, a lot of guys who didn't use certain tools as much during the winter months would protect critical parts of them, particularly the business end of saw blades, drill bits, etc., with parafin, basically candle wax. Not a bad idea, and the guy who I have sharpen certain saw blades for me still uses something similar, although his stuff seems to be more of a plastic or something; either way, it melts off during the first cut, and does not affect the operation in any way. The trick to squares, bevels, etc., is to stay ahead of the game, i.e. staying proactive with something like WD40, although I still prefer wiping a lot of my tools with a rag lightly soaked with motor oil. It can get messy on you if you get too aggresive, but you just need to remember that it doesn't take much, so you just keep cutting back until you get it right, and, for that reason, WD40 is still a good choice. On my combination and framing squares, and things like that, where you need to keep the numbers legible, I still use the old method of cleaning them up, spraying painting them, quickly wiping them off, let the in the numbers dry, then, after a day or two, lightly spraying with WD40. Not unlike mowing the yard, where you have to set aside time for routine maintenace of the mower, maintaining good, usable tools requires setting aside some time for a bit of TLC.

WD-40 works pretty well. Boeshield T9 works even better.

Ayuh,.... Check out Fluid Film,...

As simple as putting little oil on them.

Hmm I'll have to check that, and we actually do have a Grainger here so they may carry it locally. Is it less messy than WD-40? Otherwise I'll just stick to that. Once I finish my garage and condition it it probably wont be as much of an issue as I'll make sure to keep the humidity on the low side. Good for storing wood as well.

Ive had people tell me that w-d 40 eats plastics not sure if its true or not so take it what its worth . i still use wd-40 though and also j-b 80 .

+1 on Boeshield. I use it on tools in my shed and ones stowed in sealed toolbox on the boat. Beats WD-40 by miles. I also run a dehumidifier in a shed but I did have to do a little work closing it up a little better.