Corrosion free tools

I have grown upon commercial boats and had my own boats since the age of 13. We are not rich folks,so we have always done our own maintence from total engine refits to sewing oar leathers.

Unlike my brother and father, I am rather abusive on tools. (E.g, I don’t take them out periodically and oil them to prevent corrosion). I find that I am replacing tools every couple of years and got tired of it.

I purchased bronze alloy tools (ampco non sparking stuff). They are crazy expensive, but I took 2 years, buying used at cheap prices, piece by piece to put together a full set of wrenches (box/slipjoint/pile/crescent etc....), pliers, screw drivers, sockets etc....

I have had the set up for 4 years and they are so corrosion resistant that they could sit in salt water for a year, and they would be fine.

The downsides are the tools are a little thicker/heavier to maintain strength, but given I have a Groverbuilt 26 with a Lehman diesel, the thickness does not limit my ability to work on engine or boat. The only tool that I had to get in stainless was my diagonal cutters since hardness was an issue with keeping a sharp edge on them.

Anyone have a similar set up? For bigger boats that stay dry, moisture may not be an issue, but in a smaller boat, you can’t avoid it.

On my charter boat, I only have an an adjustable wrench made of that material. It's my underway deck wrench for shackles and bolts. The other tools seem to still function after 20 years, although there is some rust.

Ted

Yes! The adjustable wrenches are the worst, lol.

Thanks for the response.

The engineers who worked at the Public Aquarium working with fittings in salt water used to soak their tools in a bath of kerosene and grease.

I've had pretty good luck with Corrosion X, buy it by the gallons. Living and working on the water, my tools have plenty of chance to corrode and rust. A mist of Corrosion X has kept them good for years and years.

And some of my tools are expensive Snap Ons and Matco and some are Harbor Freight specials.... but ALL stay clean and work well.

If ya can't take care of your tools, then they probably won't work when you need them.

All my tools are Matco and I keep a lot of tools on the boat. Many of the tools are over 20 years old. I have a 1/2 wrench that goes in the salt water twice a year to change zinks. Corrosion is not an issue for me. There are only two things that I do. One, I clean each tool after use. Two, the tools live in a dry heated space in the boat. If I stored the tools in the engine room, I would probably have a corrosion problem. Same would be true of outdoor storage spaces.

I purchased bronze alloy tools (ampco non sparking stuff). -Alisske

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Hi Alisske:

Thank you for this tip. Considering the amount of general maintenance required for our boat, anything that saves on maintenance time - i.e. no-maintenance tools - sounds like a superior idea. I will be looking into these Ampco bronze alloy tools.

Cheers,
Pea

P.S. Cool boat

Thanks for the replies. The corrosionX looks interesting. That may be the answer for my fishing reels. (Since I have the tools already, lol). But looks like a good solution.

One day I hope to move up to a trawler. For now I just have a trawler engine (Lehman) in a little boat.

tiltrider1 said:

One, I clean each tool after use. Two, the tools live in a dry heated space in the boat. If I stored the tools in the engine room, I would probably have a corrosion problem.

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Maybe the PNW climate is different, but my tools in the ER do fine.

I'm more inclined NOT to keep expensive tools on the boat. If I need something special for a big job, I'll bring down the good stuff from the shop. But for the general maintenance and noodling around with odds and ends, I've just got an assortment of "stuff". Reason? i drop too much stuff overboard. This week, it was a drill bit set, roll of gray tape and an allen wrench. I ain't doing that with snap-on. My corrosion solution is just plain wd 40. I buy it by the gallon and squirt liberally after any use. Not perfect, but does the job and is cheap. Works for me.

toni

I have a secured, large, 3 tier roll around tool chest in my engine room. Tools from very expensive to Harbor Freight. Some of the uncoated or older steel tools pick up some rust over time. It doesn't hurt their function.
But every couple years I put the rusty ones in a bucket with a solution I've posted before and remove the rust down to good metal. A wipe down with an oily rag keeps them for a couple more years.
Why so many tools? Because this is my home, I liveaboard, no house or garage. I can rebuild almost any diesel with what's in the box. Also pumps, blowers, turbos and so on. Saving the money by not buying new stuff helps me afford to continue my lifestyle. Sometimes it helps other people, too.

I kept regular Craftsman tool in a tool roll on my 42 foot wooden ketch for about 14 years. This was in San Diego. Once in a while, I had to clean and oil them but they never got bad enough not to be functional. The trick is to wipe them with an oily rag periodically.
Now, this was a wooden boat, it was an old wooden boat and needed regular maintenance so the tools were used frequently. Moral of the story; tools in frequent use don't rust as fast as tools that sit in the tool box.