Cleaning some rusty tools

Never thought of that but it is a good idea.

I have them in my gun case and ammo case. my daughter puts them in her jewelry box to help keep any silver from tarnishing

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All good ideas.

also if you have tools that you dont use very often that you are worried about rusting you can put them in a zip-loc bag with a couple of silica packets.

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I was looking at some old not rusted tools in the basement thinking how did those posted get so rusted. Pulled an old vacuum grip 387 side cutters, not rusted and was surprised to find Snap on stamp. Made since 1920, no way to date them as far as I can tell. Black with age I suppose but rust not an issue. People just leave the tools in the rain? One tip missing 3/32 of an inch, think Snap On will replace it?

Just bring your sales receipt with.

Really I think my grandad probably got it in the 40’s. That is 2 generations of lost paperwork, guess I am out of luck.

I returned a Craftsman tool without a receipt once and got the replacement no questions asked. I think Snap On does that too. Lifetime guarantees don’t require receipts.

Craftsman was sold years ago. If there’s even a Sears left in your area, it’s not guaranteed they’ll honor the warranty. And you might not want them to - modern Craftsman tools are junk compared to the old stuff.

I saw our local ACE Hardware sells Craftsman tools. When I asked if they will replace broken Craftsman tools that I bought years ago, they said yes, if they had the tool in stock.

It’s true that the quality of Craftsman tools isn’t what it used to be.

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Just kidding. I’m betting they would give you a new one.

I made the mistake of buying a Ward’s ratchet back in 1966. When I broke it finally, there was no more Ward’s, so I was out of luck even though it had a lifetime warranty. It was between Sears or Ward’s but I like the rubber grip on the Ward’s one. I guess 3 foot pipes on a ratchet will wear them out.

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Lowe’s also sells Craftsman tools.

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Thanks for the info above that both Ace and Lowes sells Craftsman tools. The lone Sears store in my area departed years ago. Usually I buy tools at Harbor Freight, but I do own Craftsman tools and it good to know there’s a couple of nearby locations I can exchange the broken/rounded over ones.

we’ve discussed this at length before. I don’t know if there are actually any corporate Sears stores. The ones you see called Home Town or something like that are privately owned.

I would buy Masterforce hand tools before I bought Craftsman these days. They’re better. They used to only be available at the Midwest big box store Menards, but now you can get them on Amazon.

I guess it depends but I am very reluctant to buy non name brand tools at Menards. I had to install a dead bolt at the cabin so bought the kit with the hole saw etc. It was a steel skin door and the thing dulled so fast I hardly got one side cut through. Pure junk. Luckily I had other bits along but when you are 200 miles from home you want the stuff to work. So I’ve been a little gun shy of their low cost stuff.

Yeah, there are two Menards house brands. Masterforce and Tool Shop. The Tool Shop stuff is awful. Worse than Harbor Freight.

Maybe that was it. I’ll re-evaluate my bias.

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What I use to hold down the rust problem is this. I buy a few packs of women’s panty hose. (Got a few looks. Clerk probably thinking “what a weirdo…”)

I cut the legs into short lengths, tie one end, fill them with crystal kitty litter, and then tie the other end. Then toss one into any boxes of tools, motorcycle parts, etc and done. Cheap to do and appears to work just fine on moisture control.

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