Best tool protection wax - Test

[JOEPRO]

Lots of good suggestions there just to note that for my own use protecting tools etc I am after a product which leaves little to no residue.

 

[JOEPRO]

Regular oiling.

Oiling?

That sounds very residue like. A tool wax gets rubbed on. Then I wait for a few mins and use a clean rag to buff it back off. There is no oily residue left at all.

Is the oiling a similar process?

 

[Erie Fred]

How are you to get any protection without residue? You'd have to chemically change the surface. Whether you count that as residue or not... Have you looked into blueing? It soaks up oil.

There's residue that remains sticky icky and attracts dirt.
There's residue that dries to a thick varnish and is hard remove.

 

[MattF]

How are you to get any protection without residue? You'd have to chemically change the surface. Whether you count that as residue or not... Have you looked into blueing? It soaks up oil.

He means the coating isn't oily/tacky. The solvent evaporates, leaving a relatively hard, thin coating.

 

[premmington]

I just use plain engine oil - but I have got drums of it about me all the while...

 

[MattF]

LPS3 is similar to the old proper cosmoline
Not sure how well it works on moving parts and tools subject to use (and not just in storage)
Surely will have to be renewed
In which case I think oiling is easier to keep on top of. Especially when blued

It's different coatings for different purposes.

For example, plain beeswax is good for tables on woodworking equipment. It won't contaminate the wood.

Beeswax & graphite is good for moving parts. I use that to coat my changewheels. That mix also works well with rough cast iron to blacken it, rather than painting.

Linseed oil is good as a general preservative. It's akin to clear oil paint.

Wasn't Cosmoline a thick coating for storage purposes?

 

[awemawson]

The thicker Shell Ensis products are the same as Cosmoline.

 

[JOEPRO]

Update



Bee wax furniture polish did very little to protect the steel. The tool wax on the other hand is doing well with zero visible rust 48 hours in.

 

[awemawson]

Before I made my own beeswax and turpentine concoction I had tried a commercial beeswax spray polish. Stuff rusted almost imediately and it turns out it contains significant quantities of water.

 

[JOEPRO]

Update

There has been some rain and the tool wax is still holding up for now

 

[angellonewolf]

the wax dont look much differance to the top untreated part ?

 

[JOEPRO]

the wax dont look much differance to the top untreated part ?

?

Bee wax bottom left.

Tool wax bottom right.

 

[Ross365]

I've never had any tool wax. How does if feel compared with the Bee's wax; do you have any intuition, based on the feel or the look why one should be better?

 

[JOEPRO]

I've never had any tool wax. How does if feel compared with the Bee's wax; do you have any intuition, based on the feel or the look why one should be better?

Bees Wax is quite hard kind of like a car paste wax.

The tool wax seems a bit looser consistency. It goes on and off easily enough and leaves no residue to the Touch.

My only gripe with the tool wax is that it comes in very small little tins. So I'll buy several the next time I guess no big deal.

It does bead up water as can be seen in the photo so its clearly doing something and alot more than the bee wax furniture polish which has been proven to be no good for this application IMO.

 

[Ross365]

The tool wax seems a bit looser consistency. It goes on and off easily enough and leaves no residue to the Touch.

I wonder if it the case that the Tool wax is a better wetting agent? You look at a piece of metal and you think it's fairly smooth and polished, but under a good microscope it looks like a ploughed field (unless it's been electopolished or similar). Maybe tool wax gets down in to the surface detail better?

My secateurs often get wet and I'll then put a drop or two of 3in1 oil on and gently wipe with cloth and that seems to do well. Does 3in1 claim to have a corrosion inhibitor in it?

 

[MattF]

than the bee wax furniture polish which has been proven to be no good for this application IMO.

It has been but one test, not proven. @Ross365 makes a valid point, if as you say, the beeswax mix was hard'ish.

 

[mark roberts]

The national trust use renaisance wax on there metal artifacts, I've used it on wood working machines with reasonable results.

 

[Ross365]

Renaissance wax is interesting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Wax, but a tad expensive for everyday tools? Based on the experience of my secateurs, which are around about 40 years old, and get left out in the garden and rained on every now and then, I think I'm leaning towards oil rather than wax.

 

[grim_d]

Axminster also do a "Tool and Machine Wax"

Much better value at £13.88 for 400g instead of £3.34 for 20g

Axminster Workshop Tool and Machine Wax - 400g

Machine Wax greatly reduces friction between timber and the surface of machine tables or hand tools. This makes processing much smoother and results in an increase in the quality of the machined surface. Machine wax is silicone free, apply sparingly to...

www.axminstertools.com

It's good for reducing friction on machine tables as is intended, but it's pretty poor as an anti corrosion wax in my experience.

 

[PhillipM]

I wonder if it the case that the Tool wax is a better wetting agent? You look at a piece of metal and you think it's fairly smooth and polished, but under a good microscope it looks like a ploughed field (unless it's been electopolished or similar). Maybe tool wax gets down in to the surface detail better?

My secateurs often get wet and I'll then put a drop or two of 3in1 oil on and gently wipe with cloth and that seems to do well. Does 3in1 claim to have a corrosion inhibitor in it?

Could be some of it, but a lot of commercial waxes use much harder waxes (carnuba, paraffin, etc), along with surfectants/solvents and many these days have a cross linking sealant in there (acrylic for the cheap stuff usually) - along with silicone oils. Some then (BH autobalm, etc - autobalm is actually amazing for friction reduction on tooling, it's my secret weapon for pool cues that glide too) have fillers and lanolin in as well for corrosion resistance.
Beeswax is a very soft wax that's not very durable unless it's soaked into wood fibre, it's not great on steel, and it washes off easily.