I live very close to the beach on the east coast of Australia. About 40 years ago I developed an acute case of TAS that was primarily supported by a fantastic second-hand tool shop at the local markets. The proprietor had new stock to pick through most weekends, (sadly, most of it was purchased from the widows and estates of old woodworkers) and nearly all of it was many decades old and of really good quality. The fact that it was both good and cheap soon had me set up with too much/many of just about everything, and the resultant problems of maintaining it all. Every bare metal blade rusted very quickly, even if it was not acquired in that condition. I came to realise that top quality tools don't have owners... they have custodians who will eventually pass them on to new custodians when they are no longer needed (whatever the reason for this may be). The pressures of preserving all of my “stuff” soon had me looking for ways to curb the rust problem. I tried oils,greases and pastes of all kinds and while a few would have been fine for metal working tools, I soon found (as, no doubt, many of you have) that oils, greases and fats are taboo around any fine woodworking and ultra-taboo around spruce and cedar guitar tops. Not having the internet in those days, I was totally ignorant of rust preventative chemicals. I had formed a habit of shellacking the wooden handles of any chisels that were lying around on the bench at the end of a session and one day decided to do the blades as well.
Soon after this all of my rusty tools got a session on the wire wheel or steel woolled by hand before a degrease and subsequent shellacking. While not being a total cure, this treatment has been very effective with only occasional rust spot removal and re-coating required. Some of the treated tools are still fine, untouched, after about 30 years. I find that sweaty hands are the Achilles Heel of this method.
