Rust and corrosion problem in tool box.

[EVILDR235]

While moving some of my upper and lower tool boxes from my shop to my garage i noticed i was having a problem with rust and corrosion on some tools. First i noticed all my tools with the old cadmium plating had a grayish mold like substance on the tools. Also newer chrome plated Craftsman screwdrivers were the worst. The one tool box that was the worst had rubber liners on the bottom and had a acid like smell to the liners. I am taking all the rubber liners out and not replacing them. Some of the screwdrivers were even stuck to the liners. I am thinking the liners are some cheap imported junk that is causing the problem. The Craftsman screwdrivers i will wash under running water to avoid the cadmium dust and will not put them back in the box with the other ones. Six of the C-man drivers were chrome plated, but had the mold like substance on both the metal and plastic. The other two C-man drivers were badly rusted and i am gonna toss them. Years ago i had a small tool shed at a rental house i lived in. I had a bottle of muriatic  acid stored in the shed and everything metal rusted very badly. No acid around this time. Any ideas what's going on ?



EvilDr235

[amecks]

That's a very disturbing problem.  Well, the liners have to go anyway, with tools sticking to them.  See if that is the cause.  You don't think there was an atmospheric cause for the corrosion, like high humidity or something?
I had a year where a lot of my plain steel tools got a thin rust film.  It happened mainly over winter when I wasn't out there using them.  The garage is a steel sided uninsulated structure. Fortunately it hasn't happened again.
On a hopefully unrelated note, we have a steel cabinet here at work.  I suspect it was left over from the previous tenants - a machine shop.  Lord only knows what they stored in it.  It has a continual powdery rust on most of it's inside surfaces.  If you store anything metal in this cabinet it will corrode.  We use it as a paint cabinet but I still have to be careful that the paint containers don't rust through.
Al

[EVILDR235]

I have never had a rust problem in the past and i live in the Pacific Northwest. I have always been careful to clean new tool finds before putting them in with the general population. All the cadmium tools were the worst. They look like they had gray mold growing on them. I have removed all cadmium tools from my boxes and will clean them and store them in a box of their own. Of all the screwdrivers in the box only two C-man were rusted and it was very bad.

EvilDr235

[Analog]

The "Mold" and acid smell sounds more like the plastic in either the handles or the lining itself is gassing. Something that happens to some type of plastic as they age. The smell is more like vomit. What do the liners look like are they just damaged in areas that were in contact with the screwdrivers or all over. The gassing will affect other tool and once it starts it is hard to control. The best method to prevent further damage is to clean them and leave them in a ventilated area.

[turnnut]

at one time I had rust problems with tools,  it was determined that my problem was putting my roll box near the outside wall,
which is cement blocks, this is an unheated garage stall.  I live in the northeast.

I cleaned them up, rubbed Gibbs on them and wiped them down.  then lined the drawers with cork, put the roller box in the upper garage
near a wood wall.  no problem since.

I have found that hanging anything near the cool, damp cement block walls will rust over time.

the upstairs storage over the block garage is wood walls and nothing ever rust up there.  ????????????????????

[EVILDR235]

The C-man screwdrivers that had problems were no more that a few years old. The ones i have had for years and years have not had a problem. The other older tools with the cadmium coating were the worst and have been removed and will be cleaned in the near future. My garage is warmer than the shop and i am moving all my best stuff in to the garage. I will leave my old gas engines and old C-man table saws out there as i have no more room for them. I sprayed cosmoline on the table saw tops. I will be keeping a better eye on it all from now on. Thank you all for your replies and information.

EvilDr235

[lebaron]

I put silica gel packets in my tool box drawers and have never had a rust problem.

[bunger]

I put silica gel packets in my tool box drawers and have never had a rust problem.

Yeah, I save every silica packet that I see.
I toss a few in each drawer and I have no rust in any of my boxes in the unheated garage or the humid basement.

[p_toad]

It's possible, if you have very old plastic handles, that they were made of "celluloid"; a basically unstable plastic which can decompose in time and cause rust on nearby metal (common in old knife handle material).   If that's the case, your best bet is to store those tools away from all your others because they will continue to break down and afaik there's no good way to stop it.   

[EVILDR235]

My C-man screwdrivers that went bad are only a few years old. I had them in a tool box that i don't get into very offen because it is out in the shop and i now do most of my work in the garage. The only tools that were damaged were the newest C-man screwdrivers and older tools that have a cadmium finish. All the cadmium tools have been removed from the box as have all the damaged C-man screwdrivers. I have had problems with cadmium tools in the past.

EvilDr235

[Chillylulu]

The "Mold" and acid smell sounds more like the plastic in either the handles or the lining itself is gassing. Something that happens to some type of plastic as they age. The smell is more like vomit. What do the liners look like are they just damaged in areas that were in contact with the screwdrivers or all over. The gassing will affect other tool and once it starts it is hard to control. The best method to prevent further damage is to clean them and leave them in a ventilated area.

+1 Ceaftsman screwdrivers get that bad smell when they havent been aired out. The same style that goes back to the 50's.  Clear with red and blue paint. They are fine after airing out. Ive only ever noticed in Craftsman, at least that strong vomit smell.

Chilly