Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Been trying to do some organization in my tool boxes.
I have lots of random stuff that I have never used, probably inherited from family members gone by.
Are these wrenches used by machinists or plumbers or are they just plain old style wrenches?

Probably multi-trade—-they work great on automotive drain plugs, transmissions etc.

I've had cut offs on water meters with square shafts.

They are "set screw wrenches...for those square head set screws. Pretty common in production machine shops/

They work great on the old square headed bolt and square nuts, too. I have lots of square nuts, and a few square head bolts, in my nut and bolt inventory. Have just about every size square nut socket, also. They get used every now and then.

Maybe this is where the term, "box wrench" originated from lol? I have some of those around here somewhere, from a machine shop I cleaned out like 30 years ago. And then I have a slightly different one, that has the company name on it, but slipping my mind currently, something water and valve co. I do believe is on it. Just saw the darn thing somewhere here, not too long ago. Now I'm gonna drive myself crazy trying to find it again LMAO!

There  were some "old" farm machines that came with these in their "tool box"....by old I mean late 1800-1930, or so. Mostly used for "adjustments", as the handles are pretty short for "heavy repairs"

Yeah, auto drain plugs.  I had a car with a French-built engine in the past, and the block coolant drain plugs were square female type; could never find a wrench or socket to unscrew them, and ended up making one out of the square shaft of an old screwdriver, using a grinding wheel/file.  I wish all car fasteners were limited to flat blade screwdriver, Phillips screw driver and hex head bolts/nuts.  Yeah, I realize these may not be the most efficient, but they sure are the most common.

Frank

Looking for tips on what you guys do with rusty tools like this that will last for several years.
0000 steel wool to clean and what? to keep the rust at bay for a while. My garage was built in the 20's and seems to hold a lot of moisture.

For my old tools that are acquired from estates time to time, but are of high quality, solid operating, good materials, and just not taken care of over the decades —-

Easy way is using a fine 6" wire wheel on one of the outer shop grinders.

Do a quick rust removal (safety glasses are a must!).  Generally takes 10 minutes, or so.

If it is a tool that comes apart such as a crescent wrench, some pliers, pipe wrench, etc. —- I take it apart for a more thorough cleaning of surface rust.

Then I drop the tool and/or parts into a cake pan of WRL191S Synthetic Industrial Oil Lubricant overnight.  Next day, just pull out the tool, wipe it down completely —- done.  When I do this, the rust never comes back.

This oil is primarily used for metals in industrial applications such as cables, winches, cranes, railroad applications, maritime usages in salt water under extreme cold temperatures, mining applications, NASA, aviation, and more.

A gallon of this stuff costs about $70.  But I just keep reusing the gallon for many years.

It is also my go-to oil for reel service, repair, and restoration.

Basically, it penetrates on a molecular level into the surface of the steel or metal.

Plus, it repels both salt and fresh water —- thus eliminating a major cause of rust and corrosion.

It was developed for Wire Rope (cable) Lubricating and protection in wet environments when used in heavy duty applications.

Hence the product name —- WRL191S

Wire Rope Lubricant 191'st experiment, for Salt Water applications.

Most around here won't agree with me on this —- and some will get down into all of the details and scientific explanations.

And there are plenty of new miracle rust removers using AI videos as their engineering department.

But this just has flat out worked well for me for nearly 30 years now.

Simple, easy, effective —- to protect my tools so that they are both ready and capable of the next job I ask of them.

Anything you do for your tool restoration and protection will be fine.

The main thing, is to do something.

Best, Fred

Thank you, Professor Foakes.
Where do you purchase this?
I think that I looked for it previously, but struck out.
-Steve

Fred's got the lock on that stuff, they don't seem to have a shipping option, at least that I've ever found. I think you have to live in Fred's vicinity to be able to pick it up.

I just use Fred's bench grinder wire wheel approach to remove the rust. Generally I don't do much of anything else other than putting it in the tool chest on a mat. If I have something I really want protected I'll either coat it with Penetrol or spray it with Extend.

Quote from: Midway Tommy on September 29, 2026, 10:08:26 PMFred's got the lock on that stuff, they don't seem to have a shipping option, at least that I've ever found. I think you have to live in Fred's vicinity to be able to pick it up.

I just use Fred's bench grinder wire wheel approach to remove the rust. Generally I don't do much of anything else other than putting it in the tool chest on a mat. If I have something I really want protected I'll either coat it with Penetrol or spray it with Extend.

Tried to buy a spray can on their website but the paypal option is not working right now. Freight is more than the product?
I do have some Penetrol and will give that a try.
I do not have a wire wheel in my arsenal but will check out harbor freight.

Quote from: foakes on September 29, 2026, 09:30:42 PMFor my old tools that are acquired from estates time to time, but are of high quality, solid operating, good materials, and just not taken care of over the decades —-

Easy way is using a fine 6" wire wheel on one of the outer shop grinders.

Do a quick rust removal (safety glasses are a must!).  Generally takes 10 minutes, or so.

If it is a tool that comes apart such as a crescent wrench, some pliers, pipe wrench, etc. —- I take it apart for a more thorough cleaning of surface rust.

Then I drop the tool and/or parts into a cake pan of WRL191S Synthetic Industrial Oil Lubricant overnight.  Next day, just pull out the tool, wipe it down completely —- done.  When I do this, the rust never comes back.

This oil is primarily used for metals in industrial applications such as cables, winches, cranes, railroad applications, maritime usages in salt water under extreme cold temperatures, mining applications, NASA, aviation, and more.

A gallon of this stuff costs about $70.  But I just keep reusing the gallon for many years.

It is also my go-to oil for reel service, repair, and restoration.

Basically, it penetrates on a molecular level into the surface of the steel or metal.

Plus, it repels both salt and fresh water —- thus eliminating a major cause of rust and corrosion.

It was developed for Wire Rope (cable) Lubricating and protection in wet environments when used in heavy duty applications.

Hence the product name —- WRL191S

Wire Rope Lubricant 191'st experiment, for Salt Water applications.

Most around here won't agree with me on this —- and some will get down into all of the details and scientific explanations.

And there are plenty of new miracle rust removers using AI videos as their engineering department.

But this just has flat out worked well for me for nearly 30 years now.

Simple, easy, effective —- to protect my tools so that they are both ready and capable of the next job I ask of them.

Anything you do for your tool restoration and protection will be fine.

The main thing, is to do something.

Best, Fred

Brass wheel?