Best way to clean Drill Bits?

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leehljp

leehljp

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In addition to finding a good stash of pen kits from when I lived in Japan, I found my good drill bits (about 20 for pens) that I used over there. The majority are metric but a few are inch/fraction and all are very high quality not found in home centers, there or here.

Anyway, when I packed them up in the summer of 2010, I had drilled some acrylic (I think) with 4 and did not clean them. (I usually do on my good bits.) 1. Some acrylic or something residual is still on a few. 2. There is a small touch of rust on a few, a couple with spots in the flutes themselves, and 3 or 4 with rust spots on the base. So the cleaning will require two separate methods probably. I am surprised that there is so little rust after setting up for 14 years.

I do not want to use steel wool of any kinds, not any kind of grit no matter how fine. The flute edges are very smooth and sharp as are the bits' cutting edges, which are still sharp and shiny.

ANY Ideas on the best way to clean quality bits to get acrylic/dirt off and also to get rust off without hurting the flute edges?


My dad had a bunch of tools here at home ( in the USA ) and I had my tools over there. Since returning I have basically been using many of the tools my dad had, so I have not fully unpacked all of my "stuff" from the years I lived overseas.
 
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All I can think of to start with is a good soak in acetone. It shouldn't hurt the metal, but it should help dissolve the acrylic depending on what the resin is. Then maybe a toothbrush and careful wiping with a cloth. For sticky stuff I sometimes also use mineral spirits to loosen the sticky and follow it up with denatured alcohol to take off any residual film from the mineral spirits.

I keep my bits clean by using paper towel to chase anything out of the flutes every time I use them. Then I spray them with Bostik BladeCote, a dry lubricant before returning them to their individual plastic tubes. (I use the small and medium sized square plastic tubes from PSI to store them in).

Good luck getting things cleaned up. - Dave
 
egnald said:
All I can think of to start with is a good soak in acetone. It shouldn't hurt the metal, but it should help dissolve the acrylic depending on what the resin is. Then maybe a toothbrush and careful wiping with a cloth. For sticky stuff I sometimes also use mineral spirits to loosen the sticky and follow it up with denatured alcohol to take off any residual film from the mineral spirits.

I keep my bits clean by using paper towel to chase anything out of the flutes every time I use them. Then I spray them with Bostik BladeCote, a dry lubricant before returning them to their individual plastic tubes. (I use the small and medium sized square plastic tubes from PSI to store them in).

Good luck getting things cleaned up. - Dave
Click to expand...
Thanks Dave. I thought about acetone but didn't want to go forward until I checked with you guys on IAP. I have some dry lube and will give that a try. I do want to get the rust off without messing with the flute edges.

The more I look at them the more I think I must have sprayed some oil or WD-40 on the whole batch. I had each wrapped in a piece of paper towel and then placed them in a thick zip-lock type of bag. I can't imagine that little rust over 14 years unless I did spray WD-40 or something similar into the bag lightly. I do remember thinking of my tools being in a container at sea for a month or so and preparing for that scenario. I coated a number of my tools before wrapping and boxing them.

Thanks again!
 
Many home remedies for rust. They do sell rust remover. Vinegar and salt, vinegar and backing soda to name a few. Acrylic stuff should have chipped off but you could try acetone. Brass brush will help. Good luck.
 
leehljp said:
In addition to finding a good stash of pen kits from when I lived in Japan, I found my good drill bits (about 20 for pens) that I used over there. The majority are metric but a few are inch/fraction and all are very high quality not found in home centers, there or here.

Anyway, when I packed them up in the summer of 2010, I had drilled some acrylic (I think) with 4 and did not clean them. (I usually do on my good bits.) 1. Some acrylic or something residual is still on a few. 2. There is a small touch of rust on a few, a couple with spots in the flutes themselves, and 3 or 4 with rust spots on the base. So the cleaning will require two separate methods probably. I am surprised that there is so little rust after setting up for 14 years.

I do not want to use steel wool of any kinds, not any kind of grit no matter how fine. The flute edges are very smooth and sharp as are the bits' cutting edges, which are still sharp and shiny.

ANY Ideas on the best way to clean quality bits to get acrylic/dirt off and also to get rust off without hurting the flute edges?


My dad had a bunch of tools here at home ( in the USA ) and I had my tools over there. Since returning I have basically been using many of the tools my dad had, so I have not fully unpacked all of my "stuff" from the years I lived overseas.
Click to expand...
I would store them in a mason jar full of the good acetone for a while. I also like diesel/vaccum pump oil.

I have ruined a few good bits with various rust removers over the years (if they are caked with rust not much you can do). After I soaked them in rust remover it made the surface matte/rough and they never ejected the chips well after that..and would overheat.
 
Woodchipper said:
I use brass brushes for several things. Won't leave particles to rust. Acetone is a good idea for dissolving plastics.
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Sometimes there is a wet rusty grease slick on the surface; this is usually the result of the WD40 addicts. Acetone can attack that.

Some of my bits have a layer of eletrocoat/PVD coating on the tips and brass will rip that off.
 
leehljp said:
Thanks Dave. I thought about acetone but didn't want to go forward until I checked with you guys on IAP. I have some dry lube and will give that a try. I do want to get the rust off without messing with the flute edges.

The more I look at them the more I think I must have sprayed some oil or WD-40 on the whole batch. I had each wrapped in a piece of paper towel and then placed them in a thick zip-lock type of bag. I can't imagine that little rust over 14 years unless I did spray WD-40 or something similar into the bag lightly. I do remember thinking of my tools being in a container at sea for a month or so and preparing for that scenario. I coated a number of my tools before wrapping and boxing them.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Once you get that WD40 slick cleaned off; consider getting a drawer(s) devoted to bits. Get yourself some closed cell firm foam drilled to store the bits vertically Inside that drawer(s) run large "zerust" sponges and the zerust drawer liners. I found the drawer liners will leave a honeycomb pattern on anything that lays on it. I have those zerust pads in every drawer of every toolbox I have. They work
 
XanderPen said:
Once you get that WD40 slick cleaned off; consider getting a drawer(s) devoted to bits. Get yourself some closed cell firm foam drilled to store the bits vertically Inside that drawer(s) run large "zerust" sponges and the zerust drawer liners. I found the drawer liners will leave a honeycomb pattern on anything that lays on it. I have those zerust pads in every drawer of every toolbox I have. They work
Click to expand...
I have not heard of the Zerust liners or sponges. I looked them up on amazon. THANKS!
 
leehljp said:
I have not heard of the Zerust liners or sponges. I looked them up on amazon. THANKS!
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They sell baggies; we used them at work. The issue with the baggies/drawer liners.. hard to describe.. but if you have the bits laying on the pad they will not get the vapor barrier coating on them and will rust.

Zerust sponges are in body panel of my cars; my tool boxes, inside the lathe, bandsaw, tablesaw.

I also have the zerust bag for my bandsaw; the bag did NOT work; the table still got surface rust (maybe not as bad as it would have been?)
 
Hank

take care leaving overnight in acetone as quite a few " pure acetone"actually have some water in them too.

Brass brush or rubbing with a sharpened brass rod ( I use a short 3mm wide by 1mm thick piece of hard brass. This shifts the rust but without damaging the steel. You then use rust preventer , Boeshield I have hrpeard of but not used so cannot comment. The rust preventer papers are a good idea also available as small canister to put in your tool box.
 
howsitwork said:
Hank

take care leaving overnight in acetone as quite a few " pure acetone"actually have some water in them too.

Brass brush or rubbing with a sharpened brass rod ( I use a short 3mm wide by 1mm thick piece of hard brass. This shifts the rust but without damaging the steel. You then use rust preventer , Boeshield I have hrpeard of but not used so cannot comment. The rust preventer papers are a good idea also available as small canister to put in your tool box.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I was aware of acetone and water. I cleaned them and wiped them dry after using acetone for that very reason. Sometimes, Acetone's rapid cooling/evaporating will draw moisture the item in specific situations, even in minuscule amounts. I used a brass brush on them for the rust spots, and then some "cutting" oil wiped on them and then wiped the oil off. I am not finished yet. I am going to keep the brass rod try on my mind - for the next spot that I find, or even on some older non-pen specific bits with rust. Rust preventer is the next step. Thanks.
 
Easy Off oven cleaner works great. I pulled a router bit the other day and was upset with myself for putting it away dirty. You know how baked on the crud can get. Put the bit in a pan, hit it with easy off. 5 minutes later rinse with water and the bit looked new. I also clean my tablesaw blades the same way,
 
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