How do you guys keep your trowels from rusting?i know the rubi ones last the best .surely a bit of oil rubbed on them would do trick or even let sit in oil maybe when not in use? Just thoughs on a tuesday night.lol

Mine don't sit about long enough to rust......


Slight spray will silicone oil...

spay all my tools after washing off with ,good old WD40

Stainless don't rust

Mine dont sit long either but the back of traffics get very damp cv times of cold weather.i must post about that soon to see if any other traffic driver notice that.the raimondi trowels rust.marshalltown too a bit then again the grinder cleaning them doesn't help ether.lol

Do you have any material on the inside of the roof of the van, my transit has'nt and condensation thru the winter is unbelievable

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Do you have any material on the inside of the roof of the van, my transit has'nt and condensation thru the winter is unbelievable

no material at all.thats not good in my opinion.its not good for our tools either! I wonder is there anything we can do? I tried crystals before but something better is needed urgently.need nvq heads around this.

What about expanded polystyrene stuck to the ceiling of the van, was thinking of that myself just to make sure it's fire proof

I get condensation as well...well i have on my last vans but will see with the new one..i just put it down to having the heaters on in cold wqeather and then condences up..

Mine does it over night and I also have a bulkhead

im sure one of the tec articles on the Rubi site says using rusty trowels are not technically an issue - my trowels are Rubi and Vitrex and for some reason they dont rust, and i just lob them in a bucket in the shed when not used.

your drippy van stories are funny - remind me of when the house dragon and i used to go lazy comping in Cornwall - cant be assed putting up the tent so slept in the motor - you soon learn to do that with the windows slightly down - was like waking up being rained on.

I keep mine covered in addy, just to stop 'em rusting

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Stainless don't rust

sorry but...
Without getting technical, there are two main types of stainless, the cheap stuff can be magnetic and rust. I have stainless trowels that rust! Replacing a Stainless',B&Q sink next week that is rusting after a month!!

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Stainless don't rust

depends on the carbon content in the stainless Mark. Mrs Doug was a welder, mainly stainless pipework, and she was always harping on about rust in low grade stainless

Some of my stainless steel rubi trowels have rust on them.they obviously have had grinder cleaning them at times.lol.but the do rust.

Originally Posted by faithhealer

sorry but...
Without getting technical, there are two main types of stainless, the cheap stuff can be magnetic and rust. I have stainless trowels that rust! Replacing a Stainless',B&Q sink next week that is rusting after a month!!

Originally Posted by doug boardley

depends on the carbon content in the stainless Mark. Mrs Doug was a welder, mainly stainless pipework, and she was always harping on about rust in low grade stainless

DONT GRIND EM.......Lithofin cement away.....but even then only after extreme duress....Clean them after use (with water).....a rubbing stone or an offcut of tile will do.......lazy so and so.,.....

Originally Posted by dagger

DONT GRIND EM.......Lithofin cement away.....but even then only after extreme duress....Clean them after use (with water).....a rubbing stone or an offcut of tile will do.......lazy so and so.,.....

hard to keep a 17 year old from the lazy way out,lol.

17 year olds are not yet ADULTS soooooooo.........
put dirt in his coffee cup, scare him, TERRORISE him until the 17 year old labouror can clean the trowels without a problem!!!!!!!

buckets, now thats a whole new post!!!!!

to clean mine up I use a bit of building sand and water, rub my trowel with my guaging trowel and it cleans two in one go

I used to keep my hand tools as clean as whistles when i worked on my own since having a lad with me my tool kit has gone to rack and ruin had to spin my marshalltown guager off with my polisher a couple of days ago and my new mixing drill whisk was clogged with white rapid ,I really had to stop mself from freaking out, I will start hitting him in the pocket if he doesnt keep the kit clean, he will soon learn then .

My lad broke my newish grinder last year,obvoiously over tightened and busted it!! he bought the latest one! lesson learned i'd say there.Mobile phones are the ruination of young lads now!

Originally Posted by hillhead

My lad broke my newish grinder last year,obvoiously over tightened and busted it!! he bought the latest one! lesson learned i'd say there.Mobile phones are the ruination of young lads now!

I have to agree with you there Joe ,i make the boys turn their phones to silent while they are working with me they can use them on their break times if they want to, nothing more annoying when you are working really hard and the lad is swanning around chatting on his mobile mine stays in the van when im busy other wise nothing would get done

i always keep my tools clean as a whistle hate having dirty tolls any my tools get too dirty to clean just throw them out and get some more lol

Originally Posted by Dave

I get condensation as well...well i have on my last vans but will see with the new one..i just put it down to having the heaters on in cold wqeather and then condences up..

I solved the problem of a dripping roof in my peugeot expert , by sticking some thin cord carpet to the ceiling was very cheap from local carpet suppliers spray glue on the back and on the roof looks real professional in light grey... no more drips !

Originally Posted by harry

I solved the problem of a dripping roof in my peugeot expert , by sticking some thin cord carpet to the ceiling was very cheap from local carpet suppliers spray glue on the back and on the roof looks real professional in light grey... no more drips !

very useful and interesting tip there Harry.will look into that