How do you treat your tools?

I got my M18 Milwaukee Fuel drill & impact driver about 8 months ago or so. I used to baby the hell out of them, keep clean, be careful, etc… I have been noticing recently that’s no longer the case haha. Are u guys still careful with them?

I have been doing drywall in my garage the last 2 weeks or so and realized my tools have never been so dirty! haha. Tons of dust. Bad to keep them out when doing this? Worries about all the dust?

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As long as the terminals stay relatively clean shouldn’t be a major issue, I wouldn’t submerge and in drywall dust but tools are meant to get dirty and banged up a bit


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I make my tools work as hard as I do. If I’m covered in oil and grease, so are they. The exceptions that I am really strict about not getting on the are water and manure or other caustics such as concentrated chlorine, formaldehyde, iodine, copper sulfate, and various industrial acids and acid solutions (nitric, sulfuric, etc).

Those tools look clean! I’m not too worried about them, I clean them up here and there, I’ve popped some open before to clean junk out of the housing that I’ve noticed building up in there. 

Bremon wrote:

Those tools look clean! I’m not too worried about them, I clean them up here and there, I’ve popped some open before to clean junk out of the housing that I’ve noticed building up in there. 

I keep my tools pretty clean…but I’m also a little OCD about cleanliness.

I do have some tools that are pretty beat up from dirty jobs and inherited tools they work great. I probably would cover them up for drywall dust because I hate drywall dust but i couldn’t care less about sawdust getting all over them.

BMack37 wrote:

I keep my tools pretty clean…but I’m also a little OCD about cleanliness.

I tend to focus a lot on keeping the working edges and handles in good condition but the other parts get beat to hell.  I don’t want rust on a blade or burrs on a handle, but the bottom of my battery packs look so bad I bet they’d be denied warranty.

I beat my stuff up pretty good. Toss them around, they get dropped, kicked out of the way, covered in whatever i am. But if i catch someone doing the same to them its hell to pay haha. 

Poisonfangs85 wrote:

29 minutes ago, Poisonfangs85 said:

I beat my stuff up pretty good. Toss them around, they get dropped, kicked out of the way, covered in whatever i am. But if i catch someone doing the same to them its hell to pay haha. 

This is the best way to sum it up.

I keep all my cordless kit as clean as I can without being ocd , every now and then I empty my tool boxes and Hoover them out and before putting my kit back I clean it all with silicon spray as it brings them up like new !! I look after my kit


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Hand tools are the one thing I’m real anal about. Always have a rag close by and you can always see your reflection in them.

Any moving parts in pretty good at keeping lubed up with dry to touch lube… If I get some dirt caked on a surface, I’ll clean it off, but other than that, I just expect my power tools to take some normal use without a problem. Mine have a little dust and scuffs but i grew up being much more careful with cordless than corded, and I still do that today…. Dad would let me have it if he caught me dropping a cordless drill or not putting it away overnight and it catching some dew or rain.. ..

My tools are clean only because I clean them…mainly because I don’t like dirty hands. However, I don’t baby my tools, I use them for the purpose they’re intended. They have the standard nicks, cuts, scrapes, etc., from normal use but are otherwise in decent shape. Admit it, we like to beat on our tools because that’s what we’re supposed to do. But…we also like that “new tool” shine so we try to be cautious when necessary

I’m not perfect though, I’ve dropped tools from fair heights, I’ve slid tools across the floor, what the heck, everybody does it. Tools should be designed to take a little bit of a beating, when you’re in the middle of working you’re thinking about working, not about babying the tools.

When I got my m18 impacts I tried to baby them but getting scratches on then was inevitable. My 3/8 impact has a few scuffs and dings and the white paint has worn off but it really doesn’t bother me too much. I’ll clean the dirt, rust, grease off of them fairly regularly though. My hand tools are about the same too. My ratchet handles have a few scratches and scuffs on them but I keep them clean though. I can’t stand grabbing a wrench or ratchet that has oil or grease on it. A lot of my tools have scratches or scuffs but that is just going to happen under normal use no matter how much you baby your tools. Here is what my m18 3/8 impact looks like now after about 7-8 months of use.

I hit my tools with the cordless blower at the end of the day. What doesn’t come off, stays on. 

I only have the white “Milwaukee” logo left on a few of my tools, just the stuff I haven’t used a lot. For my m12 drill I got a wild hair and decided to use a silver sharpie to color it, seems to hold up pretty well.

Yeah the one thing I wish DeWalt had was a protective boot for their impact wrench. Mine is beat. It doesn’t have scuffs and scratches, it has chunks missing on the aluminum front housing. Still works like a champ and that’s all that matters.

Here is a picture of my Milwaukee jigsaw it is one of the tools that was sitting on the other side of my garage when I was just hanging drywall…

Should I pull apart any other tools that are this dirty inside and properly clean them out or just blowout with air or use the shop vac?

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In regards to the above pictures I also noticed that the clear flat piece of plastic that’s rectangle with a hole in it broke where can I get a new one

Looks clean to me. Maybe e replacement parts. If not I would just remove it, but it’s your tools and you know what’s best for you.

Stercorarius wrote:

Looks clean to me. Maybe e replacement parts. If not I would just remove it, but it’s your tools and you know what’s best for you.

Stercorarius wrote:

2 hours ago, Stercorarius said:

Looks clean to me. Maybe e replacement parts. If not I would just remove it, but it’s your tools and you know what’s best for you.

Haha yeah looks pretty good. but on the same note, you are probably way more organized and careful with things, and do what you think you should. I don’t think it’s necessary to wear safety glasses when cooking in the kitchen, but who am I to stop someone from doing so

The piece you’re looking for is the splinter guard which should be easy to find since they’re basically consumables, but find the M18 one gets in the way of seeing the cut and doesn’t stop the workpiece splintering at all. Don’t worry about the dust.  There’s not much and it’s just drywall not cement dust or anything.

Poisonfangs85 wrote:

I beat my stuff up pretty good. Toss them around, they get dropped, kicked out of the way, covered in whatever i am. But if i catch someone doing the same to them its hell to pay haha. 

KnarlyCarl wrote:

Haha yeah looks pretty good. but on the same note, you are probably way more organized and careful with things, and do what you think you should. I don’t think it’s necessary to wear safety glasses when cooking in the kitchen, but who am I to stop someone from doing so

I’m pretty careful with my tools, though i have older ones that i still use that still work very well, they’re beat to shit i keep buying new tools to make sure i have working stuff when those die but they just wont die. But when im at work and I use company tools i beat the hell out of those. But tools are meant to be used and abused not babied. A good tool is one thats beat to hell and still works 100% regardless of condition

KnarlyCarl wrote:

On 9/13/2016 at 10:03 PM, KnarlyCarl said:

Haha yeah looks pretty good. but on the same note, you are probably way more organized and careful with things, and do what you think you should. I don’t think it’s necessary to wear safety glasses when cooking in the kitchen, but who am I to stop someone from doing so

I wear safety glasses in the kitchen when im frying and wearing contacts, a drop of super hot oil on your cornea and you’re on your way to the ER because you wont be able to see out of that eye.

With my tools I know their limitations but I dont mother them the only time I clean my tools is if something oily or very dusty then I clean them. What I hate is getting my chainsaw covered in sitka spruce resin all over it is a real pain to clean it is so sticky the same with Monkey trees.

But when it comes to my old Stanley bench planes I keep them clean and oiled mostly to prevent rust etc.

pancing wrote:

3 hours ago, pancing said:

I wear safety glasses in the kitchen when im frying and wearing contacts, a drop of super hot oil on your cornea and you’re on your way to the ER because you wont be able to see out of that eye.

I’ve heard of people going completely blind because fumes from solvents fused their contacts.  It’s incredible how hazardous they can be.

jeffmcmillan wrote:

13 minutes ago, jeffmcmillan said:

I’ve heard of people going completely blind because fumes from solvents fused their contacts.  It’s incredible how hazardous they can be.

yeah i dont wear my contacts when working with any sort of chemical esp acetone, thinner or epoxy removers.

StrippedScrew wrote:

2 hours ago, StrippedScrew said:

With my tools I know their limitations but I dont mother them the only time I clean my tools is if something oily or very dusty then I clean them. What I hate is getting my chainsaw covered in sitka spruce resin all over it is a real pain to clean it is so sticky the same with Monkey trees.

 

But when it comes to my old Stanley bench planes I keep them clean and oiled mostly to prevent rust etc.

WHen i lived in oklahoma I took real good care of my axes and my chainsaw, dusted the air filters cleaned out the compartment and took it apart, good ole stihl chainsaw’s dont need much care but mines been around for a good long time.

pancing wrote:

1 hour ago, pancing said:

WHen i lived in oklahoma I took real good care of my axes and my chainsaw, dusted the air filters cleaned out the compartment and took it apart, good ole stihl chainsaw’s dont need much care but mines been around for a good long time.

Yeah they are great saws I was petting a 661 today at the dealers ;D

I have historically not been good with my tools, but this year I have been good. I have treated more than a few with Evaporust and gotten them “in action” again. 

My power tools get wiped off and the batteries taken out of them in storage. Usually only my Milwaukee Rotary Tool gets filthy. I try to keep it clean. A can of compressed air would probably help it last longer.

I am sort of inbetween. I don’t baby my tools but I use them as tools. 

For my power an hand tools I just wipe them down. When I have spare time I will do that. If a tool gets really greasy or muddy I toss it aside in my truck then clean it later before going in the box. That way I don’t go to the next job making a mess. 

My engine drive welder I maintain according to manufacture recommendations.  At the same time I run it max duty cycle when needed. 

BMack37 wrote:

I only have the white “Milwaukee” logo left on a few of my tools, just the stuff I haven’t used a lot. For my m12 drill I got a wild hair and decided to use a silver sharpie to color it, seems to hold up pretty well.

jeffmcmillan wrote:

I’ve heard of people going completely blind because fumes from solvents fused their contacts.  It’s incredible how hazardous they can be.

Fletcher94 wrote:

On 9/26/2016 at 5:58 PM, Fletcher94 said:

I am sort of inbetween. I don’t baby my tools but I use them as tools. 

 

For my power an hand tools I just wipe them down. When I have spare time I will do that. If a tool gets really greasy or muddy I toss it aside in my truck then clean it later before going in the box. That way I don’t go to the next job making a mess. 

 

My engine drive welder I maintain according to manufacture recommendations.  At the same time I run it max duty cycle when needed. 

Yup. The Kohler on the company Lincoln I run was struggling to start and ran rough. I think I was the first person to service it since it was bought and it’s an old 10,000 arc welder which I don’t think they’ve made for a few years.

…

This is typical.

Then I brush it off. That’s about it

Maybe an occasional tub o towels or some dawn. I work them. Here’s some scat porn.

Your hackzall looks a hell of a lot cleaner than mine do!

NicolasRamos wrote:

5 hours ago, NicolasRamos said:

I used the white inkzall paint pen on my m12 fuel impact.


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How does it hold up?