Tools, like old friends, need care

Good garden tools are like old friends.

And, just like old friends, garden tools have to be taken good care of. As the gardening and cleanup season comes to a close, now’s the time to keep your tools in tip-top shape with some simple but important end-of-the year maintenance.

My routine is fairly basic but has served my tools and me well for many years.

First, wash off all that mud and gunk. Use steel wool or a wire brush to crack caked-on sap or hardened soil. A power drill or grinder motor with a wire brush attachment will save a lot of elbow grease, but smaller tools can be taken care of by hand. A vise comes in handy here if you have it.

Remove deeply rusted areas with coarse sandpaper, again with a sanding pad attachment on a power drill. Dry metal parts with shop towels or rags, then lightly wipe them with a thin coating of petroleum-based lubricant and rust inhibitor like 3-in-1 Oil.

Keep bypass pruners in peak condition. First remove the spring and disassemble the two halves. Remove caked on dirt with a wire brush, then coat the metal parts in a lubricant such as WD-40 to cut rust. Scrub the metal surfaces with an old toothbrush or soft bristled brush, and polish away stubborn rust and dried-on sap with 00 steel wool soaked in the lubricant. Wipe with a clean rag.

To sharpen, lightly grind a new edge on the cutting blade with a whetstone. Match the angle of the old edge until bright, shiny metal shows along the entire length. A sharpening jig like the Kinsman Pruner Sharpener locks onto the blade at the correct angle and lets you restore a razor-sharp edge in seconds. Run a diamond file across the flat back of the blade to remove any burrs left by the sharpening stone. Reassemble the pruners and store in their holster if available.

Restore shovels and spades. Carefully position the tool in a vise and secure it snugly. Use an 8-inch or 10-inch mediumor bastard-cut flat mill file to regrind the same bevel angle that came on the cutting edge. When the edge is smooth, even and shiny all along its length, check the bevel — it should be between 40 degrees and 70 degrees.

Turn the shovel over, apply some light machine oil and rub a fine-grit grinding stone along the back edge in a circular motion. This will remove the burr raised on the back of the blade by the file.

Wipe the entire tool blade with more machine oil and 00 steel wool.

Restore wooden handles. To reduce drying and splintering, wooden handles should be treated with boiled linseed oil (raw linseed oil doesn’t dry). This is good even for varnished wooden handles because it will protect any wood exposed by nicks in the finish.

Lightly sand the wood with fine sandpaper, then wipe a linseed oil-soaked rag over the entire wooden handle. Let set for a few minutes to soak in, then wipe dry. If the wood needs greater protection, repeat this step several times as necessary.

Overwinter your tools in a dry space, like the garage or tool storage shed, and never leave them out in the elements where they can get damp enough to rust.