Alright, let me tell you about this little project I got myself into – the tool washing machine. For years, I was just fed up. My tools were always caked in grease, grime, you name it. After any job, especially working on the car or some greasy engine, cleaning up was the absolute worst part. My hands would be black for days, and the tools? They never really got truly clean. I’d scrub and scrub, and it felt like I was just smearing the gunk around.

The Breaking Point and the Idea

I remember this one Saturday, I spent a solid two hours, maybe more, just trying to clean a set of wrenches and sockets. My back hurt, my fingers were raw, and the tools still looked sad. That was it. I thought, there has to be a better way. I’m not running some professional shop here, but even for a home garage, this was a massive time sink and a real pain in the neck. I'd seen industrial parts washers, big fancy things, but those are way out of my league, budget-wise and space-wise.

So, the idea popped into my head: what if I could build a small one? Something compact, something that could handle my regular hand tools. A bit like a dishwasher, but tougher, and for tools. Seemed like a reasonable enough challenge. Famous last words, right?

Getting Started and Scrounging Parts

First thing, I started sketching. Nothing fancy, just scribbles on a notepad. How big should it be? What kind of container? How would the water (or cleaning solution) spray? I figured I needed a few key things:

• A sturdy, sealed container.
• A pump to circulate the cleaning fluid.
• Some kind of spray mechanism.
• A way to filter out the gunk.
• And maybe a heater, but I decided to tackle that later, if at all. Keep it simple first.

I’m a big fan of repurposing stuff, so I started looking around my workshop and thinking about what I could use. I had an old, heavy-duty plastic storage tote – one of those really thick ones. Seemed like a good candidate for the main body. For the pump, I managed to find a small submersible utility pump that I thought might do the trick. It wasn't super powerful, but for a small container, maybe it would be enough. The spray part was a bit of a puzzle. I ended up getting some PVC pipes and a few cheap spray nozzles, the kind you use for garden irrigation.

The Build Process – And a Few Headaches

Putting it together was… an experience. Cutting holes in that thick plastic tote for the plumbing without making a mess or cracking it was the first challenge. I got that done, eventually. Then came sealing everything. Water and electricity, you know, not the best friends if things aren't sealed right. I used a ton of silicone sealant around all the fittings for the pump and the drain.

I rigged up a simple spray manifold with the PVC pipes, drilling holes and screwing in the nozzles. The idea was to get spray from multiple angles. I also put a basic mesh filter on the pump intake, hoping to catch the bigger chunks of dirt so they wouldn’t just get recirculated and clog the nozzles. That was the theory, anyway.

My first test run was… well, it was wet. And not just inside the machine. I had a few leaks, nothing major, but enough to make me shut it down and go back to the sealant. Classic. Once the leaks were sorted, I threw in a few dirty screwdrivers and a ratchet. Used hot water and a good dose of degreaser. Turned it on and watched. It made noise, water sloshed around. Promising?

Tweaking and (Sort of) Getting it Right

After about 20 minutes, I pulled the tools out. They were… cleaner. Definitely better than if I’d just wiped them with a rag, but not sparkling. Some spots were still pretty grimy. The spray wasn't hitting everywhere effectively, and the tools just kind of sat at the bottom. They needed to move around more.

So, more tweaking. I repositioned the spray nozzles. I even added a sort of rudimentary basket made from some heavy-duty wire mesh I had, to lift the tools off the very bottom and allow the spray to get underneath. I also played around with different concentrations of degreaser. Found out that more isn't always better; it just made more foam.

The filtration was another thing. That simple mesh filter on the pump got overwhelmed pretty quickly with really dirty tools. I had to clean it out constantly. I haven't really solved this one perfectly yet. For now, I just run a batch, let the gunk settle, drain most of the dirty water carefully, and then clean out the bottom of the tote. It’s not ideal, but it works for a small batch of tools.

How It Works Now and My Thoughts

So, where am I at with this "tool washing machine"? It’s operational. It’s not pretty. It’s definitely not something you’d buy in a store. But does it clean tools? Yeah, it does a pretty decent job, actually. I usually load it up, put in some hot water and my preferred degreaser, and let it run for 30-45 minutes. The tools come out significantly cleaner, enough that a quick wipe-down is all they need. It saves me a ton of scrubbing.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. The filtration could be way better. A heating element would probably help, especially in the winter. And it's still a bit of a manual process to fill and drain. But for a home-brew solution cobbled together from bits and pieces, I’m pretty happy with it. It was a fun project, made me scratch my head a few times, and the end result is something genuinely useful for me in my garage.

It's not about having the fanciest gear; it's about solving a problem with what you've got, or what you can scrounge up. And hey, my hands are definitely thanking me.