A mere couple of years not using your tools and they can get in quite a state.
So, made up an electolysis bath with a couple of steel plates from kiriita.com, some baking soda, my motorbike battery charger and some croc clips, and set out on the long process of removing the rust, tool by tool, by electrolysing and then sanding off the corrosion.
I thought the new toolbox would work, but in the end I'm not happy with the drawer-chest type and this one was as good as I could find. Japan doesn't seem to do the concertina style.
Decided to get the rust off the old toolbox too, and ended up taking off all the paint, so that became a second project painting the box.
Credit for the restoration approach goes to Jim of Jim's Woodturnings:
