Mothballing the shop

[John Neel]

If all goes as I expect, I will not be doing any woodworking for 2 years while I do some traveling. I want to protect all my tools from rusting. How should I do that? Is the rust preventative [I don't remember its name, but it is usually removed with kerosene or oven cleaner.] that some tops have on them easily available? Where can it be purchased? What would be best for smaller hand tools, planes, chisels, drill bits? Should I worry about interior parts of table and band saws? Are there problems I haven't thought about? Has anyone had this problem? What did you do? It seems I'm full of questions. Thanks for any help and suggestions.

John Neel

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John....I believe you are thinking of cosmeline.

I don't have a clue where you can get it.

[Dave Sharpe]

you could ship all your stuff to some needy woodworker (me) for storage and safekeeping...........

[John Neel]

Ken, yes, cosmeline is it.

Dave, how about if you just come by when you need to use the tools.:D

[Pat Turner]

Cosmoline has been discontinued, Brownells (major gunsmithing supply house) has contracted for an replacement product, I assume to the same mil spec:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=26344/Product/RUST_VETO

Boeshield is probally almost as good. I'd also relax any V belts

[Dan Duperron]

John,

I use Boeshield on my tool tops, the can instructions say for long term storage to just spray on a heavy coat and let dry (don't wipe off). When I got tired of my hand tools all getting rusty in my garage shop I bought a dehumidifier which is routed to a handy floor drain. That would be a good backup strategy for you. Get one rated for cold weather and you can run it all year with no worries, that's what I do. Just set the humidistat and forget about it.

If you have no floor drain in your shop OTOH it's more difficult, but you could use a small condensate pump if it's not too far to a sink or tub drain.

Since you will probably have someone checking on the house now and then you can ask them to make sure the dehumidifier is still functioning just to be extra, extra sure. Yes, I can be a little paranoid.

Enjoy your travels!

-Dan

[Peter Quinn]

Check out a Therma-Stor Sante Fe dehumidifier with a condensate pump. I put one in the shop and it controls humidity pretty completely. It also seems to take less energy than the small units I had before. Other wise, I've heard a smear of vaseline works to keep rust off of steel and iron, and it might be less unpleasant to deal with than cosmoline. I used to use vaseline on motor cycles for storage and it seemed to work fine.




http://www.thermastor.com/

[Sean lennon]

I have been using LPS 3 for rust prevention on machines I am not currently using.

I just picked up a machine that sat outdoors for a year with a coat of LPS 3 and It had zero rust on it....pretty good stuff.



Sean

[Ken Shoemaker]

I had my tools (ts,bs,planer,jointer) in an unheated storage facility for over 1.5 years. All of the tools were covered in rust except the ts that I had laid a piece of hardboard, shiney side down, to protect it from scratches. It was like the day I put it in there. It seams the hardboard kept the moist air from getting to the CI.

If it were me, hardboard covers over a good coat of Johnson paste wax and rest easy.

Hurry back to sawdust making, Ken

[Scott T Smith]

I have been using LPS 3 for rust prevention on machines I am not currently using.

I just picked up a machine that sat outdoors for a year with a coat of LPS 3 and It had zero rust on it....pretty good stuff.



Sean

+1. I used LPS 3 years ago when I had my machine shop; primarily to coat crankshafts or other machined surfaces that would be in extended storage before use. Although it is not the same, you could consider it to be "cosmoline in a can".

LPS 2 is a great lubricant as well, and is commonly used in the aviation industry to lube aircraft control cables and sliding mecanisms.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Tools for working wood sells a product...looks like a puck...that contains the same rust disrupting compound as the paper tools/socks come packed in (LN, LV and others sell the paper). I have not used them, but was researching when considering garage vs. basemement workshop. Their (tfww) website says that they can be placed inside tool boxes, cabinets or under plastic covers to protect larger machinery.

[Conrad Fiore]

John,
You can buy either RIG or COSMOLINE from online gun supply houses such as Brownells or MidwayUSA. I've used RIG on my firearms for over 30 years and it is very similar to cosmoline, but a little easier to clean off.

[guy knight]

you can use the spray they use to fog outboard motors with it works good and lst forever

[Matt Meiser]

I used Boeshield when I moved and had to put my stuff in storage for three months. I used the spray-and-don't-wipe method. Everything cleaned up nicely when I got it into my new shop.

[Jerry Bruette]

John

Two products I have experience with and would highly recommend are SP-400 and Lectra Shield. They are both spray on products and about as close to cosmoline as you can get.

Jerry

[Bill Franklin]

Another vote for Boeshield. I moved a shop about a year and a half ago, I did not intend to be down as long as I was, but had a second move halfway through. Coated my cast iron surfaces with Boeshield and I have not found any rust in cleaning it up.

Bill