Best rust prevention for long-term TS storage?

[Ken Seiler]

I have to store at PM63 TS in the corner of my shop since I just upgraded to a new Sawstop. The PM63 was given/loaned to my by my ‘tool fairy’, as I call him,. I need to keep it until he/estate wants it back. I am afraid to tell him I have a new saw because he might want the rest of his tools back also. Right now, I couldn’t afford to buy a new lathe, drill press, bandsaw w/riser block, scroll saw, and jointer.

The Sawstop came with oil all over the top, covered with plastic. How would this work long-term? Anyone have any better ideas?

Thanks

Ken

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Ken
In a corner of your shop, I would use Johnson & Johnson's paste wax. It will also work well on all your other tool's unfinished cast iron or steel surfaces. Not only will it keep them rust free, it will also make material going through your jointer and table saw, much easier. Tom

[shane lyall]

+1 on the good 'ol yellow can Johnson's! I use it on every tool that need a slick surface right down to router baseplates. It makes stock seem to float over the jointer and saw tables.

[Adrian Anguiano]

The best long term storage for any metal is to use cosmoline, eezox, or boeshield.

Wd40, paste wax, Firearm CLP... Shoot even mobile 1 oil or will work in normal conditions or for short term. 1yr or less. Anytime longer or for maximum protecting stick with the above 3 choices.

Cosmoline being the best. Decades of storage. But longer to remove the gunk. But that's the trade off. Boeshield being the easiest to clean off of the top 3.

Rust on a cast iron table top sucks, but doesn't hurt the performance. The same can't be said with gun rust. It can cause a gun not go bang and your life. Gun nuts like myself hate rust for accuracy shooting. So there is no where better to go to than the gun community.


Here are some rust tests for you with different products.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=12616/GunTechdetail/Gun-Cleaning-Clinic-Knowing-the-Limits-of-Rust-Preventatives

http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

[Adrian Anguiano]

And don't use plastic wrap. That encourages humidity and moisture pockets. They use it like furniture movers to protect scratches. If u use one of my top 3 suggestions I wouldn't be afraid of the plastic wrap if your scared of dinging the saw.

[Mike Cutler]

Ken

I'm going to go a step farther.
My saws sit in an unheated, non climate controlled garage in Connecticut. During the winter they are in "layup", so to speak, and unfortunately, sometimes even longer. It can get pretty damp in my garage.
My strategy, which has worked quite well for years now, is to spray the tops with WD-40, or LPS, spray a square of cardboard the size of the table with the same product, and place it on top. The next layer is an old towel sprayed liberally with WD-40 also placed on top of the cardboard, and overhanging the edges of the top.I then have a piece of 3/4" plywood sacrificial surface on top of this to protect the top even more as it is frequently used as a convenient horizontal surface when working on the car.
I can have the saw up and running in < than a minute, and back stored in < 2 minutes.
LPS 6 is a longer term storage solution. It's not as difficult as cosmoline to remove, but there's still a good effort required.
No matter what you do though, put a sacrificial surface on top of the saw to protect it. You may not set something there, but someone else unknowingly could.

The plastic wrap on your saw was "probably" impregnated with an oxygen scavenging chemical. Kind of like the "acid free paper" you buy to protect metal surface. Regular plastic wouldn't be the same.

[Myk Rian]

A HTC cover with a piece of OSB on top of it has worked for me.
Paste wax melted into the top before covering it.

[Bruce Volden]

Never forget the wonders of baby powder applied liberally. I use it on a regular basis in the hot humid months.

Bruce

[Chris Tsutsui]

In cathodic protection specifications, engineers protect uncoated cast iron and ductile iron from corrosion. Currently they use a primer, wax tape, and a polyethylene wrap. Polyken or trenton are the specified brands on most public works. However I wouldn't use those products on my table saw though because they will be quite difficult to remove!

This is protecting that cast iron in the most extreme conditions which is buried in soil that acts as an electrolyte. When a metal is stored in open air, you must use a coating. If you prevent moisture from building up on the surface then you prevent corrosion.

Perhaps the cheapest way out is to apply a liberal coating of marvel mystery oil on the cast iron, then cover it in plastic wrap. Marvel Mystery oil absorbs water and i've used it to store small engines and even lube foam air filters. Johnsons paste wax would probably work fine given a good coating and then protected with a plastic, though more difficult to remove afterwards. The paste wax does contain volatile chemicals that I believe keeps the wax soft. If you were to leave the can open for a period of time, the chemicals keeping the paste wax soft would evaporate leaving you with a brick.

The problem with cardboards and papers is the chemicals protecting the metals may evaporate. VCI paper (volatile corrosion inhibitor) is a chemical that evaporates and protects a metal from corrosion seen on Lie Nielson planes and that sort. Once the chemicals evaporate then it no longer protects the surface.

If you just covered the table top in wax and the wax cracked or was partially removed, then you'll have corrosion in the exposed areas. If you rolled on plastic over the top with no air bubbles then you won't trap air under the plastic.

So I would definitely follow my oil or wax coating with a plastic as added protection.

I once asked a corrosion engineer (Nace doesn't make corrosion engineers anymore, the highest level I believe is CP specialist) a question related to preventing corrosion on cast iron surfaces. He told me to just cover the tablesaw in dry sawdust which will act as a dessicant to wick moisture away from the tablesaw surface. I've left my lathe covered in dry sawdust and noticed no corrosion yet so I'm still toying around with his dessicant idea.

So we all might be overthinking this way too much and covering the saw in a thick layer of dry sawdust may in fact insulate the saw and prevent moisture buildup on the surface... :)

[Neil Brooks]

I just assumed that we ARE over-thinking it :)

Anybody have any 1st-hand experience, or know the conventional wisdom, on Bull Frog products ? (http://www.theruststore.com/Bull-Frog-C22.aspx?UserID=15575063&SessionID=ljFtxgz8AclIUYb5KWRZ)

For me, my first inclination would be Boeshield for short term, and Cosmolene for longer term. Unsure about the Bull Frog stuff, though.....

[mike holden]

Ken,
Have you considered being honest with your "tool fairy"? Failing that, the best rust preventive is to sell the extra, put the money in the bank, and buy another when the "tooth fairy" loan is due.
Mike

[Bob Wingard]

+1 on the use of LPS ... I use the thin watery version (LPS #1) so much that I split a 5 gal. can with a friend every few years. I LOVE this stuff ... and, in an ultrasonic tank, it is great for guns.

[Adrian Anguiano]

All this rust talk made me get in the garage last night and finish the restoration on an old delta drill press column. Nothing like the smell of rustoleum rust remover to wake up the senses. Followed by a brass brush on an impact driver, some wd40 and a red scotch bright, then some very high grit wet dry sandpaper. and 3 rolls of blue shop towels.

Seriously though, just spray some boeshield on it and be done.

[Greg Portland]

When a metal is stored in open air, you must use a coating. If you prevent moisture from building up on the surface then you prevent corrosion.
Chris's statement is all you need to know. Whether you use cosmoline or scraps cardboard you are limiting the amount of oxygen & moisture that can touch the surface of the cast iron. Cosmoline (or any heavy grease) + vapor barrier (plastic sheet) would be my choice. WD-40 has never worked for me as a long term option. For short term storage I use Boeshield + cardboard or tool covers (no air gap between sheet and metal).

[Joseph Tarantino]

a coat of wax and covering my CI surfaces with ALMOST ANYTHING has kept rust away. and my shop is north of NYC, unheated and uninsulated. sheets, blankets, plywood, hardboard, overpriced HTC tool covers, all have worked exacty the same in preventing rust. so treat with the rust remover of your choice, apply paste wax and cover the surface with anything and rust will be significantly abated.

[Trent Shirley]

Plenty of good suggestions above but remember, moisture is the issue. Once you coat the surface in whatever you will be using, covering the surface to prevent air movement over it will prevent moisture in the air from condensing on the metal. A plastic wrap should work well for the purpose of stopping air movement. Changes in air pressure will cause the air under the wrap to cycle a little but if you keep the air pocket small or as suggested above press the plastic directly to the surface to get out the air pockets you should be fine.