Rust prevention

[David Warkentin]

Hi all. As I begin to collect more tools to do work by hand I am wondering how to prevent rust from forming. I live in humid Alabama and don't want any on my planes!

[Robert Engel]

From swampy NE FL:

Yes it will be a constant battle.

I made cabinets with plane till (not shown) used door seal tape keep a small container of DampRid inside. I even put a humidity gauge just to see. Even in th summer the humidity was constant 60%.

Every time I'm done with a tool, I wipe down with Jotaba oil. Every time a sharpen with water stones, I coat liberally with WD40.

351794

But -- the best thing I ever did was build a climate controlled workroom studio in a corner of my shop.

I can leave my tools out and never have to worry about rust now.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Johnson's floor wax, and 3 in 1 oil usually works for me.

[David Warkentin]

I do have an ac in part of my shop but I use that end for roasting coffee. I built a wall with a doorway between the 2 sections. I wonder if I'd put a fan and a return in that wall that came on with ac if that would circulate the dry air through there. Likely I will add another ac to woodworking end though.

[Phil Mueller]

Wax or oil after every use; particularely in the summer. Plus I keep many of my tools in a closet off the work room with a dehumidifier in the closet that I run spring through fall.

[Nicholas Lingg]

http://www.slideproducts.com/tips/are-you-really-protecting-your-mold.html

[Al Launier]

A dehumidifier should work well. Size according to the room. You'll be surprized at how much water your remove each day.
Although I'm in the NE I use a dehumidifier along with Johnson's Paste Wax - works well.

[Owen Stefaniak]

My shop is in an unfinished basement so this is a constant battle for me as well. I've sectioned off the area around my shop as much as possible so that I can more easily control the climate there as opposed to the whole basement. I have a hygrometer down there so that I can always monitor what the humidity is doing (this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HDW58GS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1FM06QVR6OREG&coliid=I3F7N82VQJGCLH) and I run a dehumidifier when needed. I have it set up so that it drains directly into a floor drain in the next room and I never have to empty it. I also have a gallon of mineral oil and I keep an oiled rag on hand all the time for a quick wipe down on a tool after use. A lot of people like jojoba oil or camellia oil. I opted for the cheap route this time. We'll see how well that plays out as time goes on here. As Nicholas and Al mentioned, paste wax works well especially on tools you aren't using for a little while. But really for me the most important thing is just vigilance: inspecting my tools regularly and immediately dealing with any sign of a problem. Fortunately I don't have a huge tool collection or this could get time consuming.

[Curt Putnam]

Nothing I've coated with http://www.corrosionx.com/corrosionx-heavy-duty.html has ever rusted. I keep some on a rag on wipe down each tool after being handled.

[Michael Petruso]

has anyone tried Boeshield? I saw it on the rockler website.

[Patrick Chase]

has anyone tried Boeshield? I saw it on the rockler website.

Yes, I've used it. Boeshield is basically a paraffin wax in a volatile, highly wettable carrier. The idea is that the carrier spreads out and fills inaccessible crevices (because of its wettability) and then evaporates (because of its volatility) leaving a coating of wax behind. CRC SP-400 is another product that takes basically the same approach.

I personally prefer "non-drying" rust preventatives like CorrosionX (see post #9 above) or CRC 3-36, that don't leave a solid residue. I put non-drying in quotes because they do become gummy over the course of many months, but even so they're easier to get rid of than wax.

Another possibility that people don't seem to have mentioned above is volatile corrosion inhibitors, which are chemicals that bind to and passivate metal surfaces. They come in pre-impregnated papers that you can wrap around your tools, pre-impregnated zip-lock bags, and "air freshener style" dispensers that you can stick into tool storage cabinets etc. There are various formulations for different metals. I have a couple rolls of Daubert Cromwell multi-metal (MPI) VCI paper that I use for long-term tool storage. I chose that specific paper because LV ships most of their tools in it, so I figured I couldn't go too wrong that way. It works extremely well.

EDIT: One thing I would avoid is "Camellia oil". The reason I put that in quotes is because a lot of what is sold as such by woodworking-oriented suppliers is actually scented mineral oil. That stuff works just fine, but you can save a lot of money by buying white mineral oil without the scent. Unfortunately I didn't know that when I was starting out, and I bought a bottle of real Camellia oil and dutifully slathered it all over various tools. The problem is of course that like most vegetable oils Camelia oil polymerizes into a nasty gummy mess.

[Richard Wolgemuth]

Wax and Oil. Cheap stuff. Mineral oil thinned with WD-40 or whatever is about and Johnson's wax. I keep a cut up t-shirt in a can soaked in oil convenient for wiping planes down. I leave the desiccant packs that ship with lots of stuff in the drawers I store tools in.

[Patrick Chase]

I leave the desiccant packs that ship with lots of stuff in the drawers I store tools in.

Dessicant is cheap and reusable. You can get it in bulk (https://www.amazon.com/Quart-Mixed-Silicagel-Desiccant-Indicating/dp/B00LLOGI4G/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1500441991&sr=8-20-spons&keywords=dessicant&th=1), make holders by punching holes in appropriately-sized containers, and bake it (in an oven) every so often to reset it.

With that said that might not be a winning strategy down in Alabama for anything that isn't mostly sealed to begin with. Dessicant can only hold so much water.

[john zulu]

A camera dry box can control humidity very well. But that is almost over kill for this application

[Paul K. Johnson]

I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I've determined that my planes might not rust if I store them in a five-gallon pail of oil. I'm thinking of having a swimming pool built, filling it with oil and doing all of my wood working "under water".

[steven c newman]

Just have all those tools plated in Bronze......hmmmm, might make them too heavy, though....:rolleyes:

[Michael Petruso]

Thanks very much to everyone for the advice. I recently moved from Las Vegas Nevada, where there is no water, to Katonah NY, where if I get any more water, I will build an ark.

[Patrick Chase]

Wax and Oil. Cheap stuff. Mineral oil thinned with WD-40 or whatever is about and Johnson's wax.

Thinning mineral oil with WD-40 doesn't help it evaporate, because those relatively long mineral oil polymers don't get shortened when you mix them with the relatively short aliphatics in WD-40. If your goal is to create something that dries and leaves the wax behind like Boeshield or CRC SP-400 then you need to start with something much lighter, like Naptha. If on the other hand the oil isn't meant to dry, then there's really no functional reason to have the wax in there.

EDIT: Do you mean wax and oil used separately, as opposed to mixed? If so disregard :-)

[Jerry Olexa]

Wax and use a dehumidifier!!! Works foe me....

[steven c newman]

Put them to work as often as you can, let the work keep the rust away....or make an "Oil can" like Sellers uses...

Remember, I do happen to have my shop in a dampish basement....

[alan west]

I have a garage workshop 1/4 mile away from the Atlantic ocean in North Carolina. At the end of every day I wipe down every tool used that day with WD40. Every two weeks I dust my tool shelves and wipe down all tools. Never had a rust problem with these tools. Occasionally I put a seldom used tool down somewhere other than the tool shelves. When I find it again months later I usually have a rust problem.

[Stanley Covington]

Hi all. As I begin to collect more tools to do work by hand I am wondering how to prevent rust from forming. I live in humid Alabama and don't want any on my planes!

This subject has been discussed many times.

The first and most important rule to follow to protect your steel tools from corrosion is to keep them clean. Sawdust and dust settling on the steel will induce rust, as surely as politicians attract dirty money, and no matter how much oil or wax or Hogwarts magic you apply to your tools, dust and dirt will make it all for naught. So store your tools in a way that keeps the dust off them. Open shelves, pegboards and open racks look cool and may be convenient while actually working in the workshop, but actively promote rust.

The next rule to follow is to insulate your steel tools when they are not in use from rapid temperature swings that will cause condensation to form on them, especially in humid climates. Once again, open shelves, racks, and pegboards don't cut it long-term. At least wrap them up in something to insulate them from temperature swings.

You may find it difficult to believe, but fresh newspaper that still smells of ink is an effective and cheap material for insulating and protecting tools. Apparently, the ink evaporates and coats the metal protecting it from rust, similar to VCI paper. Old newspaper does not have the same effect, and can make things worse. A hardware store located near where I live has a cubbyhole built against the exterior uninsulated concrete wall of his building with saws standing on end directly on the concrete slab. The 87 year-old owner of the store wrapped these saws in newspaper and stored them there 27 years ago (newspaper has dates). No rust has developed except in the case of saws that were unwrapped and then re-wrapped in the old newspaper

If you are like me, your sweat and skin oils contains salt and acids that will cause rust. If you want your metal plane bodies and saws to remain shiny, don't touch them with bare skin, and if you do, wipe them down and then oil them before storing them away.

On the other hand, another name for rust is patina. Some people intentionally wipe their planes and sawblades with their hands to ensure the metal surfaces develop a nice brown patina. Oil applied to the patina will keep the rust from going much deeper. Not my cuppa tea.

Paint is the best and most durable product sold in a can for preventing rust. Those paints containing galvalume are the very best. For most tools we need bare metal, though.

Whatever product you use, remember that any liquid eventually evaporates, including all varieties of oils. Vegetable oils are especially ineffective because in addition to evaporating, they quickly oxidize and polymerize transforming into sticky, rust-promoting muck. As Patrick mentioned, true camellia oil (which you will have a hard time finding in the US or Europe) is hopeless. The camellia oil commonly available is actually food-grade mineral oil with scent and color added. It works OK, but more importantly, it makes money for retailers without creating a health hazard liability for them. You see, it might touch the customer's skin. While it is more of a health hazard, commonly available synthetic motor oil is better than nearly all petroleum products in this regard, and is very cost effective.

Sorry to say it, but WD-40 is hopeless. It works short-term, and is very convenient, but it evaporates relatively quickly. It was designed to evaporate. And it was designed to leave little residue after it evaporates.

Paste wax is pleasant to use, but I am sorry to say that it too is relatively ineffective. I know lots of people swear by this and that brand of furniture wax, or floor wax, or micro-crystalline wax-in-a-can, but there has been a lot of commercial testing by professionals, the results of which clearly show that it isn't half as effective as paraffin wax.

After paint, the most effective product for preventing corrosion is paraffin wax and the many compounds that employ it. I first heard this news from a professional production engineer with a Japanese company that produces extremely expensive, high-precision, hardened and ground, high-carbon steel components for machines that make semiconductors. I had just built a factory for them, and so they spoke very frankly with me. Corrosion is a very serious concern for these people everyday of the year, in all environments around the world where their products are shipped, so they didn't screw around with traditions, or fads, or online BS, or the advice of shills working for magazines, but conducted physical comparison tests. Besides being easy to apply, relatively non-toxic and inexpensive, paraffin has the ability to totally seal steel's surfaces, as well as all the dips and scratches it might contain, from moisture and oxygen, while remaining in place after the carrier evaporates, as Patrick noted.

Patrick also mentioned CR 3-36. This is very good product, much better than Boeshield because it displaces moisture. I have experienced rust with Boeshield. Boeshield leaves a coat of heavy paraffin wax which is not convenient, IMO. I believe CR 3-36 is also paraffin based, but is much lighter and more user friendly for handtools used frequently. Excellent for saws because it coats the nooks and crannies of the teeth very effectively. CR makes several corrosion-prevention products that all work well, but 3-36 is the most convenient to use.

CorrosionX is a great product, but it stinks something fierce. Just my opinion.

Mothballs in a closed airtight spaces/container are surprisingly effective at preventing rust. I put a cake inside my toolbox in the wet months.

Whatever corrosion-prevention methodology you choose, be sure it's easy to use, and then actually use it frequently. Convenience and speed are everything in this regard. I keep an oilpot lubed with 5W Mobile synthetic oil on my workbench at all times. I wipe each tool as I use it with this oilpot (even my wooden plane's soles), and at the end of the day. If I will not be using a tool for a while, I wipe it down, and give it a few swipes of oil, or a squirt of CR 3-36. I store my tools in a closed toolchest or in closed boxes. Some of them I wrap in fresh newspaper as both cushion and insulation.

This regimen has been effective in high humidity, high temperature swings, and on Pacific islands with salt always in the air and mixed into the dust. Give it a try.

Stan

[Todd Stock]

We dehumidify primarily because of the need to build at target relative humidity (38%-40% for bracing, and 42% otherwise) to allow an instrument to handle a fairly wide range of RH values in service. The secondary benefit is that tools will not generally rust at 50% RH or below unless the surfaces are coated with moisture and other contaminants (cold tool brought into warm shop, salt-laden perspiration, etc) As mentioned, dirty tools have the same issue...dust, grime, etc. hold perspiration, and the salts in sweat speed the process of corrosion. Wax and oil helped when I had a shed shop in LA (Lower Alabama) and a garage in southern Louisiana. Coastal areas are miserable places for tools, but avoiding the temptation to throw open the doors and windows every time there is a nice breeze off the water helps avoid some problems.

[James Pallas]

I keep tools that I don't use regularly in a job box in an unheated garage. Those tools get coated and I mean coated to the point that it's a bit of work to prepare them for use. CRC is what I use for that because it sprays into the nooks and crannies. It's not much work compared to rust. The tools I use regularly are keep in the basement, heated or air conditioned. When I put those tools in the box they are wiped down with 3 in 1 to the point that they need to be wiped off before use, again not much trouble compared to rust. Works for me.
Jim

[Patrick Chase]

Whatever product you use, remember that any liquid eventually evaporates, including all varieties of oils. Vegetable oils are especially ineffective because in addition to evaporating, they quickly oxidize and polymerize transforming into sticky, rust-promoting muck. As Patrick mentioned, true camellia oil (which you will have a hard time finding in the US or Europe) is hopeless.

There are a fair number of people selling it as a safer alternative to white mineral oil for skincare. That's how I got hold of mine. The fact that I had to look high and low for something that many woodworkers (including "famous" ones at the mags) claimed to be using should have been a big red flag, but sometimes I'm slow. As we've both noted, real Camellia oil is a train wreck for tool protection. I can guarantee you that anybody who claims to have had success with it is using "sword steel oil", aka white mineral oil with food coloring and scent added.

[Patrick Chase]

Patrick also mentioned CR 3-36. This is very good product, much better than Boeshield because it displaces moisture. I have experienced rust with Boeshield. Boeshield leaves a coat of heavy paraffin wax which is not convenient, IMO. I believe CR 3-36 is also paraffin based, but is much lighter and more user friendly for handtools used frequently. Excellent for saws because it coats the nooks and crannies of the teeth very effectively. CR makes several corrosion-prevention products that all work well, but 3-36 is the most convenient to use.

3-36's paraffin content is low if any. Boeshield and CRC SP-400 go the low+high route, meaning that they mix volatile low-molecular-wright hydrocarbons for wettability/penetration and high-weight paraffins that form a solid barrier when the low-weight stuff flashes off. CRC 3-36 and CorrosionX both use a low+medium approach, meaning that they also use volatile low-weight hydrocarbons to wet/penetrate, but medium-weight non-drying hydrocarbons (probably not far from your suggestion of motor oil) to form a liquid barrier.

The problem with Boeshield, SP-400, and other solid wax coatings is that the jig is up once that thin paraffin coating is penetrated in any way (say, by bumping it while removing an adjacent tool). In contrast liquid-barrier products like 3-36 and CorrosionX can still flow even after the volatile components have flashed off, so it takes more severe handling to leave a lasting gap in the barrier.