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Ed Marks
09-11-2003, 2:08 AM
Any good suggestions on keeping the ambient moisture in a shop from turning hand tools into rust attractors? Usually I keep my better LN planes in the boxes they came in, with wrapped in the original packing material and life is fine. I left them out the other night and the next day I picked up the low angle block plane and YIKES, that's rust forming on the sides! A quick cleanup and it was gone but I would like to get away from storing them in cardboard boxes someday (plus ... might have to keep up with Dave A's new rack :D).

I thought about using TopCoat or something like that but these tools are often the last thing to touch wood before finish and I have enough finishing surprises and I'd prefer not to add any more. TopCoat claims to have no silicon or petroleum products in it ... then you read the contents and see lots of petroleum products (go figure?). Most waxes and polishes are not going to hack it either.

Any ideas?

TIA,
Ed

Glenn Clabo
09-11-2003, 5:53 AM
Ed,
I'm up here (that's for the New Englandahs) in RI and I simply run a dehumindifier all the time. My shops in the basement and I've never had a rust problem. And it works for all the wood I have stored.
At least that's what works for me.

Jeff Kurtz
09-11-2003, 8:34 AM
Ed,

Dittos on the dehumidifier. I live less than 1/2 mile from Lake Michigan and have a basement shop. Summers here are horribly humid, but my shop stays nice and dry and I've no rust or pitting on any of my tools.

Jeff

Dave Anderson NH
09-11-2003, 10:24 AM
I run a dehumidifier in the my basement shop at least 6 months of the year and it makes a big difference. FYI, I've used Top Cote for about 5 years now and not had any problems with it effecting any finishes. I use it on all my hand planes and other steel and iron hand tools. We won't talk about what tools I use it on in the "other" room of the shop.

Ed Marks
09-11-2003, 5:01 PM
I run a dehumidifier in the my basement shop at least 6 months of the year and it makes a big difference. FYI, I've used Top Cote for about 5 years now and not had any problems with it effecting any finishes. I use it on all my hand planes and other steel and iron hand tools. We won't talk about what tools I use it on in the "other" room of the shop.

The "other" room ... you mean the "roughing" room ... right? ;)