Rust solutions on hand tools

[Jim Watkinson]

Like many others, I have my shop set up in my basement. The location though has a humidity level in the summer months that runs at 65-85% each day. I've coated my plane bodies, plane irons and chisels with a variety of things, including T-9 and WD-40 but I'm still getting very fine rust on the tools, even in as little as 6-7 days time. In frustration I'm applying water resistant paint to the concrete walls, even though there is no seepage and have begun to store the tools in plastic containers.

Has anyone had successful experience with any commercially available coatings they can recommend?

[Bas Pluim]

I have a basement shop as well. The summers here in North Carolina can get pretty humid. I primed the cinderblock walls with Kilz (oil base) and topcoated with two coats of mildew-resistant latex paint. It has helped quite a bit - there used to be mould growing on the walls, now it's clean.
In my previous place, I had good results with Waterlox, which is specifically made for this purpose.

I suggest you invest in a dehumidifier. Even a small one can make a big difference. In the summer, it pretty much runs constantly to keep the humidity at 55% (workshop is 400sq.ft., finished room is 600sq.ft), but after three years it's still going strong.

[Bill Bryant]

CorrosionX

[Alex Yeilding]

In my previous place, I had good results with Waterlox, which is specifically made for this purpose.
The waterlox I am familiar with is a phenolic resin tung oil varnish, which was originally developed as a finish for hardwood floors. www.waterlox.com (http://www.waterlox.com/) Might you be incorrectly remembering the name of the product you used, or could there be two products with this name?

[Bob Smalser]

Basement? Mine are used regularly in the rain and stored in unheated sheds. I treat them with phosphoric acid and phosphate bluing, and one reason I prefer pegboard to drawers for storing tools is air circulation.

Rustproofing Tools
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=28340

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Drylok alkyd for concrete.

For tools get a high performance dehumidifier like an april aire.

[josh bjork]

Jim, the plastic containers won't do any good if the humidity gets in them. If you can put your gems in a fairily airtight cabinet with a small incandescent light bulb, the heat from the bulb will help keep the humidity down so they don't rust so easily.

[Jim Heffner]

Jim, if your rust problem is getting the best of you, might try what welders in a shop setting do to preserve their welding rods for arc welding do. They get themselves an old refrigerator and put it in the shop...doesn't matter if it runs or not. They store their rods in there to keep them from being exposed to air which over time will deterioate the
flux coating on the outside and make them useless. An old refrigerator
with a good door seal will keep out the air and moisture than can rust
your tools. I would get an old discarded one from an appliance store
( non- running one) and wire up the light inside with a small bulb to stay on all the time, this small amount of heat will help to keep everything nice and dry. Jim Heffner

[Bob Feeser]

For sealing basement walls, if you are coating unpainted, as in raw, cinderblock is to use Dry Lok latex. The oil base does just as good of a job, but puts out a lot of odor while curing. Consumer reports rated Dry Lok number one in hydrostatic water pressure resistance. The thing to stay away from at all costs is Thoro-seal. I know from experience, it winds up not sticking, and it made dead last position with consumer reports. Follow directions on can for Dry Lok and be sure and do the acid prep available from Dry Lok as well.
Pertaining to moisture, my basement, which has the shop in it, has always had a moisture problem. You could leave a pair of sneakers down there, and by the fall they were dark green with mildew. I put in a de-humidifier, and it really helped but it ate more electricity, than it did moisture, although it grabbed a lot of that as well. I went to the bother of building a ceiling bracket for it, and a natural drain that emptied into a condensate pump, for natural extraction, without having to empty a pan once or twice a day.
Then I discovered the trick. Simply open up a window or two at the opposite end of the basement, and place a 20" box fan in a window at the other end. No more moisture problem. The fresh air flow also doubles as a nice system when you are trying to move the dust out of the air. Even though the outside humiidity reaches 80 or more, it does not rust tools, when moving through the shop. Only when the air is left to stagnate, and get trapped with the moisture seepage in the walls does it lead to bad moisture problems.
I know that different basements may have different problems, but that is what works for me. I don't turn it off, I just leave it on. Since it is only a 20" box fan, it draws very little juice, especially when compared to a dehumidifier which draws 50 dollars per month in electricity, and then there is that darn pan to drain. :mad:

[Nelson Bradley]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_sg/102-5960241-3967344?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=silica+gel

You can probably find it at local sources also. I get mine from a gun safe dealer here. The bags last years, just throw them in the oven oven for a few minutes every 3 to six months to dry them out. I keep them in all my drawers, safes and tool chests. I think they have several advantages over a dehumidifier:

Takes less space
Cost
no electricity
no bucket to empty

BTW, my shop is in a garage in central MS, humidity in the summer likes to stay around 80-90%

[Chuck Burns]

I second the recomendaion for Corrosion X. About a year ago I shot two 24 pipe wrenches (that live in the back of my PU truck) and they look great. Last April I had a connector on my irrigation system crack before my main shut off valve. In order to fix it properly I would have had to shut the supply line at the pond and drain the supply lines. This would have inconvenienced several other people and taken a bit of time. I put four C-clamps on the connector and sprayed them with Corrosion-X. Eight months later there is no rust.

As you may guess rust prevention is a big deal in the firearms community. Tests done by gun folks put Corrosion-X at the top of the heap. Give it a try.

[jay strand]

24 years ago I had a problem with humidity in the basement of my 90 year old house. I tried a de-humidifier but my electric bill was crazy.

De-humidifiers are the least efficient appliance you can buy. Also, you must absolutely seal the room you wish to dry out. Humidity migrates everywhere very efficiently.

My solution, which has worked perfectly all these years, is to move outside air through the basement 24/7. I put a 10" fan from a humidifier in the center of a plexiglass panel and put in the basement window. I opened a window at the other end of the basement.

My reasoning was that if the humidity and temp of the basement were the same as the outside air, there would be little chance of condensation on my tools. I turn the fan on in May and turn it off in October.

Here in Minnesota we get weeks of 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I haven't had a problem, yet. Another benefit, no musty smell from the basement.

[Bob Feeser]

24 years ago I had a problem with humidity in the basement of my 90 year old house. I tried a de-humidifier but my electric bill was crazy.

De-humidifiers are the least efficient appliance you can buy. Also, you must absolutely seal the room you wish to dry out. Humidity migrates everywhere very efficiently.

My solution, which has worked perfectly all these years, is to move outside air through the basement 24/7. I put a 10" fan from a humidifier in the center of a plexiglass panel and put in the basement window. I opened a window at the other end of the basement.

My reasoning was that if the humidity and temp of the basement were the same as the outside air, there would be little chance of condensation on my tools. I turn the fan on in May and turn it off in October.

Here in Minnesota we get weeks of 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I haven't had a problem, yet. Another benefit, no musty smell from the basement.

That is what I found works. Fan in the window, always changing the air. Cheap to run, and great for dust control when doing wood work. My electric bill was at least 50 dollars more per month with the dehumidifier on, and that darn tray would have to be changed without an automatic drain system.

[Russ Filtz]

Try some Eezox, even better than CorrosionX. Here is a test from a firearms site. Hard to find local, you may have to order online as I did.

www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

[Ed Blough]

Like many others, I have my shop set up in my basement. The location though has a humidity level in the summer months that runs at 65-85% each day. I've coated my plane bodies, plane irons and chisels with a variety of things, including T-9 and WD-40 but I'm still getting very fine rust on the tools, even in as little as 6-7 days time. In frustration I'm applying water resistant paint to the concrete walls, even though there is no seepage and have begun to store the tools in plastic containers.

Has anyone had successful experience with any commercially available coatings they can recommend?

Jim
Try Penetrol from Flood products, it is a paint conditioner and sold at HD, Lowes, and most paint stores. I was told about the product by an old timer that swore by it for protecting everything from his tables saw to his hand tools.

If you read the side of the can it is recommended for coating metals to prevent rust. I have tried the product and conducted a few experiments. First I painted nearly all my hand tools with it and it works as desired. My grandsons lost a pair of treated channel locks outside until I found them. They looked as good as new. I had also painted a test patch on my air conditioner compressor unit. I was watching the patch to see how long it would last. My test was short lived after about five years the compressor failed (no fault of the penetrol) and I had to replace the unit. But there was no sign of rust by the test area.

The product becomes a perfectly clear and very very thin coating on whatever you place it. I have painted the rules on my combination squares and the coating did not effect the movement or accuracy of the square. I dipped many of my hand tools and let them drip dry, worked fantastically. I coated all my steel clamps, and bars with the product.

The product will wear off, but I think I paid less than $10 for a quart and I haven't used it all in about 10 years.

I have never applied it to the sole of a plane but I have to all the other parts. Usually what I try to do is coat all non sliding surfaces with the product and then for the sliding surfaces I use Johnson paste wax.

I live in Florida a few miles inland from the Gulf so my enviroment is prone to high humidity and salt air. None of my tools show signs of rust since I started using the product.

[Eddie Darby]

Quick fix, but a wee bit annoying, is to just coat your tools with T-9 and don't wipe it off. Then when you go to use them, just wipe them then. This is a good way also to protect your tools if you will not be using them for a few months.

Another option would be to store your hand tools other than planes in a plane sock that is coated with silicon.


3 shop rules

1- wood always moves
2- you can fix anything with duct tape
3- rust never sleeps