Tools And The Salt Water Environment

[Julie Moriarty]

I am now living on a canal that is somewhere between brackish and salt water, depending on who I talk to. All the big tools will end up in the garage. The rest in a workshop inside that will probably be air conditioned 6-8 months a year and opened to the outside air 2 or more months a year.

How much of factor will this environment have on the tools and rust and how does one deal with preventing it, outside of constant treatments?

[Kent Adams]

I don't know the answer, but having lived near a beach in NC, everything made of non-precious metal seems to rust, and quickly at that, even galvanized metal. I would think it would depend on how far back you are from the beach front. Homes on the front row get the brunt of the sea spray mist and the further back you go, it seems metal rusts at a slower rate. Condensation is a serious problem at the beach as well, as days can be hot and nights cold. If you are living close to the beach, I don't think I'd ever open my equipment to unconditioned outside air, not even for an hour.

[Doug Hepler]

Julie,

I had a garage shop in St Augustine FL for 10+ years. It was 1 mile from the Matanzas River in one direction and the ocean in the other. The shop was never air conditioned.

Initially, especially on newer cast iron and steel surfaces like saw tables, jointer tables, lathe ways, etc. I used Butcher's Wax. It helped but I still had a rust problem. I applied 2-3 treatments of Boeshield a day or two apart, followed by a coat of Butchers Wax a day after that. Boeshield tends to dry a bit sticky, so let it dry and then vigorously scrub it off with a rag. I tend to be skeptical about "miracle" products but Boeshield does seem to be exceptionally effective and long-lasting. After that, I seldom needed to re-apply Boeshield, but I did reapply wax occasionally, perhaps every 4-6 months, mainly to keep the surfaces slick.

The bigger rust problem was with hand tools, especially planes, steel rulers and squares. Also, if you don't keep CA and polyurethane adhesives in a tight box with silica gel they will tend to set up prematurely in their bottles.

I bought some little gizmos that are supposed to emit corrosion preventing vapor and put them in the tool drawers with my planes and chisels. Lee Valley sells a rust-preventing drawer liner that they say will last a few years. Also, I kept rags impregnated with a mixture of Boeshield, Butchers Wax, and turpentine in plastic jars around the shop and tried to remember to wipe off my hand planes, chisels, etc after each use. I bought some large silica gel packets to reduce humidity in drawers and such but they are a bit of a pain to re-generate periodically. Rulers, squares etc that hung on the wall would rust anyway and I gradually replaced them with stainless steel. The worst was a square or ruler that got a bit of PVA glue on it. If I did not wipe it off there would be rust under the dried glue when I did notice it.

While I am on a roll here, let me advise you to pay attention to wood moisture content and expansion/contraction. It may not have been too big a deal wherever you lived before, but it can be if you make furniture in Punta Gorda that is destined for a drier climate.

Best regards

Doug

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, guys. I don't know if being on a canal vs just off the beach matters much but I do want to get ahead of the game with some preventative measures. Thank you, Doug, for detailing your procedures. I lived in the Chicago area all my life and my last workshop of 28 years was in the basement. I had a dehumidifier that kept the humidity down to a workable and unproblematic level.

As I unpack, I see items like router bits and saw blades that I had destined for the garage and suddenly think about rust. The lathe and all those tools were also slated for the garage. I'm wondering if I need to sell some things and downsize others to keep from losing tools to rust.

[Patrick Grady]

Good posts on an underrated subject that affects millions of households on both coasts. I live in brackish Chesapeake Bay waterfront 105 yr old house with an exposed detached unheated shop and garage and have experienced hurricane flooding. I agree with some of the previous comments. However, my 15 yr experience has been that the corrosion from the brackish 'acid air', though definitely a problem, is not a total tool machine-killer. There is a 1993 Craftsman table saw in the garage that is exposed enough to catch some rare windy snows and despite continued acid condensation still runs well. 10 feet away from the saw is a 1986 Diesel Kubota 42" lawn tractor that still runs like a top. Salt condensation acid air eats steels and even though my galvanized fences look like crap, they are structurally sound. My point is that much of the damage is surface. The iron Craftsman saw table cleans up every spring. 6061 Aluminum seems impervious. 316 Stainless lasts years (clean stainless does not like to be underwater). To continue the subject, steel tools and anything else submerged in brackish water for a number of hours will never clean up again and will always be 'rusty'. If salt water ever touches your house/shop electrical wiring or boxes or equipment, then everything is toast. But the original question was about condensation and tools and shop equipment and my opinion is that shop contents can get rusty and cosmetically ugly, but is just not a game breaking problem.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've been using CRC 3-36 Multi-Purpose Lubricant and Corrosion Inhibitor on my planes, chisels, etc... Also use it on my cast iron tool tops. It ranked number one a few years ago when on of the magazines tested all of them.

Sometimes I use Boeshield, but that stickiness can get annoying.

That helps a ton. I also put some Damp-Rid in cabinets and also use some of those Lee-Valley anti-corrosion mats.

Humidity runs about 110% here (and should be a little worse by you than me).

I did buy a split AC unit for my workshop (which I absolutely love), but I don't keep it on 24/7.

The biggest problem I've found - don't open the garage door when it's raining. Especially if the the AC is on, that's guaranteed to cause condensation on everything - followed by rust if you miss some spots.

I also bought one of those digital thermometers / hygrometers. Lets me know when the humidity is out of control.

[Shawn Pixley]

I live on the beach and can share my practices. My shop is also my two car garage (used by cars daily). So everything is mobile and all tools have an enclosed "home" or in the case of large tools (Tablesaw, Drill Press etc.) they have covers.

My philosophy for rust prevent is initial protection and enclosure from the salt air and dust. This may be lest relevant for your situation, but where the salt/sand dust can settle, rust is sure to follow. Sawdust also attracts the salt, so minimizing that will help

Preparation
Hand tools will be wiped down with a rag with Camillia oil when first purchased and when put away. Most tools would be oiled or treated with Boeshield. All Power tool working surfaces get cleaned, oiled, Boeshield, and past wax (non-silicone). Sawdust exposed gears and relevant internal components get the dry Teflon lubricant.

Practice
All tools are cleaned and stored for the night in most cases (over a weekend, the tables or bandsaw might stay out in the closed up garage).

Storage situation

Large power tools
Tablesaw stored against wall. On top are two moving blankets. All accessories are in drawers or cabinet.
Drill Press has homemade table / fence. Head is covered with Cover when not in use. Column is greased and chuck is heavily oiled and wiped down.
Bandsaw has a cover for the oiled Boeshielded top.
Drum Sander, Mortiser, Planer have a plastic cover over them.
Hand Power tools - All in their cases or in a drawer.

Hand Tools
Planes all in socks, and in a cabinet drawer.
Chisels in a roll or case and then inside a drawer.
Saws in Homemade saw till
Everything else is a a drawer

I envy those who can leave their tools out...

[Rick Potter]

I saw a test somewhere in the interweb, done by fine woodworking, where they tested quite a few waxes, sprays, etc., for rust prevention. If I remember correctly, the winner was plain old WD40.

[Peter Quinn]

Rust needs moisture. Eliminate the moisture.

http://www.santa-fe-products.com

Not affiliated, I've been using one of these in my basement shop here in New England for around 8 years (100+ year old house, so no french drains, no sealed walls, etc). My tools don't rust because humidity is kept at 40%. Used to use consumer grade dehumidifier, and humidity was at the whim of nature just slightly attenuated. Plus they never lasted more than 18 months running flat out more than half the year. Spray and waxes don't protect innards and motors, and they don't protect your wood form wild humidity swings.

My father moved to Inverness area, lives on a canal, initially had a lot of rust in the garage shop...a lot of sweat too. Had the HVAC guys run an AC leg out there.......problem solved. Condition the space has always been my best approach.

[Robert Engel]

Julie,

I don't live near the ocean but I am in a very humid area of Florida. My shop is in a converted horse barn. It is closed up reasonably well, but not climate controlled.Rust and wood movement are constant problems.

I keep my hand planes in a cabinet with a tub of DampRid. I have weatherstripping on the doors. This works well for me. I recently ordered a dehumidfying rod (Golden rod for gun cabinets). I've also used Camphor cubes. I make sure to wipe all my tools down with Jotoba oil (or equivalent). In spite of what you hear, WD40 is your best friend. I douse everything down after using water stones.

You have to be extremely vigilant. If you haven't used a plane in a while, you should take the blade out and check for rust. Better yet, take it out of the plane and keep it in a sealed container wrapped in oil cloth. I use the little abrasive rubber eraser things they use on chef's knives to clean up the occasional rust start up.

As far as machinery, I've tried many different things. Wax does not work for me. I use Boeshield. I've tried covers I think they help a little.

Bottom line is when the machine is cool and the air is warm you're gonna get condensation. Be vigilant about the weather.

[Jim Andrew]

Not near the beach, and closer to the climate of Chicago than Florida, but when I only heated the shop when I worked in it, I had a rust problem on my machine tops. Tried Boeshield, still had some problems. So I cleaned up all the tops, and wiped spar finish on. Thin coat. It is now wearing off, and I keep the shop at 45 degrees when not working. No more rust. The spar finish keeps the tops rust free.

[Julie Moriarty]

Looks like I'll have to change a lot of my working habits. I think I am beginning to get why there are so few good hardwood stores down here - keeping the tools from rusting away is a career in itself!