Got Rust?

[Sawdust_]

Ok some background first: My 100 year old stand alone garage is leaky as a sieve. It's a work in progress. I have insulated one and a half of the walls with rigid insulation and sprayfoam around the edges and I've put up OSB on one wall but I still have a lot of work to do and its taken me a year to get this far. So a dehumidifier is pointless until I finish sealing things up.

So back to the title: all my had tools are rusting. I do the soak in vinegar trick and polish things up somewhat but the rust reappears. spraying WD-40 on things delays the rust some but doesn't stop it. Bowling wax on the table saw applied once a year seems to work for that tool.
Bose shield and CRC work fine but they leave a gummy film on the tools that makes them not fun to work with.

Does anyone have any tricks up their sleeve for either stopping the rust in the first place or coating the tools to stop it coming back?

 

[bdbecker]

There is no magic solution to this problem, you either need to protect the tools from moisture or take the moisture out of the air, which means you've got to choose having an oily/gummy film on your tools or running a dehumidifier. Desiccant packs in the tool box are an option, but they are basically just mini dehumidifiers in principle. I suppose you could paint your tools, but I doubt that's something you'd want to do.

Having dealt with this myself, I prefer to run a dehumidifier. Even without a sealed garage, once the bulk of the moisture is out of the air, they really don't have to work that hard as long as you are careful about keeping the doors and windows closed. Dry air also makes for much more comfortable work environment, even when its hot in the garage.

 

[PelicanPines]

Ive had luck with Fluid Film on my cast iron table surfaces. It smells ... but works.

I will add... I live 800 feet from the bay... right at the inlet to the Atlantic.

 

[matt_i]

Fluid Film works but I prefer LPS3 from a trigger spray bottle.

1 gallon LPS3- can and 5 gallon FLuid film -pail to support.

The LPS3 seems to go on a bit drier. Two ways are to let the wet coat dry or to wipe it on and wipe some off with a paper towel for a thinner coat.

I paint the FF on outdoor vehicles with a brush.

Boeshield T9 I find is the least greasy for your finest instruments. But also eye poppingly expensive.

There are other products which do the job well. Those are the ones I happen to use.

Having a ceiling or box fan to keep air moving 24x7 also really helps with water condensing on "stuff".

 

[Metallitubby]

Boeshield T9 I find is the least greasy for your finest instruments. But also eye poppingly expensive.

Yes it is.

OP: The shop I once worked in halfway burned down, so when the fire department came in and hosed down the remainder of the building, everyone's tools flash-rusted. I've spent years trying to restore everything to it's original shine, but I've never been able to. I feel your (rusty) pain.

 

[karoc]

This works for me, I put the blocks in my tool boxes which will last about couple months and it smells good. That works if you keep it close up when not in use. Then next is this spray which I will spray a cloth rag and wipe down anything that I don't want to rust,which may require you to do couple time then maybe once month after. I use this on my TS, BS,mill and lathes,planer and jointer and all my hand tools.

 

[nadogail]

Steel + water in any form = Rust

Either eliminate one or Deal With It.

 

[MushCreek]

The culprit at my place is temperature change. Warm, humid weather after a cold snap makes everything sweat- even the floor. Keeping the doors shut helps. Covering surfaces helps, too. I moved my milling machine away from the door, and that helped a lot with preventing rust. Some people's body chemistry promotes rust on things they handle. I'm just the opposite; tools I handle regularly don't rust as much as the ones I don't. I worked with a guy that could pick up an oily part, and withing minutes you could see his fingerprints on it. We used to ask him what the hell he ate!

 

[HenryAZ]

In the millwork shop where I worked years ago, whenever we had a 3 day weekend, we would heavily soak all cast iron table surfaces with a mixture of 50/50 kerosene and motor oil. When we came back, most of it had been absorbed into the cast iron, so we just wiped the little left with a cloth and went back to work. In the 25 years I worked there, we never had any rust problem with the cast iron. This was in MD, so there was humidity.

 

[bugnut]

If you can keep the air moving it will help. A box or ceiling fan running 24x7 helped me solve a majority of my rusting issues

 

[karoc]

In the millwork shop where I worked years ago, whenever we had a 3 day weekend, we would heavily soak all cast iron table surfaces with a mixture of 50/50 kerosene and motor oil. When we came back, most of it had been absorbed into the cast iron, so we just wiped the little left with a cloth and went back to work. In the 25 years I worked there, we never had any rust problem with the cast iron. This was in MD, so there was humidity.

I will have to borrow that good tip, sounds like the old school methods. Plain & simple. Thanks for sharing

 

[Showkey]

If you can keep the air moving it will help. A box or ceiling fan running 24x7 helped me solve a majority of my rusting issues

This keeps coming up............moving humid air around does NOT solve the problem. Hashed and rehashed in a dozen threads on the topic.

Yes...if your running dehumidifier and you want to move the air in large building......that has some merit.

 

[manwithtools]

This keeps coming up............moving humid air around does NOT solve the problem. Hashed and rehashed in a dozen threads on the topic.

Yes...if your running dehumidifier and you want to move the air in large building......that has some merit.

Well, it may not SOLVE the problem, but it can help mitigate it.

 

[Showkey]

Well, it may not SOLVE the problem, but it can help mitigate it.

Try measuring and tracking humidity levels in the problem area........then get back to us.

Hint .......it ( fan) does not change humidity levels. If the building is not Very well sealed the humidity level change would be effected by the outside humidity levels. Some days down....most days up.

Then add the mold spores.....stirring them up and spreading them is also counter productive. They need a certain humidity level to thrive.

 

[mille755]

The fan will not change the humidity, but it will bring the condensing object up to room temperature more quickly, maybe the same amount of condensation over a shorter time. Then the object can dry, assuming that the air temp is not at dewpoint.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I have found PB Blaster delays it slightly longer than WD40 but as far as long term I’m not sure


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[glentre]

This keeps coming up............moving humid air around does NOT solve the problem. Hashed and rehashed in a dozen threads on the topic.

Yes...if your running dehumidifier and you want to move the air in large building......that has some merit.

Most of these condensation problems happen in the spring when there are cool nights and warm humid days. In these instances, the temperature at night in the garage falls below the dew point of the moist and warm morning air and if the doors are opened, condensation forms. Because of normal air stratification and colder concrete that is still in contact with earth that has not yet warmed up from the winter, the floor and objects near them can be much cooler than the air near the ceiling. A fan blowing air down from the warmer ceiling can help increase the temperature near the floor to raise the dew point to prevent condensation. Same reason in the spring you get dew on your grass in the morning and not on the tree leaves.

Glen

 

[Sawdust_]

I love this forum. I now have a few more options to try out, while I continue to seal up the old place.
1) Use the dehumidifier even in the leaky old building
2) Get a box fan
3) Buy some fluid film and some Maxfilm - both less expensive than some of the others I've tried (yes I have tried boseshield and LPS)

 

[rattle_snake]

I moved to desert. No more rust. Probably not helpful but worked for me. good luck.

 

[My Old Tools]

Yes, fans do help. They keep condensation from forming just like fans in an orchard keep frost from forming, up to a point. They also dry things quicker instead of having it sit in a pool on a surface. Try it, it works, up to a point.

 

[ZRX61]

Terrarium heater pad from the pet store under the bottom drawer of your toolbox will keep the whole stack toasty & humidity free. Put it between a pair of large ceramic tiles.
Hole drilled in the back for the power cord.

 

[santagary]

No humidity in Pagosa Springs Colorado....very dry...even the snow is powder at 7600'