Tool Protection

[rick o'brien]

I just bought a new bandsaw, and I'm wonderring on how to keep it from getting rust spots. My shop is next to Lake Ontario.[fresh water] I bought some tool wax from Lee Valley,but should I use something else, or with this product? A friend next to me said to cover it with a canvas tarp that has some linseed oil on it when I'm not using the machine.

[sandingblock]

I use beeswax thinned out with motor oil.

Jonny.

[PeterSibley]

I use beeswax dissolved in turpintine .Just the thing for bright steel .

[kc8pql]

Car wax.

[Canoeyawl]

I use clear laquer
(shop is near enough to the beach to have salt flavored fog)

[Woxbox]

Is there any way to keep the humidity down in the shop? That's the best line of defense. My shop's in the basement but a simple dehumidifier keeps it down to 60 percent, and that solves the problem 100%.

[Mrleft8]

I try to keep oil and wax off of my machine surfaces. BUT..... There is this product called T-9 Boeshield which is very good at protecting cast iron from rusting. It dries so you don't have that gunky WD-40/dust issue. An old friend recently told me that he uses PolyEthylene Glycol on his machine surfaces....

[Benchdog]

All of the above seem to work. I'm not too sure about the linseed oil tarp but I guess if you were going to store it for a long time maybe something like that would be good. I'd use a non curing oil if I was going to go that route.

-I worked In one boatyard where we used to just wipe everything down with kerosene every week or so.

-I worked in another where we used the Boeshield spray.

-Now in my own shop I tend to use wax (used to use Butchers, can ran out, currently using minwax). Type doesn't seem to matter. I would think caranuba over beeswax would be better for this sort of thing.
I have a can of Boeshield. Sometimes I use that on saw blades (things get particularly damp and salty around here at the end of the summer).

- Regardless of what I use It seems like I'm always dealing with a little rust now and then.

[Hughman]

I like to have the Swedish swim team come in and rub everything down with baby oil.....oh, wait......nevermind.

[Lew Barrett]

Tools that are both kept and used in a boat shed are a tough problem.
I have little containers I keep important hand tools in, and will bring them on and off the boat if I really like them. Otherwise, the boat shed is consigned to "working tools" that are understood to be consigned to the boat shed. No great, heirloom chisels, important planes or the like.

Boeshield is a decent product, but hasn't stood the test of time for me. Car wax on tool surfaces, but be aware that internals will rust too, and they are harder to protect. It's just not a very friendly environment for power tools unless you can keep it heated in the cold weather, or de-humidified.....an expensive and somewhat self defeating problem. Best to keep the tools busy as possible, and then get them out of there when you're done with them, or understand they will develop some patina in this environment. You never see really beautiful portable power tools in the hands of shipwrights.

[rick o'brien]

Thanks for the advice. Rick

[Frank Wentzel]

You do not want linseed oil soaked tarps in your shop. Sooner or later you may have a bit of a problem with spontaneous combustion. Oil wet rags are a sure receipe for disaster!

/// Frank ///

.

[ssor]

Mr. Smalser will come in here pretty soon with a suggestion for Oxpho-blue from Brownells.

[Jay Greer]

While everbody has their own favorite concotions for preventing rust from forming on tools and other surfaces, I have found that camelia oil works best for me. I have used this procduct for more than thirty years to keep my chisels, plane blades, and other steel surfaces free of rust. This is the same oil that is used to protect Samurai swords from rust. The Japan Wood Worker in Alameda CA or Hida tool Works can supply you with this product.
Jay

[pcford]

While everbody has their own favorite concotions for preventing rust from forming on tools and other surfaces, I have found that camelia oil works best for me. I have used this procduct for more than thirty years to keep my chisels, plane blades, and other steel surfaces free of rust. This is the same oil that is used to protect Samurai swords from rust. The Japan Wood Worker in Alameda CA or Hida tool Works can supply you with this product.
Jay

Or Hardwicks in Seattle.

Hardwicks...one of the best reasons to live in Seattle.

[John C. Gresham]

I use beeswax dissolved in turpintine .Just the thing for bright steel .

Is there a specific ratio to use that, or does it not even matter? Just mix the two and voila?

[Lew Barrett]

Bladed tools are easier to protect. A bandsaw presents a different sort of problem. I note that a lot of the responses are directed at keeping tables and blades free of rust, and that's possible using some of the approaches mentioned. Keeping all the critical areas of a bandsaw protected will be very much more difficult, and that's what I was making reference to. Spare blades, even blued ones, will rust in a matter of months. The table is the least of the challenges in this regard. Chinese metalurgy does not seem to decrease the issues. Chasing down corrosion and rust in a "semi-marine" environment means spending some time observing which parts corrode, and where to put lubrication and energy and where to accept the inevitable. Like I said, I don't leave tools I really care about in the boatshed. They travel to the job and come home when it's done.
Peter's wooden saw (if I recall correctly...Peter S. had one that was a marvel of wooden engineering) would be just the ticket for a nasty, wet, spider and otter infested boathouse like mine!

[Canoeyawl]

I keep my bandsaw blades coiled up in a trash bag with a bit of volatile corrosion inhibitor (VCI oil) dribbled into the bag.
Coils of unwelded blades are kept the same way.

A mineral based oil, VCI oil (CAT) is useful for winter storage of engines, gearboxes, fuel tanks, firearms, toolboxes and etc. I dribble a bit into a tunafish can and put it inside lockers, toolboxes and anything that may be critical to corrosion.

[rick o'brien]

I solved my concern. We got an apartment that is a 4 minute bike ride away from the boat,and turned the back room into a workshop. Before this, I had constructed a shrink-wrapped dome around the boat. Not the best place to keep expensive machinery. Thanks again for all the advice. p.s. I don't know how the "smiley" with the shades made it on my post.