rusty tools

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
My shop is in a one car garage in the basement of a hillside house. My lathe and corresponding tools are in the back corner of the garage. There is no ventilation except when the big door is open in nice weather. The corner is where my well pipes come in and I also have the water softener. In other words, lot of pipes. In summer there is some sweating of the pipes and moisture. I have never had a big problem with rust. Most of my lathe tools are just fine. But, yesterday I found the Marples brand tools were quite rusty. :eek: Others are OK. Must be a different steel. BTW: "others" includes some antique 'cast steel' some old Craftsman and newer name brands.
This Marple skew is going to take some work to get clean again. As a precaution I'm going to put Johnson paste wax on all tools as I do the beds of my large tools.
 

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Even removing the rust usually leaves a small amount in pits. Most hardwear stores carry a product (such as Rust Mort, Ospho, or a store brand) which chemically changes iron oxide (rust) to iron phosphate (not rust). Then you are sure the rust is taken care of. I pour mine into a spray bottle and a light coat is all that is needed. I usually go back over with steel wool afterwards.
Note: The rust will turn black. You can wax or paint on top of it.
It is usually about $16 a quart but that last me 3-4 years easy.
 
0000 steel wool and kerosene or mineral spirits will get it off and then wax the daylights out of it.
If you are going to store them for awhile a light coat of oil will help. then just wipe them down with mineral spirits when you are going to use them.
My shop is in a damp basement and I am always contending with rust on the lesser used tools.
You might consider sealing your walls and floor with ugl drylock. That will help and run a fan down there to keep the air moving. It will help keep things a bit dryer
 
You could build a wall cabinet to put them in and put in a small 5 watt bulb. It will keep it dry. Or a gun safe store will have a golden rod which does the same thing. That is why so many old junk fridges are in shops, great place to store welding rods, a little bulb and they will stay dry.
 
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