hand plane rust prevention

[Kevin Hartnett]

Greetings all,

I don't do much hand planing, but over the weekend I needed to do some touch up and unwrapped one of my three planes. They were wrapped in cloth and placed on a top shelf in my shop -- I'm in Huntsville, Alabama.

When I unwrapped the block plane I was distressed to see lots of rust spots. The other two planes also had rust spots. I spent a couple of hours sanding off the rust using various grades of paper and emory cloth. I coated everything with wax, but I had done that previously.

Now I wonder, what's the best way to store planes -- made mostly of iron -- so they don't rust up with infrequent use. Cloth is out since it apparently attracts moisture. What about wrapping them in leather or some artificial material, e.g. ziplock bags. What about one of those vacuum sealers for storing food?

I now have my planes in a plastic container that won't let any new moisture in, but there is probably some moisture in the air inside the container. Is there a good dessicant I could buy at one of the Borgs?

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Kevin H.

[Joe Close]

Sealing them in a plastic bag will do no good w/o a desicaint <sp>. And even sealed w/ desicaint can fail long term.

Rust prevention was justy discussed http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ght=protecting

[JohnMorgan of Lititz]

I know Lie-Nielsen had some sort of packing paper that you could purchase for storage - same stuff that they would wrap and store their planes in.

I keep mine on the till and always always always always always keep a coat of camelia oil on them...i had a plane rust up once and that was it. Every week if the planes go unused, they get a wipe down with a special rag I keep in a zip lock. That rag is only used for my handplanes and only ever has camelia oil sprayed on it.

Same procedure when the planes are used. Soon as i'm finished working with them the shaving dust is brushed off and they are wiped down and placed on the till.

[Todd Burch]

I know three effective ways to keep down rust.

1) Use the tool

2) Store in a cabinet with a small light on 24x7 (akin to a bathroom night light)

3) Store with camphor blocks and let the camphor sublime and coat the tool with it's oily self.

[Jim Koepke]

Greetings all,

I don't do much hand planing, but over the weekend I needed to do some touch up and unwrapped one of my three planes. They were wrapped in cloth and placed on a top shelf in my shop -- I'm in Huntsville, Alabama.

When I unwrapped the block plane I was distressed to see lots of rust spots. The other two planes also had rust spots. I spent a couple of hours sanding off the rust using various grades of paper and emory cloth. I coated everything with wax, but I had done that previously.

Paper tends to attract moisture and will hold on to it. I have had planes rust up in less than a month when wrapped in news print. Some papers will attract more moisture than others. Waxed paper does not absorb much at all, news print and other soft papers likely absorb the most.

Cloth will breath better than paper. It might be better to store your planes unwrapped.

Silica gel is a very useful desiccant. It can be dried in an oven and used virtually for ever.

jim

[Tom Adger]

Being in FL, I have a constant problem with rust, be it a hand plane, jointer, table saw, etc. I use mineral spirits and one of those green scotchbrite pads to get the rust and crude off the surface. Then I use Boeshield T9. I wipe it off before it gets dry, or it will be gummy. Then I use Johnsons paste wax. As far as hand planes, chisels, drill bits, etc., anything that can be put in a container or bag, I take a couple of pieces of paper towel, wet it with WD40, and put it inside the container. It does a good job of keeping the moisture in the air away from the tool.

[Richard Dooling]

There are several brands of vapor emitters that coat metal in enclosed tool storages areas. I used to use camphor and I think it helped. I am currently using the emitters that Wood Craft has started selling but have not had them long enough to comment. I have also started coating everything with camellia oil. It's is very light and easy to wipe off the tool handle and my hands.

Another reason not to use cheap paper like news print and most other paper is that most paper is manufactured using an acid process. Better papers are buffered to achieve a more neutral pH but I imagine they don't bother to do this with newspaper.

One other traditional solution is to store tools in an enclosed cabinet with a low wattage light bulb burning. The bit of dry heat helps keep the moisture in the air low, but you are burning electrons and I don’t think it’s necessary if you keep everything oiled.


.

[Casey Gooding]

Also being in the deep south, here's what I do. It's very simple. After I use the tool, I wipe all the fingerprints and dust off with a rag that's been doused with whatever oil is handy (camellia, WD-40, 3-in-1, whatever). It keeps the rust to almost nothing. I don't wrap them in anything. Only stick them in my tool cabinet (which doesn't even have doors).

[Harry Goodwin]

I live in Carolina and find that leaving them on the bench or a till open to air is better than hiding them away by another means. My hanging tools chisels ect. all do better out in the air. I also put renaissance wax on them and candle wax during use. I also put that moisture paccket that comes with electronics annd pills in drawers that contain precious tools.
Harry

[JohnMorgan of Lititz]

I know three effective ways to keep down rust.

1) Use the tool

2) Store in a cabinet with a small light on 24x7 (akin to a bathroom night light)

3) Store with camphor blocks and let the camphor sublime and coat the tool with it's oily self.

Now that's a new one to me! Fantastic idea!

[Kevin Hartnett]

Thanks again for all the good replies. I'm going to try a combination of methods. First, coat each plane with a wax/oil mix. Second, store in a plastic container to keep out moisture. Third, use silica gel to absorb any moisture that seeps in or is present in the plastic container.

I found a good source of silica gel on the web at www.silicagelpackets.com
and ordered two types: one is a 200 gm cardboard package here; another is an 40 gm aluminum canister here.

These are both 'rechargable,' which means once they have absorbed their maximum amount of moisture, you just stick them in the oven at 270 or so and drive out all the moisture so you can keep using them!

Each type is about $10 and, best of all, there is no delivery charge in the US!

Once I've got this system going, I'll report on how effective I find it. This may take a few months but I'll revisit this thread with my findings.

Thanks again,

Kevin H.

[Richard Dooling]

I had trouble finding the big silica packs locally till someone suggested going to a gun shop. Apparently collectors use them in their cabinets. I have heard that they are cheaper there than in tool stores.

They work but they have to be reactivated (dried) in an oven and here in Tidewater Virginia that's pretty often.

[David Keller NC]

Regarding the gun shop solution - there are such things called "golden rods" that are sold for inclusion in gun safes. They are essentially small heaters - the advantage over a light bulb is a regulated temperature, even heat, and I'd guess they'd last a lot longer than an incandescent bulb:

http://www.goldenroddehumidifiers.com/introduction.htm

[Gordon LaVere]

about $13.00 for 7.2 pounds


I use Silica Jell Crystals. You can buy them at some pet stores. WARNING

Buy and use only the kind that does NOT have the Blue crystals in it.


THIS above is correct




Not this.




It works on my collection of Hand meat grinders

[Richard Dooling]

Great tip Gordon!

I Googled ExquisiCat Pearl Drops as desiccant and found a description where one guy advises using mason jars with a screen top. He has put some of the desiccant that changes color into these so he still knows when it’s time to recharge. Since it's in mason jars it can go right in the oven.

Cheap, cheap, cheap!