Do all clamps rust or just the cheap ones?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

I’ve bought a lot of Pittsburg brand clamps from Harbor Freight, and even though HF isn’t renowned for great tools, I’ve read a lot of postings that say that their clamps are ok.

But mine keep rusting. I have to keep them in my garage, and there is a lot of humidity, but is there any way that I can keep rust off them?

If I bought expensive clamps like Bessey, would they also rust?

Thanks,
Louis

[Scott Conners]

Iron rusts. Steel contains iron, so it too rusts. You can either use clamps made of non-ferrous material (like aluminum), coated steel clamps (chromed steel etc) or put something on the steel ones to prevent oxidation. Oil is used on machine tooling, but oil on raw wood can mess with finishes. I've heard good things about boeshield T9 for cast iron saw tables and the like, I imagine it'd work on clamps too. I use paste wax on my cast iron, either johnson's or renaissance wax. Wax will also mess with finishes, so try not to get it on the wood.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

T-9 is also a lubricant. I put some on my lathe bed ways, and now my banjo and tailstock slips a bit. I guess it will continue to slip until the T-9 goes away. If you're putting that on pipe clamps, it may cause them to slip...... Oh, I think T-9 works great. It should, it's really expensive.
Iron rusts..... Some more than others. I think cheap steel rusts more and faster than pricey steels you get in better clamps. For example, I got a pair of nameless bar clamps from a garage sale. 10 bucks. They seem to rust faster than my Jorges or Besseys. My Jet clamps are so well chromed, they haven't started to rust......

Just my .02.

[Jerome Hanby]

What about Camellia Oil. I read that it prevents rust but doesn't mark wood...

[george wilson]

Some cast iron is probably more porous than others,especially cheap Chinese cast iron. Why don't you paint their cast iron components?

Re: The lathe. Hardened beds are slippery anyway. I made some simple wooden sticks. Square on 1 end,and a 90 degree crotch on the other. Make some of different lengths,and wedge one at the rear base of the tailstock and down against a rib in the bed's casting. The ram of the tailstock has to be able to reach the work. This worked fine for drilling big holes with my tailstock in my 16" lathe.

[Jim Foster]

Some Cast Iron rust a lot more than others. It could also be the chemical makeup specified by the manufacturer.

Some cast iron is probably more porous than others,especially cheap Chinese cast iron. Why don't you paint their cast iron components?

[george wilson]

I don't think some cast iron made in China is specified at all !!!

[Chris Kennedy]

What about Camellia Oil. I read that it prevents rust but doesn't mark wood...

My experience with camellia oil is that it has limited capabilities. I used it when I lived in the north without any problem. When I moved down here to coastal Virginia, it couldn't keep up with the humidity.

I cannot prove it, but I think sweat will dissolve camellia oil. Soon after I moved down here, I found rust fingerprints on my camellia-protected planes.

Cheers,

Chris

[Chip Lindley]

Better clamps have plated steel surfaces AND painted cast iron! My old Pony #50 screws get rusty, but the orange and black stays shiny! The bars of my older Jorgensen bar clamps rusted, whereas the newer ones have bright plated bars.

I disassembled all my older ones and ran them through a wire wheel on my pedestal grinder. Then I used a toothbrush to get paste wax into all the screw threads and wiped down the steel bars. Paste wax will not attract dust like WD40 etc.

[John Harden]

If it's ferrous, it'll rust. Always remember that even stainless steel is called that for a reason. It's stain less, not stain proof.

Boeshield is your friend here.

Regards,

John

[Guy Belleman]

Many years ago when I was starting out, I bought pipe clamps and used galvanized pipe. In the beginning, every year I would oil the screw from an oil can, then I started to spray them, and now I use a dry lubricant. They all work and well.

I have also succumbed to the "good deals" at HF. I no longer buy from them. The products are just to low of quality for me, do not last, or are not reliable.

I now also have a few Bessey clamps. They don't seem to be chrome plated, maybe an alloy. They have no rust on them. Just a little dry lubricant on the threaded tightening screw. Of course, they are much more expensive than my old faithful pipe clamps.

Not sure painting your clamps will solve the problem. Paint may just gum up the smooth sliding of the clamp. Sounds like your shop is very humid. If so, you will always be performing a lot of preventive maintenance on your tools.

[Jude Tuliszewski]

I am in the Tampa Bay area and my shop/garage is exposed to the humidity year round. My good clamps have no rust to speak of. Yes, the cheap stuff will rust.

[Frank Drew]

My experience with Bessey k-body clamps mirrors Guy's -- they didn't rust but my heavy duty Jorgensen's and Record, both t-bar and regular, all did to one degree or another.

On stationary equipment, I found that the untreated cast iron surfaces resisted rust better than the untreated steel surfaces, for whatever reason.

[george wilson]

Years ago when I had a low shop budget at work,I ordered some cast iron head c clamps from Enco. All of them had their screws threaded in at a sideways angle,and were like they had been sprung from over tightening except they were new. I never used them because they were not usable.

[David DeCristoforo]

Get the ones made of plastic and aluminum. They never rust. They just break!