Minwax works well on plane soles. It's a blend of oils, solvents and beeswax. I tend to prefer paraffin on soles, though. I think it lasts a bit longer.
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Minwax works well on plane soles. It's a blend of oils, solvents and beeswax. I tend to prefer paraffin on soles, though. I think it lasts a bit longer.
Member
Jake - Not sure if you're still reading this thread, but one of your questions wasn't directly addressed - re: oils/waxes and finishes for wood. Generally speaking, where this antecdote comes from is lubricating compounds that contain silicone and laquer. In particular, silicone compounds of various types and laquer are incompatible, and if the wood surface has silicone residue left on it, the laquer will "fish eye".
If you're using shellac, it would take a ridiculous amount of contamination to cause adhesion or puddling problems with silicone and other waxes - so much so that the contamination problem would be very obvious. Laquer is quite a bit fussier - just an imperceptible coating of a silicone based lubricant can cause real problems.
That's primarily why I don't use any "teflon" lubricants and/or automotive waxes in my shop.
One comment about Camilla oil, though - while perhaps a bit more earth-friendly than petroleum oils, it has one real irritating disadvantage - it will partially dry after a month or so to a sticky grunge that generally requires removal with a solvent. I do use it in my shop, as a plane in regular use won't really have the gunkiness problem, but for longer-term storage I use a thin 3 in 1 petroleum based oil because it won't dry - ever.
Regarding safety, any petroleum based lubricating oil sold to consumers is perfectly OK for skin contact - just because a compound's petroleum based doesn't make it unhealthy, nor are plant-derived compounds necessarily safe for direct contact. Solvents are a bit different, only in that they can remove skin oils and cause eczema if used frequently - the ones commonly available in a home center aren't toxic unless respirated (inhaled) in high concentrations.
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Why worry about it? You're "amazed" by how well WD-40 works (it does work). Have you had problems with anything you've built? Sounds like to me you are trying to solve a problem you don't even have but read somewhere on the internet that you might.Originally Posted by Jake Rothermel
Last edited by Steve Dallas; 04-02-2010 at 11:40 AM.
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i have a bottle of camilia and jotoba on my shelf. the camilla is a lower viscosity oil and is less messy for me to use. also, the solids in the jotoba oil precipitate out, i assume from the cold, requiring me to set the bottle in the sun for about 30 minutes to re-liquify the mixture.
i cant tell a performance difference between the two (i dont really use them that often) but for the reasons above would choose camilia oil.
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WD-40 is frequently stated by machinists to leave a dirty film that is very hard to remove if left long enough on a surface. I'd go with David Keller and recommend mineral oil. Starret's instrument oil is refined mineral oil.
Contributor
I'd still go with a gun oil as opposed to WD. Good old CLP works great for me as long as you wipe off the oil after appling only leaving an invisible film.
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One comment about Camilla oil, though - while perhaps a bit more earth-friendly than petroleum oils, it has one real irritating disadvantage - it will partially dry after a month or so to a sticky grunge that generally requires removal with a solvent. I do use it in my shop, as a plane in regular use won't really have the gunkiness problem, but for longer-term storage I use a thin 3 in 1 petroleum .[/QUOTE]
Interesting David, I wonder if my basement shop keeps a "level" amount of humidity that prevents this from occuring for me[so far]
I haven't seen this yet with my usage of Camilia oil, but I've got only 2 years experience with it at best. Maybe my shop is "too wet" for the drying out to happen that often.
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The "drying" isn't really drying - it's polymerization in the presence of oxygen. If you've not experienced, I'd guess that you've a different formulation, or you wipe the tools off frequently enough not to notice (which isn't a bad thing, of course - keeping all of the tools in use regularly!)
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Well, now I have to keep an eye out for this, as I don't use any of them regularly enough to not worry about this at least a little bit. Thanks for clearing it up, I HAD seen the WD-40 go through that polymerization or something like it over time, just not with the Camilia oil, yet
Or, I stay in my basement shop alot, polishing my tools and start talking to them ala Lord of the Rings,"my precious, my precious" , which isn't going to happen anyway.
I guess another "long term" storage oil choice is in my future
Last edited by Callan Campbell; 04-02-2010 at 10:55 PM. Reason: add-on info
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Callan - I've a few L-N tools that didn't get used for a few months due to other projects, and the factory-installed oil did gunkify to a very sticky, tenacious sludge. However, that gunk still did an excellent job of preventing rust. I found that laquer thinner worked nearly instantly where mineral spirits was slow or entirely ineffective, so if this occurs in your shop, you might try the LT.
[OP]
Member
Steve, you're right about my worrying about a problem I've yet to really have. In part, I fear contamination once I've started to buy really expensive tools that I do NOT want rusting (the antiques I buy and rehab I worry about less, maybe because they came to me rusty...?) but I wouldn't want my rust-paranoia interfering with the ACTUAL work or finish; which I'm fairly inexperienced with. Since I haven't had a problem with WD-40 yet, I don't think I'll be switching anytime soon. IF I ever do see gunk or find that it evaporates, etc, it seems like I might have to experiment with different materials as all of the lovely feedback still has me baffled somewhat. Philadelphia, PA is fairly dry in the winter and DARN humid in the summer; best of both worlds. Time will tell.
Thanks to all for the suggestions and help!
Please Pick One of the Following:
Built Correctly & Within Budget / Within Budget & Done Quickly / Done Quickly & Built Correctly
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WD-40 was invented as a water-displacement product, not for long-term rust prevention.
Camelia oil is not used much in Japan except as a hair treatment or other girly purposes. I currently live in Japan, where camelia oil as a beauty aid is now back in fashion again. The shelves are filled with hair treatments and skin moisturizers for the ladies. The camelia oil sold commercially for woodworking is not even pure camelia oil, but mineral oil with a bit of camelia oil and scent. Smells nice, but offers limited protection and is way over-priced.
As the previous post mentioned, camelia oil gets sticky and gummy over time. It is not suited for long term protection.
But if you like how it performs, you can save some money and use straight mineral oil (which has the advantage of not hardening or getting gummy), or a mineral-oil based furniture polish like Olde English, which has a nice lemony smell.
In my experience, Boeshield is the best long-term rust preventative, on the condition that the metal it is applied to is dead dry beforehand. It can trap water in the metal pores otherwise.
The bullfrog products also seem to work well, but the smell can be a problem.
After sharpening with waterstones, there is always water in the metal pores you need to get rid of ASAP. I have found that Corrosion Block works well to displace the water and provide lubrication. Not good for long-term storage, though, because it evaporates over time.
2 cents.
Stan
Member
...to George's suggestion, is the classic "3 in 1" oil (which David Keller suggested) the same thing as mineral oil?
Guest
I'd go with light mineral oil, too. It's food safe, so you don't have to worry about toxicity, and it's really cheap - like $12 a gallon at a food service supply place.
For planes, i paste wax the cheeks and sole once every six months or so - with briwax, because it dries fast enough you can do it just about as fast as you can oil a plane sole.
For planes that I know will never lay over on their sides, I pad a very light coat of shellac on the sides and the inside of the casting, and the paraffin on the bottom seems to keep most of the scuzz away otherwise. The shellac can be taken off with alcohol any time you decide you no longer want it, without hurting anything else on the plane, but it is a whole lot longer lasting than wax or oil.
I think camelia oil is recommended for two reasons:
1) it works well
2) you can sell it for enough money to make it worth selling, and tool buyers can't just easily find it elsewhere - which can't be said for mineral oil
light oils are a very temporary rust protectant, though, and don't work as well as a coat of paste wax on parts that don't see sharpening stones (where paste wax would be quickly run off). Joinery planes and specialty planes that don't get used often may show up with rust if you only use camelia or jojoba and let them sit somewhere for months without checking them.
Contributor
3-in-One Oil is a brand name for a general purpose lubricating oil created more than 100 years ago. The name is based on the products ability to do three things: clean, lubricate and protect.
The product contains pale spindle oil (> 98%) with a small amount of corrosion inhibitor (<1%) and citronella oil (< 0.5%).
The material data safety sheet says that prolonged exposure can cause irritation...
Side note: The 3-in-1 is now a brand, so, you need to check for the specific product, not the brand name (including a no-rust-shield meant for tools).
Citronella oil is natural (from leaves and stems of Cymbopogon). The oil is used in soap, perfumes, and as a flavor extract. In other words, it is pretty safe. I have no idea how it affects wood other than the fact that it has strong anti-fungal properties. Oh yes, and people use it as an insect repellent (nice that it is used in perfumes and soap).
So 3-in-1 is mostly spindle oil, which is a series of light colored and low viscosity oils meant to lubricate high speed spindles, which makes sense, because 3-in-1 was developed for use with bicycles.
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