Protecting and Storing My Tools Efficiently in a Tough Climate

[Kenneth Speed]

Dave Weaver's beeswax recipe sounds like a good idea that I may try although I don't know what it has to do with sanding.

I routinely wipe all my tools with an oily rag I keep in an uncovered quart paint can. Nothing fancy about the oil at all, in fact it's literally a Devils Brew of various light machine oils and the rag is....ummm....... unsightly to say the least but my tools stay very rust free. If you have hand tools that come apart like planes, disassemble them when you're done using them and clean them of trapped wood chips and use the oily rag. If there's anything I'm obsessive about it is oiling hand saw blades I ol them before and after I use them and sometimes I think I oil them just to be sure they're oiled!!! Like I said, obsessive!

Keeping tools in drawers is a good plan although I keep my planes and similar tools on two shelve of my workbench so they're quickly and easily accessible when I'm working. I wouldn't claim keeping my tools under my bench top is a perfect system, the tools get dusty too quickly, but it works fairly well for me.

I could be more disciplined about this but I try to put away tools I'm not using, especially edged tools; this minimizes both rust and inadvertent damage.

[David Posey]

What is pesticide beeswax? I've used a similar mixture on cutting boards and I'm wondering if I should be concerned.

This stuff is great on tools. You can vary the consistency of the mixture with different oil/wax ratios. The last batch I mixed was about the consistency of butter at room temperature. I used a double boiler to mix mine.

If anyone makes this, just be sure not to use direct heat as the flash point of mineral oil is fairly low.

[David Weaver]

Sorry, I edited my post to fix that. It's pesticide-free beeswax.

I don't know if that really matters, it doesn't to me, but it doesn't cost anything extra to get it vs. beeswax where it's not otherwise specified (I'd guess pesticides might mean stuff used to kill mites, etc, and other things that bother european honey bees - maybe a bee person could tell us).

I guess the important thing for cost reasons is to avoid liberon beeswax or whatever they're selling at michaels if it's in small amounts. what woodworking retailers want for beeswax and mineral oil is on the wrong side of nutty.

[David Weaver]

Dave Weaver's beeswax recipe sounds like a good idea that I may try although I don't know what it has to do with sanding.

Eddie castelin is someone who puts turning videos on youtube. I saw him use it once as a base for sanding and leveling a surface on a turning, and I figured it might be nice to have for tools. I guess for sanding it's a way to glom up the surface and keep all of the dust stuck to the piece to level the surface quickly.

I don't turn whole lot more than I have to, so I can't say how useful it would be for that. Certainly wouldn't be very good for hand sanding away from the lathe!

I keep a hunk of white scotchbrite (the stuff that doesn't really cut) loaded with a little bit of it and refresh it from the tub sometimes. White scotchbrite is a nice way to apply it because it has bite in the wax (to grab it easily) but not on the surface of old tools.

[Jim Rimmer]

I'm not sure that'll work in Texas, though. I lived in Houston for a couple years. It was dryer in the shower than outside in a H-town summer. .

It's a long way from Houston to Sherman (about 8 hour drive). You are right about the Houston humidity. Compared to Houston, Sherman is a desert. It can get pretty humid there though.

[Jim Neeley]

I use a "Gerstner" style http://www.gerstnerusa.com/CARTgallery5.htm wooden tool chest with roller base, placing VCI anti-corrosion emitting foam mats http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?...llow&cId=PDIO1 under my tools. For a couple of "high-value" drawers (like the one holding my L-N #8, #6, #5, #4-1/2 and #4) bench planes I add a $5 capsule emitterhttp http://www.lowes.com/pd_34995-46478-...3373774&rpp=24 to the drawer.

The original Gerstners are very high quality and mega-bucks but I found a cheap knock-off set on Craigslist for $150 (upper chest and lower rolling base on casters). An example of knockoffs can be found http://www.harborfreight.com/eight-d...est-94538.html. The balance of my WW tools are less accessible in a 24"x24"x42" metal toolbox (again, from Craigslist, $200).

Be aware the emitters are only valuable in areas that are usually enclosed, since they work by releasing a small amount of corrosion inhibitor which only works if it isn't blown away from the tools.

I'm closing on a new home (and shop!) today and have plans to build a wall cabinet to get the tools out of the metal toolbox but intend to keep the "gerstner" because it's so handy having the majority of my tools at my fingertips. It's worked for me for the last several years, preventing 100% of the rust; I don't live in a long-term 100% humidity area but it does get there from time to time!! Give it a little consideration. It's another approach.

Jim

[Frederick Gross]

I blow the dust off and apply a light coat of Camilla oil before they go back in the tool box. I have a shop made applicator made out of PVC pipe and a rolled up t-shirt to apply the Camilla oil.

[Carl Beckett]

The cabinet heaters will keep the temp up and thus relatively less humidity. They will only work via temperature though (another alternative might be an insulated box and an under the floor type heater). But in HOT humid climates it gets harder.

When I lived in Puerto Rico I vacuum packed all the tools I wasnt using in food vacuum pack bags with oil sprayed in. A little extreme, but they didnt rust!! (EVERYTHING else rusted).

The very best thing is to USE them a lot.

Also I use the T-9.

Regular wipe down with wax.

Bring them inside when possible (inside to a controlled climate area).

Some combination of all of the above. (meaning, I have never really resolved this issue). One time I opened my shop door and warm moist air came in and immediately condensed on every surface since it was cooler inside the shop overnight.

[Dustin Keys]

Thanks so much for all the help guys! It looks like the preference is for tool chests and there have been a lot of great rust prevention tips. The camphor blocks and goldenrod sound like really great ideas that I wasn't aware of. The camphor is really cheap, so I may start with that and see how it works for me. Now to start looking over tool chest plans....

I think you guys are right about the chest growing with me as long as I build it fairly large and use a pretty generic interior design for the time being. Most of the ones I've seen use open sliding trays, so that wouldn't lock me into any particular tools. I will be careful to build it in such a way that I can easily reconfigure it as I begin to hone in on what my main tools are. It is likely that I'll buy or build another house in the years to come, so a customized wall cabinet may make more sense at that time.

D

[george wilson]

I keep a goldenrod in my gun cabinet.

[Charlie Stanford]

Thanks so much for all the help guys! It looks like the preference is for tool chests and there have been a lot of great rust prevention tips. The camphor blocks and goldenrod sound like really great ideas that I wasn't aware of. The camphor is really cheap, so I may start with that and see how it works for me. Now to start looking over tool chest plans....

I think you guys are right about the chest growing with me as long as I build it fairly large and use a pretty generic interior design for the time being. Most of the ones I've seen use open sliding trays, so that wouldn't lock me into any particular tools. I will be careful to build it in such a way that I can easily reconfigure it as I begin to hone in on what my main tools are. It is likely that I'll buy or build another house in the years to come, so a customized wall cabinet may make more sense at that time.

D

In the meantime the only thing standing between you and complete rust protection (especially on rarely used tools) is the 89 cents you'll have to pay for a small jar of generic petroleum jelly at any drug or grocery store.

If you run across camphor, pesticide-free beeswax, or camelia oil down at Walgreen's please let us all know.

[David Keller NC]

Dustin - The best rust protection isn't film-forming anti-corrosion compounds, nor any sort of oil or wax.

The best protection is to lower the humidity to less than about 60%. Yes, you can do this in a tool chest, a tool cabinet, a few rubbermaid boxes, and other enclosures. But that doesn't fix the overall problem - you mentioned your shop (garage) is way too hot and humid to work in during the summer.

So why not fix both problems at once? Spend about $200 on some pink paper-lined insulation, and another $300 on a window-mount heat pump. These modern heat pumps are extraordinarily efficient compared to the old-school window air conditioning units, and they have the bonus of allowing you to heat your shop in the winter. You can set your heat pump at a relatively high temperature (e.g., 85 deg F) when you're not in the shop to save electricity, and lower it to a more comfortable working temperature when desired. As long as the heat pump runs intermittenly about once every hour or so, it will keep the humidity in your shop well below the rust point, and will also considerably reduce the complexity in calculations/judgment needed to factor in the wood movement you'll experience in your projects when you move them from a hot and humid space to the inside of your home when they're complete.

[Charlie Stanford]

Dustin - The best rust protection isn't film-forming anti-corrosion compounds, nor any sort of oil or wax.

The best protection is to lower the humidity to less than about 60%. Yes, you can do this in a tool chest, a tool cabinet, a few rubbermaid boxes, and other enclosures. But that doesn't fix the overall problem - you mentioned your shop (garage) is way too hot and humid to work in during the summer.

So why not fix both problems at once? Spend about $200 on some pink paper-lined insulation, and another $300 on a window-mount heat pump. These modern heat pumps are extraordinarily efficient compared to the old-school window air conditioning units, and they have the bonus of allowing you to heat your shop in the winter. You can set your heat pump at a relatively high temperature (e.g., 85 deg F) when you're not in the shop to save electricity, and lower it to a more comfortable working temperature when desired. As long as the heat pump runs intermittenly about once every hour or so, it will keep the humidity in your shop well below the rust point, and will also considerably reduce the complexity in calculations/judgment needed to factor in the wood movement you'll experience in your projects when you move them from a hot and humid space to the inside of your home when they're complete.

If somebody held a gun to my head I'd bet the OP has thought/dreamed of putting a/c in his garage. I doubt there are any woodworkers in Texas working in garages who haven't.

[Dustin Keys]

Dustin - The best rust protection isn't film-forming anti-corrosion compounds, nor any sort of oil or wax.

The best protection is to lower the humidity to less than about 60%. Yes, you can do this in a tool chest, a tool cabinet, a few rubbermaid boxes, and other enclosures. But that doesn't fix the overall problem - you mentioned your shop (garage) is way too hot and humid to work in during the summer.

So why not fix both problems at once? Spend about $200 on some pink paper-lined insulation, and another $300 on a window-mount heat pump. These modern heat pumps are extraordinarily efficient compared to the old-school window air conditioning units, and they have the bonus of allowing you to heat your shop in the winter. You can set your heat pump at a relatively high temperature (e.g., 85 deg F) when you're not in the shop to save electricity, and lower it to a more comfortable working temperature when desired. As long as the heat pump runs intermittenly about once every hour or so, it will keep the humidity in your shop well below the rust point, and will also considerably reduce the complexity in calculations/judgment needed to factor in the wood movement you'll experience in your projects when you move them from a hot and humid space to the inside of your home when they're complete.

I don't have a window, so I would have to use a portable A/C unit. The problem is that the heat is just too much. I would have to spend a lot more than $500 to make this work, and even then it wouldn't work very well. When we come home in the evening, it's still 100* or so. Opening the garage door for a few minutes for my wife to park the car and unload along with the radiating heat from my wife's car (which is black) being in there is just too much for one of these units to recover from in any reasonable period of time. It would be an expensive and inefficient project that just wouldn't work very well. It's a nice thought, but I just don't think it will work. My garage door and outside wall catch direct sunlight almost all day. I would love air conditioning, but it would cost too much and I'm considering moving in a year or two so I don't want to spend the money on a permanent solution.

I just work with other hobbies during the hottest part of the summer. I never have a shortage of things to keep me busy!

D

[David Kuzdrall]

I built a tool chest based on the book from Schwarz in Dec. To address the corrosion, I included a Goldenrod dehumidifier and corrosion emitters on the bottom drawer and under the lid. I always use camellia old and so far I have ZERO issues with rust of any kind. I am working out of a 2-car garage so I am in a similar situation.