Stopping rust on anything iron in the shop

[Alan Lightstone]

Largo, here, so we're close and have the same weather.

If you can have a small hole through one wall (not the garage door) you can get a split AC unit. They work awesome down here.

Just google split AC. You'll see what they are.

[Mike Spector]

A lot of good solutions from everyone, no doubt. What I've found that works is WORK. Yes, common old work, like using the tools every day, a lot. A fan moving air doesn't hurt either. Oh, I live at the intersection of the Sabine River and the Gulf. My stuff gets rusty too, if I don't use it.

[William M Johnson]

If you are really sick of it then I recommend "rust blueing " the surface. Wipe with lacquer thinner or other oil remover. Wipe with muriatic acid. Let sit and allow to rust over night. Knock the rust off with steel wool or real fine wire wheel. Repeat, repeat, repeat etc. you will eventually get a dark brown patina. This has been used on fine shotguns for 200 years. Brownell's has all the products you need including the fine wire wheel. I have done this on many double barrel shotguns. Works great just a lot of work.
It will take several applications before you get a uniform color across the top

[Brian Gumpper]

Paul,

I see you are in FL so not sure if you have a pool but I'll tell you what caused me great rust issues until I was informed. It was a bucket of chlorine tabs in the garage causing everything to rust; tops, screws, saws ... anything metal, even items still in the package. Once I moved out the chlorine, all has been good.

Just an FYI just in case.

[Bob Bouis]

Mini split air conditioners do need drains, but for a small premium you can get a condensate pump that can carry the water up and out (or into a drain in your house or attic).

[Andrew DiLorenzo]

Climate control can be very difficult for a renter. I suggest either coating the top with polyurethane as a woodworking youtube guy has done or, top the saw with plastic laminate. I knew a guy with a cabinet shop who did this and his top was smooth, and of course laminate does not rust. He lost 1/16 " of cutting depth. I suppose when the laminate wears out he can resurface it, and no doubt he recycled leftover laminate for his saw as needed. Use smooth laminate, not the textured stuff.

[Vince Shriver]

I've used a product call Permalac on outside hardware and some hand tools. Needs several applications when first done, but works pretty well. I doubt it would be good for a table saw or a similar surface.

[Jim Andrew]

I tried boeshield, and paste wax, and got tired of my machine tops rusting, and tried a little bit of wipe on poly. You might have to redo them occasionally, but find it works pretty well for me. It is about the thinnest coating you could put on, but iron does not absorb finish like wood does, so thick enough. My shop is a hobby shop, I use it a lot during winter, but not much during farming season.

[Guy Belleman]

For short term, I find that scrubbing with topcoat, then a coat of boeshield, and top with two coats of johnson paste wax works well. For longer time, I add a coat of slipit and a piece of thin plastic sheeting. Pressing plastic into slipit keeps the air, moisture, condensation, etc. away from the surface.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Brian - no pool and no chlorine. It's just humidity (and body oils/acids).

Andrew - I think the laminate might be a good idea for cast iron tables but then I still have hand planes that I always clean and oil when I'm finished using them and many times when I pick them up again they have the beginnings of rust around the edges and sometimes a spot of rust like a drop of water sat on it. I do everything I can to avoid touching the iron with my bare hands but that mostly makes them very inconvenient to use. So I've used various waxes and oils to protect them but it's very short-lived protection (like a week - two weeks tops).

Jim - If I go the paint route then I would look for a hard coating type paint. I have used regular enamel paints (Sears, Rustoleum) on some metal RC car roll cages and metal RC plane spinners in the past. I baked them in the oven and they got VERY hard. So hard that when I rolled the car on pavement multiple times the paint wasn't even scuffed or scratched. Some of my very old spinners have chipped paint from being in boxes with other spinners and engine parts. They were painted almost 30 years ago and I don't know how old they were when they chipped.

Guy - I'm looking for the kind of protection that will last a few months without being looked after. I want to avoid anything that's a clean-up job because I'm sure I'm like most people - I don't really know exactly when I'll be using a tool again - maybe tomorrow, next week or not for six months. I have some slip-it. I've only used it on runners for my table saw sleds. I like it for that and haven't tried it for any other purpose.

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. When I posted this I was pretty sure it was the kind of thing we all battle with and there's no cure-all or everyone would have pretty much the same answer.

[Robert Engel]

Paul, I sense a lot of frustration but trust me this is doable.

I and another poster mentioned Damp Rid. This will work. So does a camphor cube. I started out keeping my planes in a sealed plastic storage tub. Wipe down with WD40, not just oil this displaces moisture.

There are also dehumidification rods, but these are basically nothing more than little heaters.

Bottom line build yourself a tool cabinet with weather strip on the doors and a jar of DampRid.

I would consult an AC contracter re: the mini splits. I'm willing to bet he can find a place to locate the condenser. You will need to check the attic for insulation and insulate the garage doors.

Dust getting in your house is a serious health issue (think MDF) which needs to be address regardless of the fan you can track wood dust into your house. This is a huge issue with garage workshops. So is personal dust protection. An air filtration unit is a good idea, too. You also need to check your air handler and make sure all the panels are throughly air tight.

[Dave Rosner]

My shop is in a barn that is as exposed as it gets and has a flor that gets damp after a rain. So I have lots of rust problems on my hand tools but have seemed to solve it for my tablessaw top.

I spray boshield and let it dry for 15 mins or so. Then I lightly wipe it down and do that again. Then I use paste wax - sometimes it's a fancy Marine one and sometimes it's johnsons. I don't do this every day but it's pretty regular - maybe every 2-3 weeks. Sometimes I just reapply the wax.

BUT - the most important thing I do that is critical is that when not in use I put down a moving blanket and put a piece of heavy plywood on top. You can get the blanket for 8 bucks at Harbour freight and it was the best money I've spent there. It's really important that the whole surface is covered, its flat flush with the table (I have to remove my splittter), and the plywood is almost the same size as the table.

Im going on over a year and the only time I had a problem was when I left the blanket off one night. Ca in next morning and there were a few spots of rust just starting out.

Hope this Helps!

[Charles Lent]

For hand tools, keeping them in tool boxes or other enclosed and lidded boxes along with camphor blocks with them works very well. An old German tool maker taught me that. He kept several in the drawers of his wooden tool chest and added more when they got down to about 1/4 of their original size. If the wrapper is intact, they store without deterioration for a couple of years. Each block is a little smaller than hotel soap. Just slit the plastic wrapper and place it in the container with the tools. Leave the wrapper on to control the rate of evaporation. An X slit across one of the large sides is all that is needed. A single / slit will reduce the rate of evaporation. A block in a wooden machinist's tool chest will last 6 months to about a year.

Keeping the humidity in the 40-60 % range in your shop will solve all of your rust problems if you can keep your shop closed up well. Dehumidifiers or air conditioners can do this if you can keep the doors and windows shut to keep the outside humid air out. Using an air conditioner will keep the temperature lower, so you can work more comfortably while also keeping the humidity lower. Insulating the shop and doors will help reduce the amount of air conditioning that you will need. A vapor barrier
in the ceiling, walls, and floor will help keep the moisture out.

I know that it isn't possible to do all of this to a rented space, but the more of it that you can accomplish, the more rust free your shop and tools will be.

Charley

[Phillip Gregory]

A dehumidifier or air conditioner and an airtight shop with vapor barriers underneath the concrete floor and around the entire outside of the building are your best bet. I used to have a non-dehumidified, non-air-conditioned steel building without any vapor barrier and only with coating EVERYTHING metal in oil or paste wax every month did I keep things from rusting (and EVERYTHING rusts- including hand tools and saw blades.) Moved and the shop is now in a basement with A/C and vapor barriered everything and zero rust, zero mold, zero warping, zero mildew and I've waxed nothing since the move a year ago.

[jeremy lankford]

I am new to this forum but i live in southern alabama 2 hours from the coast. I know all about rusting in an unsealed workshop. Someone mentioned above about a guy on youtube and urethaning your tools. I believe it was matthias wandel's video if im spelling this correctly. He used waterbased polyacrylic. Not oil based. I tried this on all my hand planes. What i have found is that you need to coat them and quickly wipe off all you see on the iron surfaces. If you dont youll end up with a brown tinted hand plane or top. I have had them sitting on my assembly table with garage doors up 90% of the time. Its been i think about 6 weeks since i have done this. No rust whatsoever on them. When i get done with my current project i am goin to coat my stationary tools. It has worked so far for me when nothing else has. Maybe it would be worth a try..