rusting tools in tool boxes

   / rusting tools in tool boxes #12  
I'm in a similar situation. Workshop is a detached, not normally heated outbuilding. There is a woodstove for when I want to work out there in the winter, but it takes several hours to bring it up to a comfortable temperature if it's below 20 or so which limits my winter projects considerably. Hand tools generally aren't a problem, though as others have suggested an occasional wipe-down with light oil or FF helps. Table saw and drill press have developed some surface rust, not really problematic on the drill but a PITA on the saw. Haven't really come up with a good solution to that other than cleaning it with a wire brush or steel wool and using paraffin when needed. Don't really want to oil the saw...
 
   / rusting tools in tool boxes #13  
I'm in a similar situation. Workshop is a detached, not normally heated outbuilding. There is a woodstove for when I want to work out there in the winter, but it takes several hours to bring it up to a comfortable temperature if it's below 20 or so which limits my winter projects considerably. Hand tools generally aren't a problem, though as others have suggested an occasional wipe-down with light oil or FF helps. Table saw and drill press have developed some surface rust, not really problematic on the drill but a PITA on the saw. Haven't really come up with a good solution to that other than cleaning it with a wire brush or steel wool and using paraffin when needed. Don't really want to oil the saw...
Use paste wax on your saw. ;)
 
   / rusting tools in tool boxes #14  
Dehumidifier is what you need.
Size according to garage size. Drain outside so you don't have to keep up with emptying it.
 
   / rusting tools in tool boxes #16  
Fluid Film.
In Mississippi EVERYTHING rusts. I've ~5,000 sq ft of "shed space" spread throughout 4 buildings. Early on I bought a case of Fluid Film in their aerosol cans and spread them throughout the buildings. Any sign of bare or scratched metal gets squirted.

Really? Now, I've never been to Mississippi so forgive my ignorance, but the parts of the South the Mainer has visited rust was rare. I never would have thought of Mississippi as a place with a heavy rust presence.
 
   / rusting tools in tool boxes #17  
Really? Now, I've never been to Mississippi so forgive my ignorance, but the parts of the South the Mainer has visited rust was rare. I never would have thought of Mississippi as a place with a heavy rust presence.
Hmmm. I think that being warm, humid, with lots of rain, daily temperature fluctuations, near the dew point, all make it perfect for rust.

I think unless you have the metal in a conditioned space, it happens pretty much everywhere, though certainly slower in dry climates.

All the best,

Peter
 
   / rusting tools in tool boxes #18  
Hmmm. I think that being warm, humid, with lots of rain, daily temperature fluctuations, near the dew point, all make it perfect for rust.

I think unless you have the metal in a conditioned space, it happens pretty much everywhere, though certainly slower in dry climates.

All the best,

Peter

Not a climate I'm particularly familiar with, and haven't really experienced. My extended time in the South consisted of South Carolina and Texas, and I saw little rust in either place. So between that and my default to correlating rust and Maine winter combined with ocean salt, it just did not occur to me how humid and therefore rusty a place like Mississippi would be.

Ignorance on my part.
 
 
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