Rusting of edge tools

[Elden]

 Rob
Sr. Member
Re: Angle master WM-200......subtle clarification in use
« Reply #6 on: Today at 04:45:33 pm »
Quote
I don't know about you but I find if I don't use a sharp chisel for a long time, the sharpness gets less. My tools are in a damp cold garage so I guess it's rust at the microscopic level messing with the edge?


  ionut
Full Member
Re: Angle master WM-200......subtle clarification in use
« Reply #7 on: Today at 05:16:20 pm »
Quote
What you experience is rust, if you don't protect your edge with a bit of light oil after sharpening, even if you don't use the tools after a while they don't seem to be having the same keen edge.

Ionut



Rob  and Ionut bring up the interesting topic of rust in the thread about the Angle Master WM-200. http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1597.0

On  pages 23 and 24 of Leonard Lee's book, A Complete Guide To Sharpening , while discussing stainless steel, he mentions that most people do not realize how rust lessens the quality of an edge even though it is not visible without magnification. He also has a picture there showing rust on an edge that was not seen with the unaided eye.

I find it interesting that rust can be formed even in our shops that are "in the dry." I generally think that things put under the shop roof, which doesn't leak, as being "safe."

Recently, I found out this is not so. I had buffed rust off some 1" (25.4mm) diameter steel shafts. In so doing, the rust protection that still remained was removed. They looked nice and bright and were stored in the "dry" shop.  Due to humidity increase from rain, quite a crop of rust showed up the shafts because I had not put oil on them.

Guess I have to remember that for the wood chisels! Thanks Rob and Ionut!

[ionut]

Rust is a crazy menace. A roof and sidewalls are far from being a guarantee against this menace. My hole in the wall that I have the audacity to call my shop  was for a long time not heated and featured the roof and the walls but here on the coast that really means nothing. I have constantly fought the rust on my tools and even uglier joinery ghostly movements. This has stopped or was slowed down drastically when I installed my radiant heater that also makes it more comfortable as well.
A proper cutting edge measures few tens thousands of an inch or less, at that size the oxidation process takes cyclonic proportions. Even while using the tools it is good to have a rag  with some light oil on and to give a swipe once in a while to the tool being used. Or just apply a bit of wax once in a while.
Rust will never stop until the steel is gone...

Ionut

[Herman Trivilino]

Another place where rust can get to you is the surface of your table saw.  (I'm assuming that if you are at all into woodworking you either have one, had one, or will have one).

I now keep mine clean and regularly apply a coat of paste wax.

Makes boards slide easier, too.

[Rob]

I have exactly the same routine Herman. Also my bandsaw

I use a household plastic scourer with wd40 to clean then finish up with paste wax on a soft cloth

[Elden]

Great tips, fellows. I'll have to get busy. Herman, I do have a table, band, and power miter saws. I don't use them much, but would hate not to have them. The table saw is an older Craftsman with a cast table. Polished it up after buying it at an auction for $10.00. Paid more for the belt than for the saw.
Used to have a lathe, but sold it and the turning tools. Didn't trust myself to be able to hang on to the tools properly anymore. Rob's pictures just about made me drool!

[Mike Fairleigh]

A few days ago we had a major plumbing failure occur overnight in the kitchen - which is directly above my basement shop.  Thousands of dollars in damage on top of the cleanup work and dealing with the mess.  I've always been wary and fastidious when it comes to rust prevention, temperature/humidity levels in the shop, etc., etc.  But I'm getting a whole new lesson in rust now.

[Herman Trivilino]

Ouch!  Sorry to hear about your plumbing woes.  I hope everything gets sorted out.

[Rob]

Great tips, fellows. I'll have to get busy. Herman, I do have a table, band, and power miter saws. I don't use them much, but would hate not to have them. The table saw is an older Craftsman with a cast table. Polished it up after buying it at an auction for $10.00. Paid more for the belt than for the saw.
Used to have a lathe, but sold it and the turning tools. Didn't trust myself to be able to hang on to the tools properly anymore. Rob's pictures just about made me drool!

Oh Elden, I'm really sorry about that buddy. You know I went to a turning exhibition a couple weeks ago and two of the four presenters were turning from wheel chairs. They were extremely talented. They were turning spalted beech platters about 20" diameter....absolutely beautiful. 

[grepper]

I hate rust!

Anyone here ever used any of these?

Boeshield:
http://www.theruststore.com/Boeshield-T-9-12-oz-Aerosol-P3C4.aspx

LPS:
http://www.lpslabs.com/product_pg/corrosion_pg/LPS3.html

Fluid Film:
http://www.fluid-film.com/

[Rob]

well...they all sound interesting and probably work.  Not sure at what cost though...Ive always found good old wd40 does the job really well.  The only thing is for some reason I never used either it or oil on my freshly ground edges...only on cast iron components on table saws, bandsaws etc.  Just never occurred to me to protect a freshly sharpened edge.

With the benefit of hindsight, a really fine edge is more likely to become oxidised than any other form of iron isnt it :-)  Just never thought about till we started discussing it here.

[Rob]

Im going to get some of that cheap oil from the chemists and start using that on my freshly ground edges.

[Rob]

But it'll have to wait cos we're off to Mexico tomorrow for a fortnight of escaping the tail of the British winter....yiipppeeeee

[grepper]

A lot of folks, gun owners especially, say Eezox is the best for preventing rust.  Also cleans and lubricates and does not form a buildup like some of the wax based solutions do. 

A good test will be to leave a pair of Felco pruners out on the back porch this summer. 

http://www.warrencustomoutdoor.com/eezox.html

Rob, Does a T-7 fit into the overhead or count as carry-on?

[Rob]

LOL.......I can just see me arguing with British Airways security over the definition of a "sharp item" in hand luggage :-)

[Mike Fairleigh]

I use LPS-3 for long term storage type rust prevention.  You can think of it as basically a spray wax that leaves behind a thick, sticky film.  It easily cleans off with 1 or 2 wipes from a rag with naphtha - so it's not a 30 minute chore to get the tool ready to use again, but it's a lot of protection if you don't plan to use the tool for awhile.  I spray it onto a rag and then wipe down the tool with that.  LPS-3 can take some of the credit for my Lie-Nielsen #51 surviving my recent shop flood, rust-free.

LPS-2 is a wet oil, similar (but IMO higher quality) than the countless spray oils on the market.  It's a great lubricant but very thin - and for that reason I would not recommend it as a rust preventative for more than a couple of days.

LPS-1 sprays as a wet oil but dries completely within a few minutes.  I've found it to be nearly worthless as a rust preventative.

Also, LPS products are very expensive, at least for me since the only local source is Grainger (the highest-price seller the world has ever seen).  A can of LPS-3 there costs about $15 US.

For day to day rust & skin oil protection, I've settled on jojoba oil.  This is after some long trials with all of the LPS products and camelia oil.  Camelia was OK for a couple of weeks but no more than that.  I've found jojoba to be pretty reliable, probably because technically it is not an oil; it is a natural liquid wax.  It remains liquid after a long time on the tool, but does thicken up somewhat.  But it still wipes off easily with a rag.