Preventing Rust

If they are not being used, a spray over with hair spray will seal them from moisture/rust. Ian S C

Some vegetable oils such as coconut oil are nearly 100% saturated and they do not go sticky or thicken in air even after prolonged exposure. Coconut oil in the UK is a solid at normal temperature but liquid where it is produced, in the tropics, hence it is still called an oil.

I have tried it as a cutting fluid on the lathe and for tapping and it seems to work well.

I note that our Oz friends have already mentioned wool fat (aka lanolin). There was a long discussion while back on the Madmodder website about lanolin and the concensus was that it was a very effective rust inhibitor.

Mike

Camellia oil doesn't go sticky either, at least in my experience using it on measuring tools. A more heavy duty solution is Lanolin but this is quite sticky stuff. As for WD40, I sprayed the table on my old milling machine many years ago to stop it going rusty. A week later I went out into the workshop and it was covered in rust! Not something I will ever repeat. WD40 has its uses but stopping rust doesn't appear to be one of them!

I would like to understand why some people have had bad experiences with WD40. I've been using it for many years with good results. The only thing it is not good at is as a release agent, but better than nothing. When the roof blew off my w/shop a couple of winters ago just about the first thing I got was a gallon of WD40, sprayed everything in sight. After a c lean up sprayed inside the drawers and cupboards where measuring instruments etc. kept. Now very little trouble, some staining, some rust here and there but easily wiped off. Lanolin is good, I buy it for cracked skin and found by chance it is a good rust protector. Difficult to find as pure grease, because of the anthrax. Got mine as "heat treated" from the land of the sheep Australia. Any thin oil will work for stuff in use.

Another vote for Camellia Oil - I've used it for a while now, very good

Another thought is to run a small (7 watt) light bulb in base of tool box. Keeps stuff warm enough that condensation not an issue.

You may have noticed that when you buy a hammer these days they are coated in varnish, not only this but it seems to last a very long time without rusting, I have used mine to hammer thousands of nails and tacks into place and it's still going strong with only a smidgeon of rust where repetitive beating has worn away any coating.

I am in the process of using rustoleum spray varnish, designed for all surfaces, to coat any part of a metal body that has non moving/contact pieces. It seems to be working very well with thin coats built up to a strong finish not to mention very shiny.

I will post pictures of the results, I have some extremely rusty things that need coating. My first is the 3 jaw chuck, the jaws are not done for reasons said above, they don't tend to be the culprit anyway and a coating of wax or oil would do just fine.

Like all tools, it's not going to be used on everything. Just large areas that require constant upkeep and just "sits there" so to speak, without having contact on moving parts.

I have 2 machine vices, a faceplate and four jaw to do.

Michael W

Edited By Michael-w on 16/02/2017 14:30:54

7W might not sound a lot but run continuously over a year at 13p /kWh that is 61.32kWh or £7.97 in electricity or very nearly one sheet of 25mm thick 2400 x 1200 polystyrene insulation

I bought some from Carbatec, by memory it was about $30.00 for about 240 mls.

I bought some from Carbatec, by memory it was about $30.00 for about 240 mls.

I bought some from Carbatec, by memory it was about $30.00 for about 240 mls.

This thread begs the question whether any of these oils actually have a rust inhibiting action - as in containing a reducing agent - or whether they merely act as a barrier to oxygen with or without some other effect such as particularly good coating properties i.e surface tension correct to give an even film without breakup of that film and stable enough not to evaporate or degrade in air.

The family of camelias includes the ornamentals but of course tea is camelia sinensis and that plant would be my guess as the likely source of oil extraction. If memory serves, green leaves are fermented and cooked to give the leaves the taste we expect.

WD40 is pretty useless for pretty much everything in my experience!

It only has around 5% lubricant content, so isn't much use a a lubricant, or a rust preventative.

In another rust proofing thread someone mentioned that it is also hygroscopic - that will spark off a debate!

Pick a use you use WD40 for, and almost certainly there will be another product that will do the job better.

WD40 - jack of all trades, master of none.......

No it's a related plant, see my post on the previous page.

Neil

When I started work an old joiner was oiling his tools,he said that to make sure that the oil stayed on the surface I was to use long oil.This he described as any oil that pinched between finger and thumb had a long drip.Because of this information I use chain saw oil.

Frank

WD40 was designed as a water-displacing fluid not as a lubricant or long-term preservative (see the wikipedia entry) . For long-term protection I have found Finnigan's Waxoil very good; at UK temperatures it usually needs thinning slightly with white spirit for brushing or spraying. Of course, you need a solvent to get it off again!

Niall

camellia oil is extracted from seeds of the tea plant .

Correction: no its not its from Camellia oleifera, also Japonica as Neil suggested previously and also a few others including the tea plant. I would guess that a lot of the commercial grade oils are a mixture of several sources

Edited By mark smith 20 on 17/02/2017 11:33:25

Edited By mark smith 20 on 17/02/2017 11:35:52

Surely the water-displacement properties of WD40 are the point ? If there is no water then no rust? I would not expect long-term rust protection without slathering with oil or grease. It's good enough for a year and relatively cheap.

+1 for Niall's suggestion of diluted clear Waxoyl for all machine tools and stock steel protection. It can be diluted down so that after the white spirit has evaporated it has jut a hint of tackiness like a post-it.

However for woodworking tools and things I touch like handles I use beeswax as it is firm enough to stay in place, does not harm or stain wood as it rubs off in use, is non poisonous when transferred through your hands to your snacks.

I would avoid any vegetable oil as it is by its nature food for bugs and mould.