cast iron protection
- Thread starter sunnybob
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Alexam
Bandsaw Boxmaker
John15
Established Member
Liberon wax
John
John
misterfish
Established Member
I seem to remember a posting years ago - tis-the-season-of-rust-and-mellow-fruitfulness-t55942.html that may be of help.
Misterfish
Misterfish
Eric The Viking
Established Member
- Joined
- 19 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 6,599
- Reaction score
- 76
Bob, I really feel your pain!
I have an old garage with a single-pitch sloping roof. Well it's now got two roofs as we had the old one covered with a new one. that stopped it leaking, and condensation forming on the inside of the roof, but it still gets really humid. In the autumn this is OK, but in the spring... warm moist air comes in to the cooler garage and immediately condenses.
If I take no action the rust is immediate and horrid. I've just been cleaning bandsaw, morticer and table saw tables for that reason (haven't done much work in there this year!). I have a tubular heater underneath the main tool chest, but it's inadequate going to double it up again for this coming winter.
BUT... the thing that does work really well is stopping the damp air getting to the metal in the first place. I have a cheap solution that does work really well. But you need to be consistent. When I first started to do this it worked excellently, even though the damp was far worse. I got complacent, hence this year's problem.
So my "cure" is really simple: bin bags, or pieces of them. Cut them up carefully so as to get a single large sheet of polythene. DO spray WD40 on first (or use Liberon mchine wax - it is brilliant) and wipe it into all the little places, then put the sheet on right next to the metal and if necessary weight it down (offcuts are excellent for this). For the bandsaw I can get a large bag over the top, and have simply cut a tear in a sheet that goes over the table (blade still attached. The bag comes down onto the sheet. The mortices has a single bag covering all (I have to take the handle off, but that takes seconds).
You increase the effect of the Liberon or WD40, too: the lighter oil fractions can't evaporate off so easily, and there's a healthy vapour pressure inside the bag or under the sheet, which stops water vapour from getting close to the metal surfaces.
On Liberon, it really is very good. I use it on a lot of surfaces that can't rust (e.g. the router table), and a little goes a long way, too. I've got three cans of it, the earliest bought about 8 years ago, and I still haven't quite used that one up (have used it to keep the other two runny, as it was more liquid than them). It has one odd, really useful, property: It seems to lift rust you can't see or clean off otherwise. I use it as a check that surfaces are clean enough: wiped on with a kitchen towel, any dirt or rust is obvious, so I go over again with an emery block and then clean with white spirit.
I bet you can get bin bags and WD40!
E.
I have an old garage with a single-pitch sloping roof. Well it's now got two roofs as we had the old one covered with a new one. that stopped it leaking, and condensation forming on the inside of the roof, but it still gets really humid. In the autumn this is OK, but in the spring... warm moist air comes in to the cooler garage and immediately condenses.
If I take no action the rust is immediate and horrid. I've just been cleaning bandsaw, morticer and table saw tables for that reason (haven't done much work in there this year!). I have a tubular heater underneath the main tool chest, but it's inadequate going to double it up again for this coming winter.
BUT... the thing that does work really well is stopping the damp air getting to the metal in the first place. I have a cheap solution that does work really well. But you need to be consistent. When I first started to do this it worked excellently, even though the damp was far worse. I got complacent, hence this year's problem.
So my "cure" is really simple: bin bags, or pieces of them. Cut them up carefully so as to get a single large sheet of polythene. DO spray WD40 on first (or use Liberon mchine wax - it is brilliant) and wipe it into all the little places, then put the sheet on right next to the metal and if necessary weight it down (offcuts are excellent for this). For the bandsaw I can get a large bag over the top, and have simply cut a tear in a sheet that goes over the table (blade still attached. The bag comes down onto the sheet. The mortices has a single bag covering all (I have to take the handle off, but that takes seconds).
You increase the effect of the Liberon or WD40, too: the lighter oil fractions can't evaporate off so easily, and there's a healthy vapour pressure inside the bag or under the sheet, which stops water vapour from getting close to the metal surfaces.
On Liberon, it really is very good. I use it on a lot of surfaces that can't rust (e.g. the router table), and a little goes a long way, too. I've got three cans of it, the earliest bought about 8 years ago, and I still haven't quite used that one up (have used it to keep the other two runny, as it was more liquid than them). It has one odd, really useful, property: It seems to lift rust you can't see or clean off otherwise. I use it as a check that surfaces are clean enough: wiped on with a kitchen towel, any dirt or rust is obvious, so I go over again with an emery block and then clean with white spirit.
I bet you can get bin bags and WD40!
E.
Eric,
an unusual solution, I must admit. I shall give it serious consideration. But I am a haphazard wood botherer, flitting from machine to machine as the whim takes me. I would be spending more time covering and uncovering than actually using the machine.
My main problem this time has been a grandkid invasion. I havent been able to work in there for three weeks now as the 7 year old boy dogs my footsteps, and he is a "toucher". He picks things up and then asks "whats this grandad?" by which time there would be fingers all over the floor. If I could only get him to point instead and ask "whats THAT?", it could be quite fun teaching him. Because of this the place got shut up for that time and the rust has caught me by surprise this week.
I spent today using a 220 grit sponge pad and wd 40 (yes, I do own the stuff, although I intensely dislike it as a preservative), followed by 0000 wire wool with more wd 40, and then scraped some hard beeswax across the steel, finally polishing the beeswax off with more 0000 wire wool.
The Record bobbin sander table is a lovely piece of satin smooth cast, whereas the axminster bandsaw and bench drill tables are very open grain and take much more hard work to look nice.
Looks like a can of Liberon is in my very near future.
an unusual solution, I must admit. I shall give it serious consideration. But I am a haphazard wood botherer, flitting from machine to machine as the whim takes me. I would be spending more time covering and uncovering than actually using the machine.
My main problem this time has been a grandkid invasion. I havent been able to work in there for three weeks now as the 7 year old boy dogs my footsteps, and he is a "toucher". He picks things up and then asks "whats this grandad?" by which time there would be fingers all over the floor. If I could only get him to point instead and ask "whats THAT?", it could be quite fun teaching him. Because of this the place got shut up for that time and the rust has caught me by surprise this week.
I spent today using a 220 grit sponge pad and wd 40 (yes, I do own the stuff, although I intensely dislike it as a preservative), followed by 0000 wire wool with more wd 40, and then scraped some hard beeswax across the steel, finally polishing the beeswax off with more 0000 wire wool.
The Record bobbin sander table is a lovely piece of satin smooth cast, whereas the axminster bandsaw and bench drill tables are very open grain and take much more hard work to look nice.
Looks like a can of Liberon is in my very near future.
memzey
Established Member
If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago I'd have brought it for you!
Memsey, I didnt see it till this week.
Went back to the emu club weds, they had a loud (but thankfully not TOO loud) pool side disco, but didnt throw anybody out so it was fun dancing in the water with the little 'uns.
Went back to the emu club weds, they had a loud (but thankfully not TOO loud) pool side disco, but didnt throw anybody out so it was fun dancing in the water with the little 'uns.
memzey
Established Member
Nice. My lot liked it there so we'll probably go back next year. The sea at that beach is just exceptionally clear, almost hard to believe. Later on that day that we were there, the local Lion club released a bunch of baby turtles from that beach. Shame we didn't hang around for that!
The turtle release beach I told you about at alagadi has changed its criteria, they will no longer allow children under 10 to handle the turtles.
God knows what some pillock has done to cause that. my 5 and 7 years old kids loved the whole experience.
We're going back again on monday. Its their last full day here. Wednesday will be oh so quiet.
God knows what some pillock has done to cause that. my 5 and 7 years old kids loved the whole experience.
We're going back again on monday. Its their last full day here. Wednesday will be oh so quiet.
memzey
Established Member
Until you fire up the thicknesser and router table again!
CHJ
Established Member
sunnybob":zkv29zmi said:
A bit late picking this thread up but have been having a little trouble retrieving the images since PB decided to ransom the clients accounts.
All you really need to do is keep the metal work a couple of degrees warmer than the surrounding air, regardless of what that temp. is.
Some form of heating such as a low wattage light bulb, heater mat or Bob Minchins resistor heating solution can be enough, especially if you cover at night.
Just throwing a cover over my Lathes vulnerable parts keeps enough heat from motors etc. in them after use to prevent condensation. (fortunately their bases are subject to daily sun exposure which renders additional heating unnecessary)
Heating them is just a no go. Apart from the fact that at the moment the garage is at 38c overnight, and any higher temp would result in me burning my self, I've got three cast iron plates at different places. Wiring would be a nightmare.
Cant find any wax locally, just tried to buy some machine wax from axminster, and guess what? it cant be shipped by air! Their alternative is camelia oil. Thats the ONLY item they have suitable that can be flown here.
So I'll have to wait a week (or maybe a lot longer depending if TNT can actually find my country again) and give that a try.
At the moment I'm using furniture polish paste, but thats a 10 year old tin we bought out here with us (not much furniture that needs polish) and its almost gone.
Cant find any wax locally, just tried to buy some machine wax from axminster, and guess what? it cant be shipped by air! Their alternative is camelia oil. Thats the ONLY item they have suitable that can be flown here.
So I'll have to wait a week (or maybe a lot longer depending if TNT can actually find my country again) and give that a try.
At the moment I'm using furniture polish paste, but thats a 10 year old tin we bought out here with us (not much furniture that needs polish) and its almost gone.
Eric The Viking
Established Member
- Joined
- 19 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 6,599
- Reaction score
- 76
Connecting a high voltage to a machine (and bicycles) prevents theft, too.
Just sayin' ;-)
Seriously Bob, tea-light candle wax, wax furniture polish -- something like that ought to be available, surely.
Anyway, if it's that warm, and the garage/workshop interior stays warmer than outside overnight, you can't get condensation on the exposed metal surfaces, unless there is something really weird going on. And as suggested earlier, bin bags work wonders, and take seconds to "apply".
There must be a few workshops on the island, somewhere. Would it be possible to find one and ask the owner?
Just sayin' ;-)
Seriously Bob, tea-light candle wax, wax furniture polish -- something like that ought to be available, surely.
Anyway, if it's that warm, and the garage/workshop interior stays warmer than outside overnight, you can't get condensation on the exposed metal surfaces, unless there is something really weird going on. And as suggested earlier, bin bags work wonders, and take seconds to "apply".
There must be a few workshops on the island, somewhere. Would it be possible to find one and ask the owner?
This year has been the worst for humidity in the ten that I've been here. Its impossible to sit indoors for more than 5 minutes without being wetter than if you had been in a shower. Although we are used to living outdoors for half the year I dont normally have this kind of problem. It IS weird, because the humidity meters are only registering 65%, with outdoors temps at 35 plus and indoors (even with the windows and doors open) a steady 31c. condensation just shouldnt happen. But it is.
There are a few furniture makers here, but then the language problem kicks in. I tried (twice at evening classes) to learn greek, but my brain is too old. Most cypriots have reasonable english, as in everyday conversation, but to try to ask someone how to keep cast iron dry would soon descend into chaos.
There is one furniture makers i know of, and I was just working up courage to go and do battle with the language, when I ordered other stuff from axminster and so tagged the camelia oil on. That should do me for this year, and I hope to go back to normal summers next year.
If that doesnt work I'll be in the UK for most of december, so will have to get something to bring back with me.
There are a few furniture makers here, but then the language problem kicks in. I tried (twice at evening classes) to learn greek, but my brain is too old. Most cypriots have reasonable english, as in everyday conversation, but to try to ask someone how to keep cast iron dry would soon descend into chaos.
There is one furniture makers i know of, and I was just working up courage to go and do battle with the language, when I ordered other stuff from axminster and so tagged the camelia oil on. That should do me for this year, and I hope to go back to normal summers next year.
If that doesnt work I'll be in the UK for most of december, so will have to get something to bring back with me.
memzey
Established Member
If not I'll bring you something next summer bob.
Next summer is a long way away when you get to my age memzey.
I'm hoping to get into axminster at basingstoke on the way from the airport to somerset in december, and shall be going to yandles sometime, and we also have three days booked in cardiff half way through the month, any one know any good woodyards / tool shops around there?
I'm hoping to get into axminster at basingstoke on the way from the airport to somerset in december, and shall be going to yandles sometime, and we also have three days booked in cardiff half way through the month, any one know any good woodyards / tool shops around there?
