lining for drawer bases to prevent tool rust.

[mickthetree]

I have just acquired some plywood drawers which will be prefect for storing some of my planes and other hand tools. Having had some rust on tools in the workshop previously I'm keen to prevent it happening again.

Should I line the drawer bottoms with something or should they be ok straight on the ply?? I have some spare non-slip matting, some old cotton sheets, MDF, bits of carpet etc.

 

[matthewwh]

Putting things in drawers will itself help to reduce condensation.

If you can find space in the drawers for one of these:

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Shield_Technology_ToolGuard_VCI.html

you can forget about rust altogether.

A bit of router mat is useful to keep things in place so that they don't bash into each other.

 

[Jacob]

All Shield Technology products seem to be an expensive rip-off and shouldn't be touched with a barge pole.

If the drawer and the tools are dry to start with then just keeping the drawer closed will keep rust off.

 

[matthewwh]

It strikes me that anything that wasn't already here when you were born seems that way Jacob.

 

[Harbo]

Shield Technology products are really good, they are not cheap but a little goes a long way.

I found, by accident, that a layer of bubble wrap sprayed with light oil, WD40, Boseshield etc placed at the bottom of drawers works well.

Rod

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Like most items that prevent slow long term processes it is very difficult to judge the performance of this product. I work on metal boats and after years I am still unsure what the best anti rust treatments and paints are as 2 boats can have identical treatment and one can rust whilst the other is perfect, it is very hard to identify what has caused this or what factors were different. As far as the product that Matthew recommends I can say this, I have one pot that he sent me free with another purchase, I put this in a drawer with some hand tools and they have no sign of rust. Would they have rusted without it? I don't know.
Paddy

 

[mickthetree]

Many thanks for the suggestion Matthew.

 

[matthewwh]

This was a test conducted by the Imperial War Museum before they approved the VCI pots for use.

Two identical samples suspended in air above water in closed containers. One protected with a ToolGuard VCI pot, the other not.

Three months later the unprotected control looked like this:

And the protected one looked like this:

Draw your own conclusions, but those were the results.

The IWM now use them in display cabinets and storage to protect irreplaceable bits of Sopwith Camel and so forth.

 

[Wildman]

Like most items that prevent slow long term processes it is very difficult to judge the performance of this product. I work on metal boats and after years I am still unsure what the best anti rust treatments and paints are as 2 boats can have identical treatment and one can rust whilst the other is perfect, it is very hard to identify what has caused this or what factors were different. As far as the product that Matthew recommends I can say this, I have one pot that he sent me free with another purchase, I put this in a drawer with some hand tools and they have no sign of rust. Would they have rusted without it? I don't know.
Paddy

It seems to me electrolysis is coming into play hence both boats having different reactions.

 

[Jacob]

Another expensive solution to a non existent problem!
Simpler just to make sure there is no standing water in the display cabinet. And in any case cheap and re-usable desiccants are commonplace.

PS for those who really need desiccants look up silica gell. You can make your own or re-use those little bags that sometimes come with packaging. Put them in the oven to dry them out and they are re-usable forever.

http://rumkin.com/reference/desiccant/

 

[blackrodd]

Rust prevention will always be a problem particularly in a non temperature controlled environment.
A workshop or manshed, with an inside temperature dictated by the outside elements, rain, summer and winter,
or heated during use only will have big condensation problems, the bigger the mass the more likely to "sweat"
when the temperature drops around it, ask the folk with cast iron beds.
Chronos , as others do wax paper to help but I have found that a light spray with 3-in-1 is best and accept the slightly oily
hands and fingers when fondling the Treasures you have.
Scroll down, 2nd item.
Regards Rodders

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/Engi ... n_463.html

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Like most items that prevent slow long term processes it is very difficult to judge the performance of this product. I work on metal boats and after years I am still unsure what the best anti rust treatments and paints are as 2 boats can have identical treatment and one can rust whilst the other is perfect, it is very hard to identify what has caused this or what factors were different. As far as the product that Matthew recommends I can say this, I have one pot that he sent me free with another purchase, I put this in a drawer with some hand tools and they have no sign of rust. Would they have rusted without it? I don't know.
Paddy

It seems to me electrolysis is coming into play hence both boats having different reactions.

Sure electrolysis is a factor, also the quality of the original steel (for instance rust tends to start around sulphur particles in the steel), and the amount of times the boat scrapes on pilings and locks, all of this, along with the amount of time between docking makes makes judging the treatments I do even harder. I have had boats built in the seventies that have only been pressure washed and bitumened in absolutely perfect condition and boats that are only a few years old that have been shot blast and epoxyed pitted all over when they are kept in the same marina. Anyway this is probably more suited to a different forum


Matthew, those tests from the museum certainly look convincing, however they only really test what happens in the test not in my drawer. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying I don't believe it works in this situation but as we have all seen recently with cars controlled tests don't always translate into real world results. All told it's probably worth a punt, I might be buying a few more from you soon

Paddy

 

[Eric The Viking]

Chronos , as others do wax paper to help but I have found that a light spray with 3-in-1 is best and accept the slightly oily
hands and fingers when fondling the Treasures you have.
Scroll down, 2nd item.
Regards Rodders

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/Engi ... n_463.html

I use exactly that in the tool drawers, and it most definitely helps. I think it does emit an oily vapour of some sort.

I also have one of these underneath the bottom drawer:

I tried wiring two in series (30W) but it wasn't quite enough - 60W is good for a big set of drawers, as long as air can circulate in the cabinet. My main tool drawers used to be a couple of metal plan chests, so there's a lot of room for air movement. Big advantage is that no light is emitted, so it doesn't advertise anything at night. If that's not a problem, a normal lightbulb works just fine.

E.

PS: Rust prevention is, of course, the only use WD40 was intended for. And it does that really well. I spray it into my glass jar of panel pins, for example. You used to be able to get it in ordinary cans (with a screw top, rather than the aerosols), and soaking a cotton wool pad certainly helps. The point is to displace the water vapour with some other non-corrosive vapour, and it seems to do that quite well, as well as being a good surface coating.

 

[tomasg]

Ive heard of people using camphor in hand tool boxes ...(no idea what size of boxes in relation to the tools stored though)
Once again this would be subject to the climate / relative humidity aswell
Have not tried this method as i hate the smell of mothballs
so its leather and oil for my tools at the moment
Good luck

 

[JonnyW]

I use Sheild Technologies' paste that you rub over your tool steel. It works a treat and doesn't attract dust or get everywhere. You do have to apply it periodically, but that's no more than what you have to do with good old camillia oil.

I've also used their prep and rust eating fluid, and again, it works a treat. Brought some pretty beat up planes back to life.

So I'd imagine the things you throw in the drawers will work well also.

Jonny

 

[bench_monkey]

As above, a chap I work with gave me some Camellia Oil the other day, if you trace its roots it was used on samurai swords and the like for many years. Clean your tools and wipe them over with a soaked cotton wool pad. Simple as that!


Sent from my Potato using Tapatalk

 

[Jacob]

Many oils do the same. Linseed for one. There's a daft fashion for camellia oil - it's the samurai connection!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Linseed oil oxidises to give a sticky, then a hard coating though, doesn't it? One of the advantages of Camellia is that it's non-oxidising, so you can just wipe it off leaving no residues weeks or even months later.

That said, thin oils don't usually give good long-term protection, especially in damper environments. Slathering with thicker grease would, but has obvious clean-up problems later.

 

[Jacob]

Linseed oil oxidises to give a sticky, then a hard coating though, doesn't it?

Yes that's why it's good for old tools

One of the advantages of Camellia is that it's non-oxidising, so you can just wipe it off leaving no residues weeks or even months later.

3 in 1 and most mineral oils the same

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Linseed oil oxidises to give a sticky, then a hard coating though, doesn't it?

Yes that's why it's good for old tools

That's fine on non-working surfaces, but may be a bit of a problem on something like a plane sole. Wiping fresh oil off is not that much of a problem, but an oxidised crust of set linseed on a working surface is just that bit more aggravation.

OK for very long-term storage though, I suppose.