Measuring aids maintenance

[SMALMALEKI]

Recently on the forum I read “you keep your precision square in a dry and warm environment and not the garage”.
Yesterday someone advises me to keep my home made winding sticks in a dry and warm room and not in the garage.

1- which tool or jigs would you keep in your room instead of garage?

2- what heating system do you use to heat your garage without breaking the bank?

I would appreciate your advice and experiences.

Cheers.

 

[MikeG.]

Obviously all tools should be kept inside hermetically-sealed air-conditioned glass cases on a velvet cushion out of direct sunlight, and of course, never brought into contact with anything which might leave moisture or oils on their surface (such as wood, skin, your breath, and so on). You could take photos of them, mount them on cardboard, and hang those on your burr abonya tool cabinet, or just get some 3D printed replicas.

 

[shed9]

Depends on the conditions in your garage.

Most workshops will probably have similar builds to a garage and there will be plenty of people leaving susceptible tools in their garage workshops. If there is an issue with the environment, a tool box / cab with moisture control (silica gel, tools rust preventatives, etc) would negate taking them somewhere else. I would avoid mollycoddling tools too much lest they never get used and putting them in separate locations is going to add to that risk. If it's a rarely used tool, that could be a different matter however tools at hand get used.

Check the fabric of the building itself before heating / temperature controlling it if you go that route.

What is your garage like? Walls, roof, windows, etc. Do you know what temperatures are at the moment or any obvious issues?

 

[Bodgers]

Recently on the forum I read “you keep your precision square in a dry and warm environment and not the garage”.
Yesterday someone advises me to keep my home made winding sticks in a dry and warm room and not in the garage.

1- which tool or jigs would you keep in your room instead of garage?

2- what heating system do you use to heat your garage without breaking the bank?

I would appreciate your advice and experiences.

Cheers.

I think they said that about your winding sticks as they are made from thin wood and prone to movement and twist with moisture/temp changes. To see this in action, rip a thin piece and of hardwood taken from a damp garage and put it on a window sill in your house for a few days. You will end up with Tortilla chip.

I wouldn't worry about metal squares as long as the rust it kept off them.



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[Bodgers]

Obviously all tools should be kept inside hermetically-sealed air-conditioned glass cases on a velvet cushion out of direct sunlight, and of course, never brought into contact with anything which might leave moisture or oils on their surface (such as wood, skin, your breath, and so on). You could take photos of them, mount them on cardboard, and hang those on your burr abonya tool cabinet, or just get some 3D printed replicas.

Sadly, even 3D prints are susceptible to moisture absorption

 

[beech1948]

It depends on the state of your garage.

Mine is 16ftx47ft. Built in 1912 and without the conventional damp proof courses. It has lime mortar.

As long as I keep it ventilated, heated and keep ground clearance around it down below the level of the floor I am OK. Roof is steel with gutters and downpipes.

It is a very different building from that of many modern garages/workshops.

I keep my hand tools in two metal office filing cabinets. Each of which has a rough duty 60 watt lamp bulb in the base left on permanently. This heats the tools and keeps them clear of rust and condensation.

The biggest issue with this solution was making the 78 sliding drawers to occupy the cabinet. Took a lot of time and went through an OSB version with I replaced with a ply version when the OSB wore out.

For me the issue was to protect against any possibility of damp/rust, keep dust out due to the effects of lime mortar and old bricks ( which can become porous).

 

[SMALMALEKI]

Hi Bodgers

It was mentioned when talking about squares to keep them from temperature change in the garage and also on my winding sticks. Both reasons seems plausible.

My assumption was that temperature changes on metal are not permanent. Also I was under impression that wood will be stable after sealing them.
Unfortunately I have to remake my winding sticks today.

(homer)

Recently on the forum I read “you keep your precision square in a dry and warm environment and not the garage”.
Yesterday someone advises me to keep my home made winding sticks in a dry and warm room and not in the garage.

1- which tool or jigs would you keep in your room instead of garage?

2- what heating system do you use to heat your garage without breaking the bank?

I would appreciate your advice and experiences.

Cheers.

I think they said that about your winding sticks as they are made from thin wood and prone to movement and twist with moisture/temp changes. To see this in action, rip a thin piece and of hardwood taken from a damp garage and put it on a window sill in your house for a few days. You will end up with Tortilla chip.

I wouldn't worry about metal squares as long as the rust it kept off them.



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[SMALMALEKI]

Obviously all tools should be kept inside hermetically-sealed air-conditioned glass cases on a velvet cushion out of direct sunlight, and of course, never brought into contact with anything which might leave moisture or oils on their surface (such as wood, skin, your breath, and so on). You could take photos of them, mount them on cardboard, and hang those on your burr abonya tool cabinet, or just get some 3D printed replicas.

I believe the reference 1kg and 1m are kept like that.

 

[SMALMALEKI]

Depends on the conditions in your garage.

Most workshops will probably have similar builds to a garage and there will be plenty of people leaving susceptible tools in their garage workshops. If there is an issue with the environment, a tool box / cab with moisture control (silica gel, tools rust preventatives, etc) would negate taking them somewhere else. I would avoid mollycoddling tools too much lest they never get used and putting them in separate locations is going to add to that risk. If it's a rarely used tool, that could be a different matter however tools at hand get used.

Check the fabric of the building itself before heating / temperature controlling it if you go that route.

What is your garage like? Walls, roof, windows, etc. Do you know what temperatures are at the moment or any obvious issues?

I have been doing the same. Kept the tools in my filling cabinet.
The hearing for garage is an issue for me. I use a fan heater (2000 W). By the time the garage heated up its time to go home ( I only get an hour or two man Kaveh time if lucky). I was interested to see what people use to keep the garage warm enough to work there.

It is a new build garage with single layer brick wall. I am not sure about roof insulation.

Regards

 

[Lazurus]

I have an old dehumidifier which I put on during the damp winter months to protects the machines and welders etc., seems to do a reasonable job. I use the greenhouse type tube heaters ageing during the winter to keep above freezing and so the de humidifier will work. All timber workshop with concrete floor, which I did put a membrane under when I pored it, the workshop is very old but as its a rented property I will have something more suitable when we move next year.

 

[Bodgers]

My assumption was that temperature changes on metal are not permanent. Also I was under impression that wood will be stable after sealing them.

It depends on how you sealed them. If you dipped them in Epoxy, maybe. A few coats of Boiled Linseed Oil, not so much.



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[Marineboy]

Obviously all tools should be kept inside hermetically-sealed air-conditioned glass cases on a velvet cushion out of direct sunlight, and of course, never brought into contact with anything which might leave moisture or oils on their surface (such as wood, skin, your breath, and so on). You could take photos of them, mount them on cardboard, and hang those on your burr abonya tool cabinet, or just get some 3D printed replicas.

I believe the reference 1kg and 1m are kept like that.

I believe that the physical manifestations of reference SI units are now redundant, having been replaced by definitions related to constants of nature, eg Planck’s. So perhaps we should replace physical squares with some apparatus which measures the number of wavelengths of light between 0 and 90 degrees. So it wouldn’t matter how rusty it got.

 

[SammyQ]

[u

][reference SI units are now redundant...replace physical squares with some apparatus which measures the number of wavelengths of light between 0 and 90 degrees. So it wouldn’t matter how rusty it got.u

]

Not so much 'blue sky thinking'as "rainbow thinking"? Also, given Parkinson's Law and CNC laser machining advances, surely we are approaching, quite literally, " making light work"? :shock:

Well, a man can dream can't he? At least any cuts using this gear would be instantly cauterised... :-"

Sam, off to dig out his old diffraction gratings...