polystyrene boxes

[devonwoody]

The wife managed to pick up two free polystyrene boxes this morning at the greengrocers. I reckon they will come in handy over the winter for storing woodworking tools keeping them nice and cozy and insulated. Hopefully stopping damp laying on steel and causing rust?

I have arranged with the greengrocer for half a dozen more. :wink:

 

[Mcluma]

The wife managed to pick up two free polystyrene boxes this morning at the greengrocers. I reckon they will come in handy over the winter for storing woodworking tools keeping them nice and cozy and insulated. Hopefully stopping damp laying on steel and causing rust?

:?: :?: :?:
You should work them, not rest them :wink:

 

[devonwoody]

Mcluma,
is that the wife or the boxes you mean? :wink:

 

[tim]

DW

Be careful of condensation though - could be a real problem.

Cheers

Tim

 

[devonwoody]

DW

Be careful of condensation though - could be a real problem.

Cheers

Tim

Tim: Wont that maintain an equal temperature inside the box and stop the condensation?

 

[tim]

There is nowhere for any humidity to escape to. Unless the box and tools are all the same temp then the condensation will occur on the coldest / best heat conducting item. In this case, it'll be the tools. Probably be fine if you put some silica gel sachets in there.

Cheers

Tim

 

[matt]

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... olystyrene

 

[Jarviser]

Insulation will not keep anything warm indefinitely unless there is a source of heat. Lagging an outside tap works because the pipe receives conducted heat from the inside of the house.
You either need to seal tools from the damp - eg in any sealed box, or with camellia oil, or else you can keep them warm and dry with heat. You could check out the heated cupboard on my webite.
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jarviser/workshop.html

Better yet, use them all through the winter!

 

[matt]

What about the latent heat in the material itself? For example, polystyrene will not hold nor radiate the same temperature as Steel. Or, to put it another way, the temperature inside a polystyrene box will always be higher than outside.

Finding out what outside temp relates to frozen inside temp is tricky though. You could calibrate two high/low thermometers and place one inside the box and the other outside in order to determine the differences. I suspect that it would not be linear though.

 

[tim]

the temperature inside a polystyrene box will always be higher than outside.

Not exactly true! Its an insulator not a heater.

If you stick ice cream in a polystyrene box in the summer it will stay colder than if it was outside.

Cheers

Tim

 

[devonwoody]

At this rate I will be bringing my tools into the bedroom at night

By the way I touched the c.i. table top this morning and my fingers nearly stuck to the top

That lamp arrangement looks interesting Jarviser, many thanks for the viewing of your workshop.

 

[Taffy Turner]

What about the latent heat in the material itself? For example, polystyrene will not hold nor radiate the same temperature as Steel. Or, to put it another way, the temperature inside a polystyrene box will always be higher than outside.

Matt,
I am afraid that this isn't quite right. All the polystyrene will do is slow down the rate of heat loss. If the tools were put into the box at a higher temperature than the ambient air, they will cool down until they are in equilibrium. Obviously this will take a lot longer than if they weren't inside the polystyrene box. Similarly if the ambient air temp rises above that of the tools, then the heat flow will be reversed, and the tolls will warm up to reach equilibrium.

Sadly, the tools do not have an internal heat source (unlike us humans), so they will always reach equilibrium with their surroundings. All the polystyrene does is delay the process.

Regards

Gary

(Edited for a typo).

 

[devonwoody]

Taffy:

So am I just wasting my time and effort putting them away for the night in that large polystyrene box?

 

[Taffy Turner]

Dev,

If you are using the tools everyday, then putting them in the boxes overnight is probably worthwhile, as the polystyrene should keep them relatively warm until the next day.

Any longer than that and I'm afraid that they will cool down to ambient temperature. Of course, what the polystyrene will do is protect them from rapid changes of temperature, which is what causes condensation, for example the low overnight temps we are having at the moment.

The thing to avoid doing is putting your tools in sealed boxes in warm, moist conditions, as when the temperature drops, the extra moisture which the air can no longer hold, will have no choice but to form condensation on your tools.

This is why I keep a dehumidifier in my workshop. I don't run it all the time, I just switch it on for a couple of days after a period of wet weather, or when a cold snap is forecast. (I also have a relative humidity gauge in there). The trick is to keep the relative humidity low enough so that the dew point is lower than the lowest temp that the shop gets to. As long as you do this - no condensation, and hence no rust. Doing it this way is a little more practical than trying to fit a bandsaw into a polystyrene box!

Regards

Gary

 

[tim]

(Edited for a typo).

What, to put one in?

and the tolls will warm up to reach equilibrium

:wink:

Cheers

Tim

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks all

I need a new garage roof first. Its corrugated asbestos and lets in the draft on the overlaps as well. I suppose the ventilation is a plus though.

 

[Taffy Turner]

(Edited for a typo).

What, to put one in?

and the tolls will warm up to reach equilibrium

:wink:

Cheers

Tim

Doh! (homer)

 

[Losos]

Devonwoody - There has been endless discussion on the FWW board about rust in the workshop. As people have said the polystyrene boxes on their own won't help (Whereas taking them to bed at night might The general opinion seems to be that ventilation and air 'movement' is a good and cheap way of keeping condensation low so don't repair that roof just yet :wink: