34. Wax that steel

[Make Things]

[nova_robotics]

Probably not a bad idea. I generally wipe my tools down with way oil periodically. I figured since it was nice and sticky it would protect my tooling. I was wrong.

I poured a new foundation for a piece of equipment in my shop a couple weeks ago. I left the garage door open for 12ish hours, and there was a big soaking wet concrete pier (that I kept watered) for about 3 days. The humidity is controlled by two dehumidifiers, but with all that wet they couldn't keep up. EVERYTHING I owned developed a patina of surface rust. All of it. Even 20 year old lathe chucks turned brown. I nearly cried.

[old_toolmaker]

I have a dehumidifier running in my shop 24 hours a day seven days a week. If it is not needed it just shuts down. It never runs in the winter.

[WmRMeyers]

Probably not a bad idea. I generally wipe my tools down with way oil periodically. I figured since it was nice and sticky it would protect my tooling. I was wrong.

I poured a new foundation for a piece of equipment in my shop a couple weeks ago. I left the garage door open for 12ish hours, and there was a big soaking wet concrete pier (that I kept watered) for about 3 days. The humidity is controlled by two dehumidifiers, but with all that wet they couldn't keep up. EVERYTHING I owned developed a patina of surface rust. All of it. Even 20 year old lathe chucks turned brown. I nearly cried.

My former employer had probably 800' of iron pipe rails for the clothing on hangers to run through the plant on, and about that much again in the various storage areas. They kept cases of Johnson & Johnson Paste Wax in stock for the the ladies who worked there to wax the rails. Every day, before they started work, they'd wax all the exposed rails, and as they exposed more railing, they'd wax it too. This stuff gets a lot of weight on galvanized hangers run across it every day of the week. We averaged upward of 20,000 pounds of new laundry every day. Most of it got hung up, and pushed across those rails. It works pretty well if you keep up with it.

Bill

[toolkribkeeper]

I have a dehumidifier running in my shop 24 hours a day seven days a week. If it is not needed it just shuts down. It never runs in the winter.

In the humid area I live in... Near the gulf coast I had a dehumidifier in my home recording studio mounted over a fibreflass washtub,
with a .875" hole drilled an inch below the top, fitted with a 7/8" hose connector, leading any overflow thru a 1" id hose thru the wall
near the floor to the outside of the bldg.

Prior to adding the hose I was emptying the 2 gal tub avg 4 times a week.
But....not once after adding the overflow hose...

[DIYer]

Thanks Make Things! We've added your Metal Surface Protector to our Miscellaneous category,
as well as to your builder page: Make Things's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Metal Surface Protector by Make Things

tags: protector