Rust prevention

I am glad that alot of people are chiming in and sharing there valuable knowledge on things that have worked or not worked for them in the rust prevention battle.

Just a little backstory on my journey in the rust prevention or lack there of.

I started this topic because as a kid growing up in Florida working for my dads construction company we never had to deal with rust on out job site tools but it almost seemed like my dad was fighting a never ending battle in his open air pole barn style workshop. When I started getting into wood working living in Texas I could not afford really good shop style tools and most were the small portable type that would be more home on a jobsite rather then a shop. I never really had to worry about rust on these tools because most of them came with stamped tables and not cast iron. After the military moved me to California I started expanding my tools from jobsite tools to more of a stationary shop tool. I started noticing a slight coloration change to by saw top caused by surface rust but it was kept mostly at bay because of the frequent use. We just recently moved back to Florida in the last year and my table saw was in storage both in California and Florida. When I finally got it out of storage where was a considerable amount of surface rust on the top. I know that the weather has alot to do with the amount of rust that we all have to deal with and my experience should not be near what my fathers was because I do not store my tools in an open air pole barn style workshop.

I now have a several tools that have cast iron table tops and I am just starting to figure out what will work best for me. I am currently using Johnson's paste wax on the top of my tools surfaces.

Straightlines said:

Ha! Stick, where did you come up with this?

For years, I've read accounts of WD as a rust preventative, yet have personally observed the top of every WD-40 can rust, I've applied it to iron and seen that the object not only rusted but seemed to do so faster than I expected. I will say say that that rust has been light surface rust that seems to self-arrest.

Click to expand...

same as you... VOE..
WD becomes Hygroscopic right after it dries... in it's liquid state it displaces water...
another thing I've found, WD is a dirt magnet...

think about it, the WD cans are painted too...
and I've made a lot of money as in bunches of, cleaning up after WD users...

self healing metals are either coated w/ or contain Aluminum oxide and/or chromium oxide

spray/soak the inside of a motor's distributor cap...
w/o letting the WD dry or wiping away any access put the cap back on and start the motor...
later you'll wonder why the cap cracked or came off of the distributor...
spring hooked caps'll jump and flash..

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Paste wax works but only if applied regularly but it is not very water resistant on cast iron. The Boeshield turned my cast Iron a darker color. The WD 40 method may work for some but WD 40 is wet when sprayed but evaporates and leaves behind a stickly mess. WD 40 will gum up bearings and cause them to fail. WD 40 used for its intented purpose is to displace water and penetration for rusty bolts. If you like WD 40 then use it but I would not use it on a bet as a rust preventer.

The TopSaver removes rust you may get from your fingerprints but really prevents rust from forming in my shop. I can buy or use anything but I choose TopSaver because it works. It does not transfer to wood so there are no finishing issues. I use it on every tool in my shop to remove and/or prevent rust.

https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Manuf...r_1_2?keywords=topsaver&qid=1571119381&sr=8-2