Misting oil to protect machine surfaces in a damp environment?

[mcostello]

There is a commercially made "misting Oil" used for storage of gasoline engines. Just spray some down the spark plug hole and crank a few times,
to spread it around.

 

[Winegrower]

I for one have been disappointed in Boeshield T-9. It's expensive and didn't do much that I could tell. I wax the woodworking equipment, seems marginal at best. The castings look so beautiful when they arrive and lose that pretty quickly, in my experience.

 

[Bob Korves]

Works great! If stored, the mineral spirits needs to be added before use - I keep mine in an old whiskey bottle, and after half a year it started to leave a residue like lanonlin typically does.

Not sure I would rely on it without the humidity control, though. Then again, without the dehumidifier the shop gets mold. Quite a bit different from that half-desert climate you guys got in the central valley,

Yes, you have to keep it in a well sealed container or the solvent will evaporate out, leaving a thick mass of oil and lanolin. I have not had that problem because I use air tight containers to store it in.

 

[Tim9]

For long time storage I’m a big fan of thinned lanolin. For my workshop....it’s a constant battle because New Orleans has absolutely miserable humidity. It’s like living in the tropics.
I read in a post a while back where someone recommended leaving a fan running. So that’s what I have been doing the last year and it works. On days and nights where we get that condensing humidity forecast ( foggy nights) I leave a small oscillating wall fan running on low speed. It absolutely eliminates the condensation from forming on all the metal surfaces in my shop. Lathe, concrete floor, mill and drill press all dry.
The other day...I forgot to turn it on one night and walked in the shop....everything was sweating and wet. The concrete floor was wet. This was the first time that happened in the year I was leaving the fan on. It works.

 

[Tim9]

On a side note...for many of my more precision items which I want to protect, I do try to wipe them down with an oily rag, and then I keep those in a decently sealed cabinet. It’s not air tight. It’s an old China case salvaged after Katrina from gutted house which flooded.
I keep a couple of cans of eBay off brand damp rid stuff. Just blue silica gel desiccant that get recharged color blue when dry and turns pink when saturated. Usually lasts a couple of months and stuff in this cabinet only gets used occasionally. More common tools go in other cabinets or tool boxes. All of these steps also help. It’s a process in my opinion keeps rust at bay. No single solution other than HVAC. And for me, that’s just not in the cards yet.

 

[The Model A Guy]

On the de humidifier. I bought one that rolls around last year and it ran thru the winter months and into early spring. I’m a big fan.....I empty a gallon every other day or so. It doesnt take up much room and has made a notable difference in my non insulated all metal shop.
& I Still wipe down all my machinery regularly with Gibbs.

 

[middle.road]

We really should do up a sticky on this subject someday.

 

[Downunder Bob]

I built my shop in an unheated barn. The shop itself is an enclosed and insulated space, about 12x24 ft.

To address humidity, I bought one of those wheeled dehumidifiers with a tank and a hose hookup. It's plugged into a timer which runs for an hour twice a day at peak humidity times (2-3pm, 3-4am around here). Costs very little by way of electricity.

Winter turns every hunk of metal into a condenser. I put a cheap oil-filled electric radiant heater from the hardware store, keep it on the lowest setting. Keeps the shop at 40F, and again doesn't eat up much power. I no longer walk in to machines dripping with water. Some people put electric coffee cup warmers under or in their machines, but I haven't found those to be terribly effective.

On top of those systems, I filled a sureshot mister with Bob Korves' version of Ed's Red (basically ATF, odorless mineral spirits, and lanolin), and use that periodically (maybe once a month). Search around for forums thread on lanolin and you'll find a lot of discussion on different rust prevention approaches.

You can buy a ready made rust preventer based on lanolin, called Lanox MX4 I have found it to be very good for protecting clean metal. It's great in a marine environment. I always give my machines a light spray when leaving the shop.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

You can buy a ready made rust preventer based on lanolin, called Lanox MX4 I have found it to be very good for protecting clean metal. It's great in a marine environment.

There are a few, Fluid Film being the most readily available here (the local hardware store even carries it - the real hardware store I mean, not the big-box store), LPS-3 being a pricey but effective variant. The problem with these, as mentioned in a different thread, is that they leave a thick, tacky coating. Adding mineral spirits seems to thin the lanolin enough to leave more of a thin, dried-wax coating.

 

[Downunder Bob]

There are a few, Fluid Film being the most readily available here (the local hardware store even carries it - the real hardware store I mean, not the big-box store), LPS-3 being a pricey but effective variant. The problem with these, as mentioned in a different thread, is that they leave a thick, tacky coating. Adding mineral spirits seems to thin the lanolin enough to leave more of a thin, dried-wax coating.

The Lanox MX4 that I mentioned does not leave a thick tacky residue but rather a thin oily film. I do not dilute it just use as is. Even after not having used my lathe for a month or more the ways are still wet and shiny, there is no problem in using it as is, just wind the carriage along and re-oil as I go.

I imagine that if a lot of dust was to settle on the machine during that idle time it would need cleaning off. But my shop doesn't get much dust inside , so I've never had to worry about it. If it was dirty I'd just spray it with Inox MX3 and wipe it down the Inox is also my preferred cutting fluid specially good on Al, and S/S.