Band saw in garage?

[toller]

I have an opportunity to pick up a decent bandsaw cheaply. Problem is that I literally have no room for it. I can barely get around my workshop since I replaced my tabletop jointer with a real one; a bandsaw is out of the question.

The only place I could use it would be in my garage; easy enough to back a car out when I need the bandsaw. However, the cars bring in plenty of salt and moisture (upstate NY) and I am concerned it will not survive very well.

Anyone doing this successfully? Or, anyone destroy a tool trying it?

[Doug Kanter]

I kept a table saw in the garage for two years. No harm done. However, I picked up a used shipping pallet, but a cheap ply top on it, and kept the saw on that. That took care of wet, salty puddles. Fortunately, moisture never travels sideways in my garage. If it does in yours, someone's driving the cars in MUCH too fast.

The only thing I'd wonder about are stiff rubber belts in the winter. If your saw has belts, I wonder if the pullies might spin, and glaze the belts...or some such thing.

[Ba r r y]

Mine, along with the rest of my tools are in a basement. Also in the basement is the laundry facilities, a furnace, and a kerosene heater.

According to my Garret Wade humidity clock, I run about 75-85% humidity in the summer and 45-50% in the winter.

My tools seem to be OK, but I'm pretty good about waxing them.

Barry

[RE Quick Transit]

I've not experienced that. Of course, Craftsman tools are superior than most anyway.

OTOH, I've never had that problems with belts on any of my vehicles and they sit out in very cold temperatures.

[SuperSpaz]

I've got my tools in my garage here in Michigan and have never had a problem with the cold and the belts on any of my tools. Usually, I'm the one that gets too cold to work and I go in for a cup of coffee and never make it back out. Oh! for a heated shop.........

[Mike Girouard]

A quick wipedown of the bright parts with WD-40 and then put a plastic bin liner over the saw between uses. No worries.

FoggyTown

[Matt]

I would think that a plastic cover would cause condensation to be trapped inside, and thus would use a cloth cover. This is what is recommended for storing items such as outboard motors over the winter ... cover in cloth - like an old sheet.

I am in a similar situation as Mike - in that the only place to put a bandsaw would be in my garage - and wanting to use it through the winter.

[Mike Marlow]

Hey toller, I'm in upstate also - Syracuse area. My tools are all in my garage and no problems at all. They've been out there for over 10 years. Obviously you don't want your equipment to stand in water that drips off the cars, but other than that you should have no problems at all.

[Andy Dingley]

Depends on your climate.

In Canada it's cold - too cold for winter condensation to be a big problem. Move South though and winter is wet enough to be damp, and cold enough to condense - so your concern over plastic covers becomes a real issue. Here in Rightpondia though, our winters are wet and barely cold. My workshop doesn't have condensation problems _on_ the machines, but it certainly does up near the roof. My bg problem for January is indoor rain dripping off the roof. So my plastic covers go on every night.

[RonB]

A lot of us work from garages or have to share our shops with other machinery including vehicles. Just keep the tools clean and the bare metal protected. You'll get table top rust even without vehicles and salt. If your vehicles melt salty ice onto the floor overnight, keep swept away from the tool areas.

[Andy Dingley]

If your vehicles are melting salty ice, then IMHO leave them outside and keep them cold and frozen. I'd rather dig my way into the driver's seat then have to patch rust.

[Mike Marlow]

Wash the vehicle every week or two in the winter time and it won't rust any faster than if you never parked it in a garage. Today's cars are protected in one way or another - either undercoated from the factory, zinc coated, or they use plastic inner fenders. No need to shovel out the car anymore just in the hope of preventing rust. In fact - that never really was much of a way of preventing the rust. Now, if you're looking for a reason to justify expanding the shop into the car bay...

[Chris Hornberger]

My wood shop is also my motorcycle garage/shop. My stuff's doing fine thus far.

[WhoKnows]

Yup me too. Garage full of tools in Western MA. Just get a can of Johnson's Paste wax for the unpainted cast iron and you should be fine!!

[RonB]

Married?

[dave]

Johnson's Paste wax.. That works?

I had a real problem with a new cast iron table saw rusting last year. Ended up sanding it down, and clear coating it. Which made it look fantastic - until I actually began using it.

Dave

[Steven and Gail Peterson]

I have had tools - RAS, surface planer and others in a garage for years. I got some cheap painters drop clothes, and cover them up. Dew and moisture settle, so covering over seems to keep them rust free. On the other hand, my jointer was in the basement, but under a water pipe that sweated and dripped. Result, rust. Sometimes you can't win.

Steve

[Bob]

Must have been a pain the butt hauling wood between the garage and the basement when you were milling wood. :-)

Bob

[Robert Galloway]

Got that backwards. It's :-( not :-)

been there, done that. continue to do so.

bob g.

[WhoKnows]

It works surprisingly well. I have to re-coat about every 2 to 3 weeks in the winter, (I run an unvented heater that creates a lot of moisture). In the summer I coat it once and I'm good until fall. Another good byproduct of waxing the cast is that the material glides over the surface. Try it out. I don't think you'll regret it!

Later,