My two shoulder planes keep getting rust marks even though I coat them with wax and a liberal coat of T9. nothing else rusts in my shop and it's not from humidity; it's from my fingers. Short of wearing gloves, what might I to coat the sides of these planes with so I don't have to keep removing rust. the soles are fine; it's just the sides where my sweaty hands have touched.
Dave
Maybe nothing Dave. This is something that guitar players have moaned about forever. People like me have sweat than just seems to rust things and we'll rot a set of strings in no time. I have to change my strings almost 3 times as often as other people I play with. Fortunately, I don't worry much about keeping my tools shine like new, or I'd drive myself crazy.
When my wife was pregnant, her sweat rotted our Nordic Track like strong acid. Went back to normal after delivery. Maybe you should see an endocrinologist.
I know what you're getting at and I am NOT pregnant!
No wax ever worked for me including BoeShield. I get good results with Top Cote.
One of my friends (a smoker and a lab chemist) has sweat as corrosive as something from Alien. A great many silver-plate ornaments have suffered his black fingerprints o'doom and there's even one etched into the chrome plated traverse handwheel of the lathe.
Maybe you could gun-blue your shoulder plane ?
Have you ever tried Camellia oil? I use it on my hand planes.
Bob
OK, your not pregnant but can you smell? There is a rare endocrine disorder which could be effecting your persperation. No I'm not an endocrinologist but have Kallmans Syndrome.
Not to mention attack finishes, peel plating, etc... Some of my basses have some parts with corrosion so scary, I can't believe it came from my body.
On a side note, I've seen bicycles with aluminum parts so corroded by sweat that they literally crumbled and broke.
Towel wipe before, WD40 after seems to work in my place. Don't need anything but time to work up a good sweat, so I just do it by rote.
I'll second Bob's suggestion. I prefer to oil my tools than put a coat of wax. Paste wax is hard and won't penetrate the metal's surface (unless it's liquid parafin wax). You touch your plane while you're applying the wax and I think the wax is sealing in the sweat from your fingers. If you can't find camellia oil online you can use any vegetable oil though I prefer camellia oil because it's thinner and isn't as sticky. A little goes a long long way.
Layne
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.