Plane sole

[Animal]

Got an old plane with a rusty baseplate. Simple to remove the rust, but how to stop it rerusting? Paint would wear off onto the wood, varnishes tend to be high friction, oils/waxes would go onto the wood.

[Colin Bignell]

Keep it in a sealed plastic bag, with a sheet of rust inhibiting paper.

[John Rumm]

Once cleaned, give a a coat of wax, and then IME it will stay rust free if used from time to time and kept somewhere dry.

[wasbit]

I made little wooden trays with oiled blanket in the bottom for mine to sit on. My shed/workshop is a concrete sectional garage & had a roof of cement/asbestos sheets which is notorious for condensation. After the first winter of using the trays the rust only came down to about half way. When I changed the roof then the condensation problem went away but I left the planes on their trays. The downside is that the sole needs wiping every time before use but it's no hardship & becomes a natural reaction.

[Animal]

I could probably simplify that to wipe it with oil when putting it away. Wipe it off when about to plane. Why don't planes rust usually?

[Thomas Prufer]

This.

Warm the metal until the wax melts, rub it all over. I keep metal planes treated this way in an unheated shed, without rust.

Thomas Prufer

[jon]

Use it regularly.

[Vir Campestris]

When we bought this house it had a concrete sectional garage with a roof of cement/asbestos sheets.

We budgeted for the replacement as one of the jobs to be done. Along with the complete rewire, rethatching, damp proofing...

The boiler wasn't on the list, but that's been done too.

Andy

[Andrew]

Isn't spraying some WD40 and rubbing all over with an oily rag just as effective ?.

[misterroy]

I keep mine in the house

[Andrew]

Actually so do I. IN fact all my valuable and/or important DIY tools are under the stairs, nicely arranged on 18mm plywood sheeting and bit of old ladderax shelving, plus a small workbench for minor repairs complete with a vice.

The garage only stores garden stuff and heavier diy tools like shovels, sledgehammers etc and an assortment of timber pieces.

[Thomas Prufer]

The WD-40 or oil would need to be reapplied, I think it will rub off. And fine wood dust is excellent at sucking up oil...

I either apply a stearin candle (ISTR from IKEA) to the warm metal, and let the wax melt and spread. Or an acid-free wax for metal preservation, dissolved in white spirit.

This:

While cheap -- 5€ for 5 liters of preserving solution, enough for thousands of planes, ordering it is probably OTT. (I piggybacked mine on an existing order; very happy with the stuff. can be applied to rusty surfaces, stops the rust but the look remains the same.)

Thomas Prufer

[Animal]

pricey wax!