How do you handle the problem of rust? If I pull my car into the garage after it has been out in the rain, or covered with snow and salt, it's going to really do a number on my tools. Not only my table saw, jointer, etc, but also the smaller hand tools like chisels and planes. Just putting a dehumidifier isn't going to do much good with a wet car right next to everything.
Thanks
Heard of many folks putting Silica bags in the drawers with their handtools.
My shop is currently in a very damp basement, even with a dehumidifier. I recently bought a silica gel box (Cabelas,
My shop is in the garage and the way that I handled it is that I built a partition wall seperating my shop from where a car might go, put a ceiling in it insulated the entire thing and run a window AC unit 24/7. Perhaps overkill on the construction and a bit expensive for the AC but none of my tools show any sign of rust. It is worth it to me as I don't want to waste precious shop time doing rust remediation on my tools. I also justify it in my mid as the shop is about the same temp / humidity as the house where the stuff I build will eventually be deployed so - in theory - moisture takeup on the wood should be somewhat consistent between environments.
My dad's shop is in what amounts to a detached garage and is in the woods. He only runs the AC when he is in there and he is CONSTANTLY fighting the rust problem.
Philly metro BTW so humidity is a real problem.
leave the cars outside?? :) I haven't parked a car in my garage shop for over 3 years. The cars are doing fine. They don't rust outside and my shop doesn't get "disturbed". Then again, I don't live in snow country. I thought most snow country homes had basements. I've considered moving to the midwest and taking over an entire basement (1,500 square feet) for my next shop. that would be so cool to have plenty of room for stock. I could retire some of the equipment's mobile stands with that much room. Each "toy" could stay put in a shop that large. sigh...
Dave
they'd need a pretty large bag and drawer to hold a table saw. :)
Dave
pduck wrote: How do you handle the problem of rust? I moved from Michigan to Arizona.. Tom
Ah, one of the benefits we enjoy down here in New Mexico. The humidity is so low, rust is never a problem.
My father-in-law lived in this house for 50+ years. After he died, as I was going through his old tools, I was amazed to see how well preserved they were in his garage.
Back in New Jersey, I used silica, rust preventors, WD40 ... anything I could get my hands on to combat the onset of rust.
And usually, I would lose the battle.
Jack
pduck wrote:
Constant use and a lot of wiping and fondling of the tools... :-)
--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art
Don't put car in the garage - it is now a workshop!
Works for me :)
Vic
Live in Arizona. Not much problem here.
Apart from the damage to your precious tools it's best to keep wet and snow-covered cars out of a garage for their own sake - it accelerates rust on the car because every time you bring them in the snow melts and the salt starts to work on the metal.
Letting a fan run constantly in your garage is a good way to minimize rust as it keeps the air moving wicking up moisture and it only costs a few cents a day for electricity.
Bob
I have such an arrangement. My comment? No problem. The humidity levels in any workshop are not stable, anyway. In other words, when it rains, (unless the shop is air conditioned), the humidity level inside the garage will match that outside, which is probably close to 100 percent. In other words, as long as the car isn't dripping directly on the tools, the only tools that would be affected would probably already rusted.
And, I have the solution. Johnson's Paste Wax.
James..
Not exactly on point, but a few years ago I was building a deck around my pool. It started to rain, so I threw all of the tools I was using into my wheelbarrow and rolled it into the shed. The tool only had a few drips on them. The next day, sunny, I went out to continue, opened the shed and every piece of steel was rusted like crazy. Note to self: don't store tools around Chlorine. It was a hell of a mess.
I don't have a garage. I have a shop that is attached to my house. There are double doors that lead to the back yard and a very large door in the front that rolls up into the rafters when I press a button. On the other side of the large door is a concrete slab about 16' wide that leads to the street. I park my cars on that slab.
I live in St. Louis and get all types of weather. I don't have a problem with rust on my power tools but I wax fairly often to keep the wood running smoothly. The only place I see much rust is on the soles of my planes. I wax them too, but it wears off pretty easily.
My experience is pretty much the same. I have a two car garage where I normally park one car. If I wash the car, I dry it before I park it. If it's raining, so be it... it goes in wet. I've had very little rusting of my tools in the garage. In fact, the last time I had to clean rust off the table saw's top, it was because I had dripped sweat on it.
I use Johnson's paste wax on my tools too.
FWIW, I live in North Carolina where there is plenty of heat and humidity. As I write this, I've got an HVAC crew installing a new heat pump for my house and they're going to add a register in the garage for me to help cool it. Film at
11....I bought painter's drop cloths to cover the stationary tools. Along with the occasional wax job, it works.
Steve
I simply do not allow cars in the garage/worlshop. I leave em out in the driveway as it should be! lol... automobiles are much too messy to be in the shop. and just to solidify this i parked a unisaw in front of one door and a very large and heavy work bench in front of the other!!!!!!!!!!
skeez
I DO live in snow country and neither my wife's nor my car come inside the house (needless to say the kids' cars don't either). The wife was less than pleased by that when we contemplated purchasing the current home and she thought she might get to use the garage, but after we talked and she accepted that she got a dining room, a living room, 3 bathrooms and virtually the entire walk-in closet and all I got from the new house was a little bit bigger garage shop, she was OK with it.
Dave Hall
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