Question about wood tooling and rust?

mastuart · Feb 26, 2015

Shop is a mess with tooling lying around everywhere. I just got a couple of Lista cabinets and Im trying to get organized. Anyhow I have a lot of tooling for my Harding DSM 59 that have 5/8 shanks. I have some 1 inch thick oak boards that I bored a series of holes for the tooling shanks. Will I have any problems with rust on the shanks with using the oak wood. The reason I ask is because in the past I bought a cheap set of brazed carbide boring bars that came in a wooden stand. They sat in a cabinet for a long time and when I went to use them the shanks were very rusty. I don't know what kind of wood it was but nothing else in the cabinet got rusty. I don't think I have a big moisture problem because most things don't get rusty. If the oak will work alright should I put some kind of finish on the wood like some Watco Danish oil. Should I wipe the shanks down with some kind of oil before I put them away after use?

Mark

Bob-J-H · Feb 26, 2015

Oak is not a good wood to use for tool storage because of the high acid content. Use a more inert wood such as cherry or mahogany. Oiling the tools will help. If you can get hold of some camphor it will help prevent rust in the cabinet. Bob

emcmike · Feb 26, 2015

Old wood trick.... bore out hole ... fill with oil........ insert tool for storage . Put upper wood cap back on. Don't use red oak , it is porous and will wick out the oil.

mastuart · Feb 26, 2015

Thanks for the replies. Bob That's what I was thinking about the acid in the wood. I made these a couple years ago . I bored the holes with a 5/8 forstner bit. I oiled the shanks and they slid in nicely but after some time (several months) I had to twist them a lot to get them out because the wood shrank or swelled up. At that time they had no sign of rust. Today I opened the holes up some with the boring head in the mill. I think I will use them for now and keep an eye on them. When I get a chance I will make some new ones out of a different type of wood. I will need more anyway because the ones I made will only hold about 30 tools.

Mike I am not sure what you mean by. Put upper cap back on.

Thanks Mark

emcmike · Feb 26, 2015

I usually make a two part box bottom and top. The bottom I fill each pocket with a little oil , bored larger than the cutting tool . The top is the same as the bottom. The oil gets drawn up to the dry top semi sealing the top on and no air gets in , so no rust on the tooling. Petroleum jelly works very good to .

mastuart · Feb 26, 2015

Mike now I understand. I am making these to hold turret tooling that holds the cutting bit.

Mark

sfriedberg · Feb 26, 2015

I advise you not to store the tool shanks in a wood block. I stored many hundred dollars worth of 1/2" shank router bits in a nicely fitted custom mahogany block, and a few years later found that almost all of them were ruined due to rust and corrosion.

If you want a block, make it from something that 1) doesn't absorb and release moisture, and 2) doesn't inherently contain acids and other corrosive chemicals. Grab a cheap slab of HDPE or something like that.

Practically all of my DSM tooling is in those little red drawer bins. Pictures can be seen here. In fact, my (non-Lista) roller cabinet doesn't have the drawer depth to stand things upright, so they've got to lay down.

emcmike · Feb 26, 2015

Most of mine were mahogany and Spanish cedar, the trick is to really oil the wood well. I had a fire and the tooling came out unscathed after all the water dumped on them and filling up the drawers. Dry wood is no good. Dipping the tooling in warm petroleum jelly for long storage works very well , and put in the well oiled box. After many years of storing engine parts on large boats this is the only way I've ever found to be rust proof.

My shop has no climate control , so I'm resetting it up for the machine shop. This is the way I'll be doing it. Right now the machines are covered in jack oil and cheese cloth covered . My new Kurt vise was just oil and got some light surface rust and now that's taken care of with the jack oil , cloth treatment same as engine parts.

emcmike · Feb 27, 2015

Another thing I wanted to test. Wanted to get some zinc oxide and mix it in the petroleum jelly warm and dip the tooling in for long rest periods. As I understand it , zinc forms a barrier to keep oxygen from collecting on steel surfaces. Steel boat builders use hot Zink to protect them, wonder if it could be somewhat easily to tooling for storage , instead of cosmaline ?

Bill D · Feb 27, 2015

Some hardwoods are fairly high in acid and should not be used to store metal. these include oak, Cherry, Walnut, mohogany, Redwood, Cedar. I believe most softwoods are safe around metal. If the wood is resistant to decay it probably should not be used around metal.
Bil lD.

stephen thomas · Feb 27, 2015

I would use maple or birch. though in fact I have used mahogany because I happen to have lots of thick short scrap/

I would not use oak, for reasons mentioned.

What I always do even/especially in the commercial "mystery asian* wood" that some tools come with, is what emcmike does. Leave the bottom in the hole, and fill it with oil. I saturate the wood with LPS#2 by putting a good puddle in each hole and letting it soak in. Then I add a little LPS3 to each hole and wipe it around with a finger.

*these are not necessarily asian tools with the asian mystery wood, either: my set of Borite bars came in such as did some others over the years.

smt

extropic · Feb 28, 2015

If the Op doesn't mind, I'd like to expand the issue just a bit.

I've made some wooden storage devices (small collet racks) but I've primed and painted them with the intent of stopping, or greatly reducing, the accumulation and release of moisture.

I haven't had any issues yet but it's only been a few years and I'd like to hear other's opinions.

Is primed and painted wood acceptable for contact with tooling?

JST · Feb 28, 2015

Never had any problem with varnished wood. I have no problem boring holes and putting shanked tooling in it.

But I do three things.... First, I never use a tight hole. The shank is ALWAYS a loose fit. Second, I make darn sure I varnish the heck out of the holes. Third, I always have a through hole of a smaller diameter, out the bottom, mostly for letting out dust and any chips, but also for ventilation

What kinds of wood are used for old-time micrometer cases? Some of it looks like mahogany, some like "fruitwood". I have never seen any with the grain structure of oak.

wheels17 · Feb 28, 2015

I like using the PVC trim stock available at the big box home improvement stores. It is fairly inexpensive, machines easily with woodworking tools, holds a nice edge, can be glued with PVC pipe cement, and is very inert.

I

TedinNorfolk · Feb 28, 2015

I've found over a long time PVC can degrade and in doing so release chlorine,not good. I know it's soft but I use expande polystyrene. Ted

mastuart · Mar 1, 2015

Hi I see there has been more replies. Thanks! It seems that oak is the wrong wood. My boy got some old Starrett tools. They are in some kind of soft bare wood with black letters stamped on them they are old tools with no signs of rust. I have an assortment of measuring tools and they look to have different types of wood boxes. The boxes are all stained or varnished or some kind of finish on they so it is hard telling what kind of wood it is.

Here is what I had in mind for a lot of the tooling. But I will not be using the oak. Also storing them this way the drawers need to be at least 4 inches deep and if whey have drills or other cutting tools 5 inches or more.

sfriedberg I got a couple of assortments from Schaller Corp and will be spending more money with them. I just wish that they made all the one and three inch deep ones in the same sizes as the 2 inch deep ones.

I also got some of these some time ago for 5C storage and cut them down so they would fit in a 4 inch drawer. I am not sure the these are the answer . I had them in the house for a year or so and some moisture must have collected on them and stayed in the plastic. The plastic must be some kind of plastic with fiber in it.

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Question about wood tooling and rust?

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