Rust prevention coating options

I have a product line of cast ductile iron and forged steel blacksmith tools. When the tools sit in storage for too long I can get some surface rust. It does not affect the use of the tools but does look bad. I would like to apply some sort of rust preventative on the parts to prevent rust during storage and shipping.

The parts are kept in a heated shop so I don't need anything extreme but the shop is kept around 50f at night so I do get a little light rust if they stick around to long.

I need something that can be easily applied. Ideal would be something something that could be applied to the top of a box of loose parts and work its way down to the bottom parts or could be sprayed on smaller parts and work its way around to the back like oil can but if I have to flip parts and spray both sides or dip parts I can live with that.

It needs to be fairly non toxic as it will eventually be burned off in use. I realize anything has some toxisity being burned off, but I need something that will not have a lot of smoke and negative byproducts like paint would have.

I have used an oil based product and still use it for some of my products but it collects dirt and is
messy to handle the parts after an oil spray and the product is fairly expensive.

I have considered just oil thinned out with a solvent or even diesel fuel but have the messiness concern as well it may cause shipping issues as I tend to ship these products both LTL and by courier.

Has anyone have suggestions for something they have used?

I have had some 3/8" round bar delivered recently that looks like it is cold rolled I am not sure if it has been but there is definitely no mill scale. Rather than being oiled this bar has what feels like some sort of wax, does anyone know how this is applied?

I used to use VCI paper to wrap HSS hobs and shaper cutters. It works well. We would buy it in 200 yard rolls but you can buy it in smaller pre-cut sheets. The tools were stored in a non-airconditioned tool room in South Texas and the paper did well in the humidity.

I use CorrosionX for my small bulk parts. Put em in a bucket, spray, shake, spray shake, spray and ignore. The parts get pretty well oiled and this stuff does pretty well at preventing rust. Corrosion Technologies makers of world famous CorrosionX and RejeX

Also there are some spray-on cosmoline type things, I think from CRC. It sprays on and turns waxy. Bitch to get off after drying tho, usually soak parts in thinner for an hour or two and then wipe off.

I started using these things about six months ago--I toss a few into each toolbox drawer.

So far so good. I don't know what they are, or how long they last. They seem to prevent rust on new shiny stuff, do nothing for things already rusted.

Daubert Cromwell UWMPICHIPS2X2 Uniwrap MPI Corrosion Inhibitor VCI Chip, 2" Length x 2" Width (Case of 5��): Science Lab Waste Disposal Bags: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

On edit: I guess they are the VCI paper WilliamGray mentioned.

Cosmolene, it's been invented for just your application.

It dries to a waxy film and doesn't pick up dirt.

Or you could play backyard chemist and dissolve paraffin wax in a solvent, and use that.

I have mixed trans fluid with mineral spirits and was surprised at how well it works and last. Sprays easily.

Search is your friend:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...l-oil-product-machine-tool-protection-310739/

digger doug said:

Cosmolene, it's been invented for just your application.

It dries to a waxy film and doesn't pick up dirt.

Or you could play backyard chemist and dissolve paraffin wax in a solvent, and use that.

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Or spray WD-40 on them since it is practically the same thing. I have used it for years to clean and protect garden tools kept in an outdoor shed.

If you want them to be clean to handle I wonder if a very light coat of spray lacquer might do it. It would be easy enough to coat a test bar and then see how much smoke the cured coating makes when heated.

Scottl said:

Or spray WD-40 on them since it is practically the same thing. .

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Uhm...NO

Cosmolene you have to ladle it out of the bucket, thin it a bit to spray it.

When dry, the film build is thick enough, sometimes you slice it off, the oil staying wet underneath allows a clean separation.

It bears NO resemblance to WD-40

Maybe a traditional blacksmiths finish for blacksmiths tools? Boiled linseed oil applied to a warm piece of iron will polymerize and leave a very good rust inhibiting finish. Maybe more work than you would like to do though. I have had good experience with an LPS aerosol product made for that purpose.

Amazon.com: lps rust inhibitor

Pattnmaker said:

I have had some 3/8" round bar delivered recently that looks like it is cold rolled I am not sure if it has been but there is definitely no mill scale. Rather than being oiled this bar has what feels like some sort of wax, does anyone know how this is applied?

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CRC SP250 does that. It sprays on and dries to a waxy film, a clean steel part with SP250 on it feels sort of like a dry cake of soap. I sprayed it on a clean tubing roll cage and stored it in a cold building, after a long winter the places that had not been sprayed had rust, none of the sprayed surfaces were rusted. It cleans off very easily, but I've never heated it to see if it smokes.

For machined steel parts like gears we use Starrett M1. It leaves a very light coating of Petroleum jelly on the surface which wipes off easily and doesn't change the parts appearance, no stains or discoloration.

Since I keep bees I have a surplus of beeswax. My shop is not air conditioned and when the weather turns "balmy" everything gets wet with condensation. I melt beeswax in tupentine and paint it on all the big pieces of iron that tend to sweat. Been doing this for about twenty years and no rust. Cleans up easy too. They make an odorless turpentine that does not smell at all. I get it at home depot in the paint dept. You don't need a lot of wax. A little goes a long way. You just want to leave a thin film.

I've never had the need myself, but I've seen it recommended plenty here, and other places... Isn't this pretty much specifically what Boeshield is made for?

Hi,

I use either beeswax, a mixture of turpentine and wax from toilet bowl seals.

If you have the budget kano lab sells Weatherpruf or Prevox. Either of these are pricy but they work well.

Do you have a website for the blacksmith tools you sell? I'm interested in seeing those.

Sounds like I still have some experimenting ahead of me. Boeshield looks too pricey for my fairly tight margins. I will have to give the CRC SP250 and maybe some of the homebrew ideas a try. Cosmolene would work but cosmetically is terrible and is overkill for this application.

Finish on most of the parts is shotblasted and the parts are either heavy or the products that are not heavy there are a lot of them so brushing or rubbing on is pretty much out of the question. The larger 20-70lb castings I get in batches of 60-100 the smaller ones I have to get cast in batches of around 250 which are a lot of parts to treat. I am starting to think making a basket I can lift from above with the forklift and dipping in a 30-40 gallon tank may be my fastest way to apply the preventative. Does anyone have experience with the concentrates sold by places that sell vibratory finishing supplies?

Karl_Kunkle said:

Hi,


Do you have a website for the blacksmith tools you sell? I'm interested in seeing those.

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My website is currently a mess but as you are in the USA you need to go to Kayne & Son's Blacksmiths Depot | Home Blacksmithing to buy my products. They are my exclusive US distributor. Swage blocks, firepots, mandrels, and many of the other cast tools that they sell are my products, as well as the traditional forged hardies.

I'm trying manganese phosphate conversion coating this year (Parkerizing) on my workshop tools. The amounts of manganese dioxide and phosphoric acid are fairly small per litre and are commonly available items. There is a bit of mucking around to get the bath temperature within a narrow range of 92-94 deg C but it's not a deal breaker. My small lathe tool post handle can go rusty overnight and seems to be an electrolysis issue, it went a nice dark black colour along with several items made from 1214 steel after 15 minutes in the tank and afterwards I had to oil it twice as the first coat of oil seemed to suck into the finish. Several ductile iron items went a dark grey colour. So far it seems easy to do and cheap, reasonably durable finish.

Does anyone have experience with the concentrates sold by places that sell vibratory finishing supplies?

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Ox has some preservative concentrates for sale in the tooling for sale forum here on PM I believe. I buy a preservative from Zurn Oil for dipping that works quite well for larger volume use.

digger doug said:

Uhm...NO

Cosmolene you have to ladle it out of the bucket, thin it a bit to spray it.

When dry, the film build is thick enough, sometimes you slice it off, the oil staying wet underneath allows a clean separation.

It bears NO resemblance to WD-40

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Slightly in his defense, WD-40 does make a new rust inhibitor that is similar to watered down cosmoline. It is nothing like regular WD-40 though. I am not a big fan, I prefer CRC dry moly for things that will sit still on a shelf.

Rustlick 631($) or Boeshield($$$)

Fluid Film