A Plane Till

[IanW]

.... Brett, your comparison is quite interesting. It makes me wonder wat is also happening on the hidden parts of our tools like the tang of a file, chisel, or knife. I think Ian has used a bit sheoak in his tool making I wonder if he has any insights after maybe a rehandling exercise?

Dale, on my early saws when I first started using She-oak, I didn't put any sort of protective coating on the metal that lives inside the handle. On removing some handles a year or two later, I found that there was a significant degree of corrosion of the metal. I immediately started slathering the part that goes inside any handles with paste-wax, whatever wood I was using. That seems to have pretty well stopped the rampant corrosion that occurred with the raw metal. Recently, I switched to coating them with Lanotec instead of wax. I did that because I've found it to be far superior to paste wax, at least in the short-to-medium term. I gave both lots of steel we got, a good soaking with Lanotec before storing them. Some of those have been sitting lightly wrapped in the original plastic for about 15 months, and there isn't even a hint of rust on any of them (thank goodness). Some steel I bought earlier got blemished, one piece quite badly, although they had something waxy on them, and were stored well-wrapped in plastic. I haven't been using the Lanotec under handles long enough to know if it's superior or not, yet, but I have high hopes for it.

Further to Brett's comments on the different susceptibility of his steels to corrosion, I have to say I haven't yet figured out why some are worse than others. Two pieces which are ostensibly the same alloy, can have very different resistance to corrosion. The saw plate we bought for the sawmaking worksop the year before last is pretty 'fragile' in that respect. It not only rusts easily, it gets ugly 'sores' of spidery pits that look like Medusas. I posted a pic of this in another thread, asking someone to explain them for me: 1095 2.jpg

I didn't get any plausible replies on that. It's not unique to this particular batch, because some 1095 steel I bought from the US does the same thing, even under blueing: 1095 1.jpg

(These are just bits of scrap that were lying around and had no polishing or other treatment, not saw blades, thank goodness!)

I'd love to get an explanation of why this pattern occurs, from someone who knows their metallurgy. I reckon it's to do with the way the material reforms during the heat-treating process, but could be way off the mark. Metallurgy is a complete unknown, to me!

Cheers,

[DSEL74]

I can't say why on the medusas other than what I have and I haven't stored it in anything other than a wrap of paper to my knowledge (last I looked) hasn't been affected. This may purely be the difference between our climates. * Both lots of steel came from same manufacturer and same spec.

In regards to the Lanotec are you using the aerosol or the pump spray. I just bought a can of the aerosol but haven't used it yet after a friend told me they have a different formula "he believes from use". The pump spray tends to leave a milky surface and some other details I can't remember. So he uses the can on items for presentation and sale and the pump on the anvils and tools.

My theory is it could just be the thickness of application the can sprays a thinner film?



Sorry if we have veered your thread off course Brett. Hopefully a bit of extra info will help with your overall plane storage process.

[IanW]

I can't say why on the medusas other than what I have and I haven't stored it in anything other than a wrap of paper to my knowledge (last I looked) hasn't been affected. This may purely be the difference between our climates. * Both lots of steel came from same manufacturer and same spec.....

Dale, I only mentioned the batches to give a time reference - the medusoid pitting is by no means unique to 'our' saw plate. I make sure all of my saw blade blanks are well-soaked and well-covered during storage, and haven't had any trouble other than a bit of light corrosion on one piece that was not treated & partly exposed. The more severely pitted stuff in the pics is from neglected scraps (I just edited the post to make that clear!). So far, I haven't had any serious trouble with completed saws, but it's a heads-up to let us know we need to be careful - don't leave your luverly new saws out in the rain, whatever you do!

And yep, I think we are more or less on topic, since we started talking about rust prevention on tools stored in tills - saws, planes, not much diff.

I use the hand-spray Lanotec. I started with a spray can, but quickly decided the hand pump stuff is infinitely more economical, even if I do spray on 4 times as much. They don't say it is any different in the spray packs, so I think your idea of thickness of application is a good suggestion. Whatever, it's the best damn stuff I've come across for fighting rust in my shed. Particularly on a cost-effect basis....

[mrmoon]

Shellac is possibly the safest and it is time tested. Seals and protects.

[Master Splinter]

If you're looking for a cheap, volume source of silica gel, look no further than the pet aisle at the local supermarket. The crystal kitty litter is silica gel - it even comes with the blue indicator crystals so you'll know when to stick it in the oven to re-dry.

(NB recycling from the kitty litter tray is not recommended!)

[DSEL74]

Becarefull using that in your drawers if you own a cat or you find some surprises left for you.

[Sawdust Maker]

Looks the goods
wouldn't have thought the HNT would have stayed upright with a magnet

... (although I must try Kunos Oil).

...

If you want me to bring some up the next the time there is a gtg let me know as it's sold just down the road from here
I could probably go out of my way to get some for you

[NCArcher]

Further to Brett's comments on the different susceptibility of his steels to corrosion, I have to say I haven't yet figured out why some are worse than others. Two pieces which are ostensibly the same alloy, can have very different resistance to corrosion. The saw plate we bought for the sawmaking worksop the year before last is pretty 'fragile' in that respect. It not only rusts easily, it gets ugly 'sores' of spidery pits that look like Medusas. I posted a pic of this in another thread, asking someone to explain them for me:

I didn't get any plausible replies on that. It's not unique to this particular batch, because some 1095 steel I bought from the US does the same thing, even under blueing:

I might have the wrong end of the stick here Ian but is that two separate pieces of plate with identical corrosion patterns?

[IanW]

I might have the wrong end of the stick here Ian but is that two separate pieces of plate with identical corrosion patterns?

Well spotted, NC! You are absolutely right. I grabbed these from the post where I'd asked about it. I meant to show the 3rd pic, which is actually the back of a plane blade, but instead I pulled out the pics of the same piece before & after I'd sanded off the blueing to show how deep the pits are. Working on thumbnails with my ageing eyes is bound to cause problems!

This was the piece I meant to show. It's the back of an oldish (pre ww2) plane blade, just to show this pattern of corrosion isn't new:Plane blade.jpg

Cheers,

[NCArcher]

Ahh, the old failing eyesight trick .....that reminds me, I need new glasses.
I was going to suggest that identical patterns like that could only be caused by pressure points on the face of a clamp interacting with the plate in some way. But I won't suggest that now.

Sorry Brett, lovely plane till. You need more planes though. Many more planes.

[Sawdust Maker]

and also goes to show that none of the rest of us are that observant!

[Bushmiller]

Nice till Brett

Regards
Paul

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Nice to hear that you are looking to try the Kunos. One ofthe benefits of the Kunos oil is that it is vapour permeable, which means anymoisture in the timber can move in and out of the pores.
However, it will also be dependent on the humidity andconditions in your shed to help keep the rust at bay. Blackwood is quiet dense and oily and takes wellto being oiled, as does Cypress. Alternatively, leave it with no coating andthe timber will grey off with time but then again, the colour and structure ofthe two types of timber would just stand out brilliantly if oiled. If you havenot tried the Kunos before, sample pots are available from local distributors or online.