Thread: stopping rust on cast iron machines

Hi
Have you used Mr Sheen?
I have used it on different epuipment mainly to aid slippedge, it lets the wood glide through the thicknesser, etc.
Havent noticed any rust either.
Cheers, Saidy the Cleaning Lady.

Where is when ya need him...me and him use the same stuff, but mine is 1000km away at the moment and I can't remember its name..Start with G I think.. ANyway its specifically designed for just this purpose. Kinda of like a paste with silver flecks in it, damn good stuff..Should be available where ever they sell good quality machinery, both metal or timber machinery.

Being a professional re-finisher I would highly discourage anyone from using Mr Sheen or any product containing silicon on or near any surface that timber will come in close contact with. I have in the past on the odd occasional used commercial furniture polish in spray cans that contains beeswax instead of silicon to aid in the timber moving more freely on machinery, but if I use the stuff I first talked about regularly like your sposed to I shouldn't have any need to use the spray stuff.

Mr Sheen is full of silicone compounds.

These can cause grief when it comes to finishing as they act as very good repelents.

Fish eye is a common problem that people suffer if their timber ends up contaminated by silicone.

Like Shane, I have used furniture wax to date. I recently purchased a bottle of a Japanese anti-rust "oil" from Carba-tec (The name is in Japanese on the bottle I have in front of me. It is pale yellow in colour). This is meant to be Wonderful Stuff and not later affect wood treatments. I have not yet tried it out.

The problem with anything that contains silicon - car paint/tyre/rubber polishes? - is that it does its job too well, and prevents the later penetration of oil and wax polishes on- or into the wood it contaminates.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I use CRC Dry Glide. I dont think it contains any silicone but leaves a film of non oily teflon (invisible) on the surface. This protects the cast iron from absorbing ambient moisture. It is not widely distributed, unfortunately, and isnt cheap - about $15 for 250gm, but is a great product with many other applications in the workshop where you dont want dust sticking to oily residues left by most other lubricants.
Another tip that may be useful is to use Sellys rust dissolver on the cast iron surface after sanding with 240 grit or rubbing with coarse steel wool for initial preparation. It returns the surface to great condition and after polishing with a cutting polish that has no silicone additive, "seal" the surface with CRC Dry Glide.
Cheers

Two different problems are being discussed. Rust prevention and ease of movement of wood across the surface.

As to rust: Get rid of it with an appropriate product and seal the cast iron, either at the same time or with a 2nd product. This crowd (below) have a variety of products, but there are plenty of others.
Don't use silicon. It may not be quite as insidious as some people suggest but, as restorers will tell you, it is a real problem when it comes to finishing.
http://www.liquideng.com.au/index.html

As to ease of movement: Johnsons furniture wax, bees wax or any equivalent, or a light sprinkle of fine talc, work OK.
I am a bit cautious about using talc because it absorbs water and, if left sitting on the cast iron surface, may induce rust. When I do use it, I make sure I clean up the surface as soon as the job is done.

I agree with Robert. I use beeswax on my saw table and it is slick as ice and not a sign of rust.

OK, flame away but I can't take it any more.

Silicon is popular in your PC, whereas Silicone is popular in photo's such as the optical illusion posted a while back. Never found the water, but they were a fine set of white pointers

Silicon Definition:
Definition: \Sil"i*con\, n. [See {Silica}.] (Chem.)
A nonmetalic element analogous to carbon. It always occurs
combined in nature, and is artificially obtained in the free
state, usually as a dark brown amorphous powder, or as a dark
crystalline substance with a meetallic luster. Its oxide is
silica, or common quartz, and in this form, or as silicates,
it is, next to oxygen, the most abundant element of the
earth's crust. Silicon is characteristically the element of
the mineral kingdom, as carbon is of the organic world.
Symbol Si. Atomic weight 28. Called also {silicium}.



Silicone Definition:
Any of many polymers made up of alternating oxygen and silicon atoms combined with other organic groups. Silicone can be an oil, grease, gel or plastic, but all forms are resistant to heat, water and will not conduct electricity. It is used for a huge number of uses in industry (lubricants, paints, adhesives, coolants, etc.) Silicone is used in medicine to replace body parts, and its use in breast implants has come under fire because there is evidence that these appliances may leak, and further evidence that leaked silicone may cause autoimmune disorders.

So leaving the 'e' off the end refers to a totally different chemical.

I'm a way off track from the majority,
but I've used Vegetable oil.
More specifically, Olive Oil.
A lighty oiled rag and wipe the desired area.

I once used Silicon[e] Spray on the Motorcycle seat.
Looked good,
but sat me onto the fuel tank when I braked.
:eek: OUCH!! :mad:

Ivan in Oz

Anyone tried Lanotec on a table saw etc? Any problems?

Gotta go with Stoppers on the Silverglide,works wonders have also used plain ol' Sunlight soap.....reduces friction and cheaper.

With expensive machinery in your shed thought ought to be given on how to initially prevent it...same as you night protect your theatre system or your expensive sound system from humid surrounds.Line your shed to minimise the raising of moisture content therein and thereby reduce the problem.

Not all can afford to do this but drape Mom's old throw out sheets that you have put your big bloody toe thru over your machines in the meantime and it will absorb some of the moisture in the air then you can air them out and take up mums line space on the clothes line.

Just some thoughts Cheers

Not all can afford to do this but drape Mom's old throw out sheets that you have put your big bloody toe thru over your machines in the meantime and it will absorb some of the moisture in the air then you can air them out and take up mums line space on the clothes line.

You can get old sheets and bedspreads for a couple of dollars from Op Shops. I use them as painting dropsheets rather than the plastic ones.

Regards,


Peter

Not too long ago I performed a small backyard test of rust prevention solutions for use on firearms (only use gun oil in bores!) – totally without any scientific or quality controls I should add.
For the experiment I used 4 old barrels (gun barrel blued steel), various rust prevention/lubricating/water displacing products, 1” squares of cotton gauze and sea water. The blueing was removed from the steel and cleaned with lacquer thinners.

After applying products (1/2 barrel each with a line of candle wax in between each half to prevent spread) I let them stand overnight to penetrate as many are suppose to do. After this I applied three squares of gauze soaked in sea water to each of the treated areas – enclosing each piece with a bit of glad wrap to stop them from completely drying out.
One square was lifted off each product after about 12 hours, 24 hours, and the final one after 3 days.

A well-known water displacing agent was good for the short term but after 3 days rust had mostly covered the area under and around the patch.
A prominent gun manufacturers oil performed the same.
Ubeauts traditional wax took 3 days to show minor signs of rust discoloration (and to stop smelling).
Similarly a brand of shooters rust prevention showed signs of discolouring that it was about to rust after 3 days.
Two teflon products retailed for bikes, fishing reels, firearms, etc were good for 12 hours, showed a minor amount of rust after 24hrs but did not show any further rust after 3 days.
The final product was shellawax, which performed a little worse than traditional wax and the smell would definitely scare animals.

I would have like to have tried some camellia oil but didn’t have any handy. I’m not sure if the wax would hold up on a hot barrel?, but from my results I consider it ok for use of my machinery – probably similar to other waxes in this regard.

An area that was not treated showed signs of rust coming through the gauze after only a couple of hours and went on to heavy rust under and around the gauze after three days. Some of the products I used would have also contained silicone and some contained fairly toxic carcinogens as shown by the warnings (naptha / benzene compounds I think thus I’d be hesitant to spray an entire machine with them).

There is a product called Lanoguard3000 which may work for this situation which will stop corrosion which is an Australian product that I have used to protect my tools from rusting.

See the web site. http://www.lanoguard.com/

Regards


Bazza