Condensation on Milling Machine

Alden Cole

Alden Cole

Well-Known Member
I bought a mini milling machine from a guy on Craigslist a few days ago. I'm trying to learn how to use it, so far it has been very interesting and helpful in the shop. However, it has picked up some discoloration/rust on the column from condensation (I wiped it down with WD-40). I work out of an old tack room in a metal sheet barn, no insulation, not airtight. So, is there a way to keep the machine from rusting without insulating/installing drywall? I don't want to have to go down to the barn, wipe the condensation off the machine, and oil it every day. Or, does it even matter, as long as it is only the column that picks up light surface rust? Advice appreciated. Thank you!
 
Google the item Boeshield. It was developed by Boeing to prevent surface rust on works in progress. I don't think it will get rid of the problem but should turn your trips to your shed to every other week??
 
Here's what I use. Boeshield T9 is my go-to rust inhibitor. A dose of Rust Free will dissolve rust film. Both are Boeshield products. I also use Barricade and CRC SP400 with good results. When a film of oil is needed I use either CRC 5-56 for a lighter oil, or Ballistol for a thicker covering. Boeshield, Birchwood and CRC products are all excellent rust preventative choices.
I began using Ballistol after an earlier posting by Kevin Cashen who strongly endorsed its rust inhibiting properties. It has an interesting history and certainly a "distinctive" smell.
One other note about keeping machine surfaces clean. After applying any of these products the surface becomes a dirt magnet. When not in use I loosely cover both my lathe and mill with an old cloth bed sheet. A cloth cover will breath, so condensation won't build-up like a plastic cover might.

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How about keeping it covered when not in use as MTBob suggests and keep one of those Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor thingies under the cover like one does in gun cabinets? Zerust is the brand I find on Amazon.
 
Bob has listed great products. In the meantime, chainsaw bar oil works as a good sticky coating and you can find it anywhere and it’s cheap. That can be a stopgap until you get better stuff. Definitely cover your machines (particularly a lathe) when not using it. I use old moving blankets from Harbor Freight.
 
I'm in the same boat with you, my shop use to be in an attached garage to my house, last September I moved and now I'm working out of a 30 x 50
wood framed building with metal walls, roof and roll up doors. I started noticing condensation right away and now that winter set in I think it's worse. I have crazy temperature swings here, it was 31 this morning and in in the high 60s this afternoon.

While not everything gets wet, my anvil and most everything else with flat steel like my drill presses have water on them some mornings.
to insulated this building is out of the question although I wish I had the roof spray foamed because when the Florida thunder storms roll thru the rain beating on that roof it's almost enough to have to wear hearing protection.

Currently I've just been spraying everything down with WD40 but honestly I think the only good use for that stuff is as a solvent, I don't like it.
I think I'm going to get some of that Boeshield.
I'm also going to get some Ballistol, I had some years ago and towards the end of the can of that stuff I threw it out, I couldn't stand the stench of that stuff, but I regress...I've got several muzzleloaders and currently have a .58 flintlock on order and while perusing the muzzleloader forums found that Ballistol is at the top of the ladder for cleaning muzzleloaders and black powder fouling.

Right now the only machine I cover is my rockwell tester and that's with a cloth paint drop cloth, I think I'll also start covering other things, probably with bed sheets like MTBob said. they should fit, look, and work just as well.
 
fitzo said:
...vapor Corrosion Inhibitor thingies under the cover like one does in gun cabinets? Zerust is the brand I find on Amazon
Click to expand...
That Zerust stuff looks like it is a good product. I haven't used it, though I've considered it for a gun cabinet. I think that's where this product is designed to work well, inside a closed space. I suspect it may not be all that useful for items not in a confined cabinet (lathe, mill, etc).
bladegrinder said:
I've just been spraying everything down with WD40 but honestly I think the only good use for that stuff is as a solvent, I don't like it.
Click to expand...
Wow, you've got a really rust-prone environment. Get some Rust Free and Boeshield T9 and that ought to control your rusting problem.
Here's my 2 cents on WD40. It's a great product for two uses: 1) as a lubricant for machining, drilling, taping aluminum (only) - works great. 2) As an attractant spray for my bass lures. Other than that I don't use it.
 
WD40 is nothing more than 97% kerosene with 3% light oil. It penetrates nicely and displaces water but lacks the permanence of things like Boeshield. I sprayed my anvil with T9 years ago and it is only now starting to show rust after a dozen years outdoors. Awesome stuff.

When acetone or alcohol don't clean something up, try something at the opposite end of the solvent spectrum - WD40. Works great for removing label residue. :)

Regarding the Zerust, I was opining that perhaps the vapor would still concentrate under a cover, even if porous, and protect the machine. May be worth trying, might fail miserably. I've used an equivalent product for years in my gun safe. Works great in that closed environment.
 
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While I've never found anything that WD40 excel's at, it's better than nothing. I use it a lot for removing painters tape adhesive from blades after they've spent time in a vice, it is great for that.
I've been looking today and man, there's a lot of brews on the market. mostly advertised for under carriages of cars and trucks.
I've narrowed it down to a few with Sta Bil Rust Stopper in the lead as far as what I've been looking at so far today.
 
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