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I need some assistance here folks. I live in the North East, Cape
Cod Mass to be exact. My work area is a 10x14 shed that has
electricity. My plan was to set up my shop there with a mill, lathe
and a few other tools to build my steam engines.

This past week in conversation, condensation came up, someone told
me I might have problems when it gets cold keeping my machines from
rusting. Anyone have any experiance keeping equipment in an
unheated area during the cold months? And here I was, thoinking I
have a good thing going. Thoughts, suggestions, pointers, all most
appreciated.

Thanks for any & all feedback.

Kent

All you really need is a good roof and just enough heat to raise the internal temperature above ambient for most moist areas. We use small heaters or 150 watt lights to preserve electrical equipment in the moist Ohio Valley when we're putting together power plants. I'm not familiar with what sort of problems being close to the ocean might create.
Mike Wood, in Cincinnati, where, if we didn't get frost, we would live in a rain forest.

Kent Killam wrote:

What would be the best way to determine if a location was acceptable for a shop. I plan to setup my shop in an old basement, I am wondering if it might be too humid and cause corrosion of my tools. Is there any way I could determine if things will be OK?


Thanks
Mark


Please note: message attached

Kent, it isn't just the temperature but the humidity and how the
temperature swings through a day. If you were at the south pole then
things wouldn't rust even though they were very cold. This is because the
humidity is so low that there is almost no moisture in the air to
condense on the metal. Out there on the cape you will see a lot of
humidity as well as droplets of salt water in the air. Worst case! If you
have warm, moist, foggy air coming in contact with cold bare metal you
will get corrosion. You need to keep the metal above the dew point of the
air and filter out any of the salty aerosol off the ocean. Ultimately
this means an enclosed shop, controlled and filtered air going through
it, and (probably) radiant heating of the shop and it's contents
directly! Otherwise take a cue from the Brits and slather grease over
everything capable of rusting and clean off A/R! EECH!!

Bill in Boulder "Engineering as an Art Form!"

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., broken003@j... wrote:

What would be the best way to determine if a location was acceptable
for a shop. I plan to setup my shop in an old basement, I am
wondering if it might be too humid and cause corrosion of my tools.
Is there any way I could determine if things will be OK?

It may not be the best, but an easy way to test your location is to
hang a piece of clean steel in it for a few days. If it rusts, just
repeat the test using simple rustproofing methods - oil or grease
first, then as exotic as you may want to use _all_the_time_ on your
machines and other tools.
The results of the test with "clean" steel will depend on just *how*
clean you get it. If it is really clean, it will probably start to
rust in minutes in any but the driest air. See the reports on the
many derusting methods - they all emphasize that you must immediately
oil the part to prevent rust.
Just laying the test piece on a concrete floor almost guarantees
that it will rust. Hang it up near bench height, out of the way of
anyone who might come into painful contact with it...

There are many other considerations than just how rust-susceptible
it is. Is there sufficient electrical power available? How about
lighting? Accessability? Etc... Few if any shops are in perfect
locations, but we use what we have available, anyway.

Hope some of that helps.

RA