I was interested in the name of the rust inhibitor that Trevor was
recommending but I could not find the when I went to the
post on the forum that he suggested.
If anyone knows what the name of this product is and where it can be
obtained it would be greatly appreciated.
Ted Curtis
I was interested in the name of the rust inhibitor that Trevor was recommending ....
Hello Ted,
To the best of my knowledge the rust inhibiting oils I referred to
are, or are based on, Shell Oil products. I believe they are called
"Shell Ensis Fluids". There is a wide variety of formulations.
I was told that these products can be purchased (in the USA?) in 5 or
45 gallon containers. Surfing around I found they were around US$75
for the small container. I totally struck out when I tried to locate
the stuff here in Europe. Shell Customer Service did not respond to
my emails asking for assistance in finding a retailer.
I have no idea which specific Shell products, if any, the “magic
brown stuff” that Durston uses on their rolling mills, etc is based
on. I seem to remember Matthew Durston telling me that they tweak the
stuff for their particular purposes but I couldn’t find an email from
him to back that up. A few of the Ensis products mention that they
leave a tacky film once the solvent evaporates and that is certainly
the case with the “magic brown stuff”.
Cheers,
Trevor F.
I was interested in the name of the rust inhibitor that Trevor was recommending ....
Rio Grande has Durston Rust Preventive Liquid on page 248 of their
current tools catalog. In case you don’t have the current one, the
item number is 113-603 for 100ml ($16.95) and 113-604 for 250ml
($24.95). If you’re interested, I would recommend stocking up with
the largest quantity you can because there’s a hazardous shipping
charge that Rio’s catalog states will be $20 - $30 depending on the
exact material and type of shipping. That’s in addition to the
regular shipping charge.
I’m looking at the instruction manual that came with my Durston mill
which advises “a thin coating of oil” when not in use, and doesn’t
specify a particular type of oil. I only got the mill recently, but
I’ve found that any piece of steel I wish to keep from rusting is
well off with a light coating of gun oil, honing oil or machine oil.
This preference is due to easy cleanup before the next use. A
caveat: These types of oils are low viscosity and absolutely MUST be
cleaned off the metal, and the oil reapplied REGULARLY. I have a
(some might think sick) love affair with each and every tool I own,
be it jewelry, automotive, gemological, etc., and I check the tools
that aren’t encased or are otherwise exposed even to a
climate-controlled room DAILY. That’s probably excessive and a
little unnecessary; once a week is fine but I get a weird sort of
pleasure from taking care of the tools that take such good care of
me.
So, if you can’t or aren’t willing to clean and oil your mill, bench
block or other steel tool at least weekly, try the Rust Preventive
Liquid. You might consider asking a machinist from a local machine
shop what type of oil they use to protect their mills and lathes.
Daily use requires they use something easily cleaned as well.
James in SoFl where humidity was invented.