Rust on my rolling mill

Hi everyone I haven’t been involved in the discussions for quite a
while. My husband’s been quite ill and I haven’t even had a chance
to read the emails for a while. I really miss it. I had a horrible
shock tonight when I went to uncover my Durston rolling mill and
found huge patches of rust all over it. I haven’t used it for about
6 or 8 weeks. But it was fine up until now. I’ve had it for about
6 years. Thank God the rollers aren’t rusted but the gears are in
several places. I had put sewing machine oil on the rollers and WD
40 on the rest of it and put a muslin bag over it to “Keep it from
rusting!” Aughhh. Why do you think that happened? Before I just
had a towel over it and I didn’t think that was good enough. Why
would the muslin make it rust? It is in my basement but it’s always
been there. As always I’m turning to my friends in Gano-Land for
help. Thanks in advance.

God Bless you
~Poppy~
www.jewelrybypoppy.com

the rollers aren't rusted but the gears are in several places.  I
had put sewing machine oil on the rollers and WD 40 on the rest of
it and put a muslin bag over it 

Not the right lubrication. sewing machine oil isn’t so bad, but
it’s really too thin for this. Use a decent motor oil, same as in
your car. It’s also got corrosion inhibitors in it which increase
the protection. Or better, use the oil on the bearings, but put
actual grease on the gears themselves.

And DON"T use WD-40. It’s not actually much of a lubricant. Mostly
it’s a solvent, designed to free up frozen parts. As a temporary
immediate lube it’s OK, but it mostly evaporates. And applying it
to something that already is oiled only lets it wash off some of the
oil or grease. For the most part, it’s not much different from plain
kerosene. Not exactly a lubricant. You can use it on things that
need only very light lubrication, since it does leave traces of
oil. But not enough for heavy load things like the mill gears. The
muslin bag itself is OK, especially if it’s slightly oily (use a
synthetic oil, not petroleum based, if you oil the rag, since the
synthetics, like Mobil 1, and the like, aren’t prone to problems
with oxidation over time, which can lead to spontaneous combustion.
This won’t happen with the bag actually over the mill, exposed to
air, but if it’s oily, and crumpled in a corner for a bit, then it
can. The synthetic oils are safe in this regard. Even without the
oil, a dry muslin bag won’t cause the mill to rust by itself, but in
humid climates, perhaps the muslin absorbed some moisture, then
raising the humidity underneath. Oiling the bag will prevent that.
The main thing the bag does is keep off dust, which isn’t a bad
thing.

And as to the rust, if the rolls themselves are fine, thank the
stars, and then if you like you can remove whatever of the rust you
can remove, with a bit of steel wool. But this is mostly for your
aesthetic pleasure after you’ve removed the loose stuff. A little
bit of rust on the gears, once you’ve got them again properly greased
up, will do no harm to anything other than your pride in the mill.

Peter

 I had a horrible shock tonight when I went to uncover my Durston
rolling mill and found huge patches of rust all over it. 

Poppy, I am thinking that WD40 and sewing machine oil was not enough
protection over the long haul. Usually you need some thick grease
for the gears to keep them in good condition. Muslin sounds pretty
pourous to me, and with long term storage, humidity and too light of
a protective lubricant, would have caused your rusting problem. For
long term care, heavier oil or grease, and several layers of plastic
wrap with a protective cover ought to do it.

Glad to have you back. I send thoughts of wellness and strength to
your husband and to you for taking such good care of him.

Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
10 Walnut St.
Woburn, MA 01801
Ph: 781 937 3532
Fx: 781 937 3955
www.metalwerx.com
email: @Karen_Christians
Board Member of SNAG

Hardware stores sell blocks of REAL camphor. Buy several and put one
under the burlap and it will prevent additional rust .Drop one in any
draw where you have tools and it will prevent rust, Bill from L.I.

I had put sewing machine oil on the rollers and WD 40 on the rest of
it and put a muslin bag over it to “Keep it from rusting!”

I feel eminently qualified to answer this question as for more than
15 years the WD-40 Company signed my paychecks. This is a common
problem that many gun enthusiasts encounter. They spray their gun
with WD-40 put it in the case and when they come back a year later
they say that “WD-40 must have water in it 'cause it caused my gun
to rust.”

WD-40 is approximately 80% triple refined mineral spirits with other
additives to give it “some” lubricating and protection properties.
The name WD-40 stands for Water Displacement formula #40 and while
it is an excellent SHORT term rust preventative, it is basically a
solvent that will totally evaporate in a short period of time.
Being a solvent it dissolved whatever oils might have been on your
mill previously and took them with it when it evaporated, leaving
your metal surfaces with no protection on them at all. Covering a
metal object with any sort of cloth is also a recipe for disaster as
the cloth will absorb any moisture that is in the air and trap it in
close proximity to your metal surfaces. The best sort of long term
protection for metal surfaces is to cover them with a grease. Then
when it comes time to remove that grease pull out your trusty can of
WD-40, spray it down good and watch the WD-40 melt that grease away.
(OK, so you’ll need to help it along with a cloth and some elbow
grease too.) I tend to use WD-40 much more as a cleaner than as a
rust preventative or lubricant.

For 15 years I told everyone to “spray it with WD-40 and if it
doesn’t help it, it won’t hurt it”! In this case WD-40 did not
"cause" your mill to rust (if you had reapplied WD-40 on a weekly
basis your mill would be fine) but it did remove whatever protection
was on the metal and that “allowed” it to rust. Unfortunately this
is strictly a case of misapplication. :frowning: On the bright side WD-40,
0000 steel wool, and a light touch is the absolute best way to
remove that rust without doing additional damage to those metal
surfaces. :slight_smile:

Steve Stempinski
Steve’s Place
Jewelry Repair
While-U-Watch

Hardware stores sell blocks of REAL camphor. Where in the hardware
store do you find blocks of camphor? What are they used for? I have
used small jars of the liquid stuff, making little wicking devices
and it works alright for rust prevention, but blocks sound so much
easier to deal with. Thanks so much. I love Orchid. Deb

Hello Peter,

  And DON"T use WD-40.  It's not actually much of a lubricant.
Mostly it's a solvent, designed to free up frozen parts 

Neither a lube nor a penetrating oil, probably one of America’s most
inappropriately overused products WD-40 was actually introduced
almost exactly 50 years ago by Rocket Chemical (love that name) for
displacement of moisture. The name stands for Water Displacement
40th formula.

They are giving away trucks and stuff to celebrate 50 yrs in
business; http://www.wd40.com/

Tony,
being pedantic.

I will make two recommendations for preventing rust on fine steel
surfaces. Vaseline as used on humans or some generic product works
great. Rub it on the surface to be protected. A light coat works as
well as a thick one.

A product called VIP paper, Vapor Phase Inhibitor paper works very
well. Expensive bearings come packaged in it . This has a long shelf
life, if wrapped up. This is a clean and dry product. Perhaps the
best choice.

I have wrapped and protected my precision tools which I have had
since my Millwright apprenticeship started 30 years ago . They look
near new.

ROBB

WD 40 is not rust protection. It was developed to displace water
from electrical connections. If you want rust protection you need
something like LPS 5-56. Another aid in protecting tools in
basements is an exhaust fan to draw excess moisture out of the
space.

Spike Cornelius
Portland, Or.
RC ArtMetal

    Hardware stores sell blocks of REAL camphor. Where in the
hardware store do you find blocks of camphor? What are they used
for? I have used small jars of the liquid stuff, making little
wicking devices and it works alright for rust prevention, but
blocks sound so much easier to deal with. Thanks so much. I love
Orchid. Deb 

Deb – I have an old camphor wood chest and have used it in the same
way that you would use cedar wood – to keep moths and other critters
away from clothes in storage – I have never heard of it as a rust
inhibitor, yhowever, and am really curious about this aspect of it

Laura Wiesler
StoneHouse Studio