Shop temps and machine tools....

I was drueling over a friend’s Bridgeport a couple years ago.
1 hp. Belt set up. Probably late sixties.
He stored it in a barn. I had my CCW class near his shop.
That Bridgeport is going to take a lot of TLC to clean the debris and rust off the old girl.
This is Northern Ca. I can’t imagine how you guys in the Midwest and Northeast deal with this.
I am blessed to have a climate controlled shop.
It’s amazing how fast a machine tool can go to sh t in the wrong environment.
 
The bottom line is the surfaces of your machines and tooling must stay above the dew point of the shop air. as soon as they drop below condensation WILL form and start to rust.
I am fortunate that my shop is in the basement and is the same air as the rest of the house. The basement is only 20 x 30 feet and I run a 100 pint dehumidifier year round set for 45% humidity. In 40 years even the contents of the stock rack has not tried to rust. The dehumidifier seldome runs in the winter but I leave it plugged in just in case a warm spell spikes the humidity.
 
I'm on my third dehumidifier here, they seem to crap out every other year. I keep one running in my basement all the time. They do a good job keeping the air dry. I don't run one in my shop, and I have no heating/cooling beyond portable plug-in stuff like space heaters and fans. I'm surrounded by the Puget Sound on three sides, too, but the layer of insulation I put up attenuates the temperature change as the sun goes down an up so that I never see condensation. Oil is more than enough to keep things looking new if you tend to it regularly.
 
I hear that people that live near humit salt water climates really struggle with their machines and rust. I live 50 miles from the ocean, which is more than enough.
 
Flyinfool said:
The bottom line is the surfaces of your machines and tooling must stay above the dew point of the shop air. as soon as they drop below condensation WILL form and start to rust.
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Back when I lived in Oregon, my shop was a detached garage. No big deal to heat it on a cold wintry day - had a good wood stove. But then there was the occasional warm and humid spring day that came after a cold spell. EVERY surface in the whole garage condensed a bunch of water out of the air - including every machine tool! All I can say is thank goodness for Boeshield T-9!

My shop here in Arizona was originally equipped with two large "swamp coolers." Got rid of them and had a heat pump installed as soon as I could afford it. That's also my source of warmth on the few cold days we have here.
 
I run two dehumidifiers in my basement shop one on both ends in the spring to control the hi humidity but found that they are a bit expensive to run. They do take out the moisture thou. Did have a problem with my table saw once left a small piece of treated wood on the top and when I removed it had to clean up some starting rust Dam it.
 
pontiac428 said:
I'm surrounded by the Puget Sound on three sides, too, but the layer of insulation I put up attenuates the temperature change as the sun goes down an up so that I never see condensation.
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This is pretty much the way my shop is. I have it insulated really good. It is always warmer inside than outside in the winter, and cooler inside than outside in the summer.
 
I manage the machine shop museum at Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association in Easton Maryland. Our machine shop is an insulated steel building with a concrete floor. It is not heated during the winter other than electric hesters that are used when we are there working. We do have a dehumidifier that does run all of the time but that is it other than an occasional oiling of the non painted surfaces and we get no rust all year round.
 
I'm in mid-Michigan and used to manage my projects around the weather. Aka, I didn't use my shop much in the winter. Mine is 32' x 40' with a 10' ceiling. I had a 30,000 btu ventless propane heater that would raise the temp about 15F. I never had a problem with rust in the winter. But humid spring days were another story. As others have mentioned, once you hit the dew point there will be condensation. I did a pretty good job fighting it off by diligently spraying cast iron stuff with LPS1 lube. Also have three ceiling fans running 365/24/7 and don't have a rust problem.

This year I've been enjoying a 125,000 btu overhead propane heater. I leave the shop at 40F and kick it up if I'm working for more than an hour. It'll heat the shop to 55F in about 15 minutes. This spring I'll bump the temp up to fight off the dew point.

I fought putting in adequate supplemental heat for years to save the money. The heater and other set up cost about $900. I just checked my propane tank yesterday. It's at 67%, was filled to 80% in October. I doubt I'll use a full tank in a year at this rate. Total tank fill is about $400.

I know it's easy to spend someone else's money, but I'd look long and hard at putting in the heat and just consider it a cost of doing business. I really enjoy working in a sweatshirt at 50-55F instead of full Carhartts at 25F.

Bruce
 
BGHansen said:
I'm in mid-Michigan and used to manage my projects around the weather. Aka, I didn't use my shop much in the Winter...
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I often wonder what other hobbyists do with their free time when they can’t do shop work.
 
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