Should I put my lathe in the Basement

[Hitter]

I have a full basement under my house. It gets wet when it rains but it drains out well except for a few low spots that I can hit with the shop vac.

I recently put a dehumidifier down there and thought moving the lathe down there may be a good idea. It would free up some much needed space in the garage shop and the temp down there would be much more acceptable in the summer/winter.

Is this a bad idea? I don’t want to lug that heavy thing down there then have to pull it back out.

[Scottydont]

I would be concerned about the iron rusting in the humididty unless you think it's under control.

[Hitter]

Its been at 65 %(what I set it at) since I put the dehumidifier down there. It was 80% to start and it was miserable outside then as well.

Guess I probably should wait to see how things go after a few rains. What % should it be at to keep a tool down there?

[Whaler]

I would imagine that the humidity here in Seattle is about the same as yours and I haven't had a rust problem since I got my shop roof leaks under control. In a heavy rain I get a lot or water through the sill plate and it has no effect. Most surfaces on the lathe are painted so spray them down with LPS #1, it will not attract dust build up. Wax the unpainted areas with Johnsons paste wax or similar, it will also make everything slide easier.
I don't think that you will have a problem.

[r.palmer]

I used used work out of a large utility room on the West Coast of Florida, in a low saw grass estuary, worst corrosive environment there is, in a screened ground level room, roll the tools out of the utility room. The waxing works well, don't trap condensation under anything by covering it. One thing that worked for me, was to gun blue all the shiny iron surfaces of my saws, and hand tools, and wax the **** out of them. I could see the rust starting easier, and take it off better, then I would touch up the blue. It made let me know when I was getting down to the raw iron. Then a flood put three feet of salt water over tools. Now I am again, working in that spot. but indoors, with drains in the floor and watching for canes. The gun blue, it was maybe in my head, but it let me know when I was scraping metal.