Effect of No AC on Woodworking Equipment

[chris64]

I am thinking of building a large storage shed in my back yard. In doing so, I will free up one bay of my garage and have a dedicated space to work without moving stuff around all the time. However, this will not be air conditioned. Besides me possibly having a heat stroke (I live in Houston), what effects is this going to have on all of my equipment? I have a table saw, band saw, drill press, and planer are the big items along with various other small hand held tools.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[dbhost]

I have all the items you list in my shop in League City, I keep a heavy coat of Johnson's Paste Wax on all the cast iron surfaces with no problem.

I would be FAR more concerned about the impact of the humidity on your stock, than the impact of the heat on your machines.

I periodically clean my machine surfaces with mineral spirits, and apply a fresh couple of coats of paste wax. This seems to keep the rusty beasties at bay...

If you look at Craigslist locally, you can see LOTS of examples of what NOT coating your machines does...

FWIW, heat stroke is a REAL concern where we are... I would recommend you insulate, and air condition your shop as best you can. I don't mean run it 24x7 on high, but you might want to insulate it like crazy, maybe put up a radiant barrier, and throw an inexpensive window unit in there to keep your cool and maybe at least keep the temp below about 85 degrees. Should be cheap enough to run, and that in itself should help keep the moisture down.

[pelligrini]

Rust will be your biggest enemy. It will be even worse when it gets cooler at night. When the metal is colder than the surrounding air you'll get condensation and rust will follow easily. I've found condensation under my chipbreakers on my planes. I keep everything waxed and/or coated in boeshield.

I've got everything you listed in a shed here in Fort Worth. I no longer keep any glues or finishes or tape out there though. DB makes some good points in insulation. If you do a shed put enough power out there for a window unit. I worked in mine for a few years without one before I got proper power. AC is a nice luxury to have.

[Cochese]

My tools have fared fairly well this summer. I do need to start waxing stuff, I think we could do a whole thread on that one.

I could sure use the instruction.

[natausch]

If the shed is well insulated and sealed you shouldn't have an issue with dew.

There really isn't wrong way to apply wax, slap it on then wait a few minutes and buff it out.

[LCHIEN]

I live in Katy on the West side of Houston.
I keep my stuff in a 22x22 detached garage. I keep my large tool iron surfaces waxed and have had no serious problem with rusting, like dbhost. I keep the rest of the stuff in tool chests and cases. I keep the garage closed when i'm not using it so that dew and condensation doesn't settle on anything that would be a sure way to rust.
Boeshield T-9 works really well, too.

[chopnhack]

DB, why do you remove the old coat with mineral spirits before putting on a new coat?

[natausch]

Since we're hijacking to generalize about rust prevention it always serves to remind people tha if you've decided to remove existing rust don't apply the boeshield rust remover or Evap-o-Rust directly to the cast; spray onto a rag then wipe on and clean off quickly.

[Sawatzky]

I live in central CA and it get hot here. 109 today. I don't have a problem with humidity. I do notice that my cordless drills loose thier charge quickly in hot weather, though.

[LCHIEN]

That's a good point - the high temperatures (and extreme lows) of a un heated/AC'd Garage are probably not so bad for the tools as they are for the chemicals and chemical products we use:
Batteries (they're chemical storage for electricity) are self-disharge faster when hot, hold charge better when cold, but should not be charged when below freezing. Don't leaven them on chargers in the garage, bith too hot and too cold are bad for them,
Glues:
My PU glues go bad in the garage fast.
Freezing is not good for Wood glues. I think real hot (90+) is not good for them either. I keep the larger bottles in the house and generally just a small bottle in the garage unless i'm working on a big glue-up.

Cans of Paints, finishes go bad in the heat - not sure about spray paints.

What else?

[toolbelt diva]

Oh wow, so much to learn about having tools in a detached un-ACed garage with the heat and humidity of Houston. So besides waxing cast iron, storing smaller tools in cases or tool boxes, keeping glues in the house (the same with paint and stain?), what else should we do and be aware of? How should I protect the other metal surfaces or the blades?

After using my BT3 after not having used or touched it in about 5 years it still looked good with the only problem I could tell so far being sticky handles. What would be the best way to clean them and keep them protected?

[LCHIEN]

Oh wow, so much to learn about having tools in a detached un-ACed garage with the heat and humidity of Houston. So besides waxing cast iron, storing smaller tools in cases or tool boxes, keeping glues in the house (the same with paint and stain?), what else should we do and be aware of? How should I protect the other metal surfaces or the blades?

After using my BT3 after not having used or touched it in about 5 years it still looked good with the only problem I could tell so far being sticky handles. What would be the best way to clean them and keep them protected?

I don't leave battery tools charging in the garage.
I kerep them in the house.

[capncarl]

Last summer I gave up trying to work in the shop in this heat and broke down and installed a window ac. Best purchase that I have ever made. It will keep the wood shop 75 degrees while cycling on and off at a reasonable rate. I usually only turn it on before I use the shop but lately just leave it on with the thermostat set at 85 degrees. The power bill appears to increase about $15 per month when I leave it on 24/7. The heat and humidity here in SW Ga. is unbearable and working without ac is now out of the question.

capncarl

[Cochese]

No such luxury here. It's been all sweat, all the time.

On the plus side, I've lost about 15 pounds.

[dbhost]

DB, why do you remove the old coat with mineral spirits before putting on a new coat?

Sweat. Particularly on the band saw. Sweat goes right through the wax, and almost instantly tries to rust my table. I hit it with a little mineral spirits on sandpaper, dry it off, then reapply the wax...

Haven't done that since I added the A/C though...