Steel protective coating??

Refurbing an old NYE tripod pipe vise. Already painted the base and legs w/ ceramic engine paint so good there.

First cleaning of these parts tonight. Like to keep the rust off the bare steel as it may sit in the unheated garage for a while between uses. It will rust. Regular use in a pipe shop will keep everything coated w/ cutting oil, not w/ my limited use tho.

Any threads will get anti-seize so no problem. The vise jaws were evidently painted at one time. The T-handle musta been coated w/ cad/ zinc but had rusted.

Current thoughts are:

Veggie oil w/ bake on the jaws and T-handle. BTDT but only on indoor stuff, not bad but don't think it'll hold up in the garage.

VHT hi-temp paint and bake to cure, BTDT and lasted quite a while, better than engine paint especially on the handle that slides.

Coat w/ anti-seize and bake/cure like headers... never tried that one before tho.

Spray w/ LPS 3 or WD. Not my fav.

Like to just keep it on the shelf till needed w/o spraying it every fall. Could store it in the basement but it'll start rusting there too, lack of room too.

Suggestions... whattyagot?

Fluid film or one of the other lanolin based anti rust products like Crown rust inhibitor

Black oxide if you're okay with it being black.

Like this: Amazon link

I use veg oil mixed with a little mineral oil/ baby oil/Vaseline to keep it from going rancid. I coat rusty stuff, stuff I don't want to get rusty (100 year old vise, c clamps threads and all), cooling/cutting/drilling fluid, use it with acetone as penetrating oil. I dispense with old sriracha bottles.

I don't bother with baking it but it may add some longevity to the coating. Veg oil by itself will turn slightly thicker and gummy if a think coat is used.

Sometimes I also use Johnsons floor wax paste too. This works great on bare wood, leather....

Car wax? Supposed to work well on guns.

WonkoTheSane wrote: Black oxide if you're okay with it being black. Like this: Amazon link

this is exactly what I was thinking.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

WonkoTheSane wrote: Black oxide if you're okay with it being black. Like this: Amazon link

this is exactly what I was thinking.

The "room temp." coatings work well. What I have done for long term protection of metal parts is: Clean the item first with Phosphoric acid, wash that off, dip in denatured alcohol, then brush on or dip the item in the "tool blackening fluid", then coat with a preservative oil. For long term protection I use hot wax. You heat the wax in a double boiler. You leave the item in the wax until it's the same temp as the wax. Remove it and let the excess wax drain off. I then usually heat the item lightly with a propane torch to remove a bit more wax. What remains is a very thin coating of wax that you can barely tell is there.

I think the firearms guys have a whole bunch of different anticorrosive coatings that are spray on and bake that are supposed to be pretty good. That may be something to look into if you don't mind a dark colored finish.

I used Johnsons wax on my table saw and it holds up very well in my garage.

These all sound like good ideas.

Here's the rest of the vise parts finished in Duplicolor red ceramic engine paint, not too shabby. Googles say 20-30's but looks more like 40-50's or later, pretty stout tho. No collectible value, pure function. Doh!... just realized I could remove the T-handle w/ the U-part and store it inside for the winter, the rest of it can live in the garage. Might try the Gibbs stuff... that sounds pretty damn interesting although I never tried it before.

It's pretty darn handy to have around. I made a flange mount to 2" DOM tube for the 'Ol Joint Jigger tubing notcher that can rotate 360° in the vise jaws. Great for cutting lengths of rounds too, 2-1/2" capacity. Used it for welding exhaust tubing too.

Might make a weld positioner that rotates 360° too, that'll be later.