Will Rubber Drawer Liners Rust Steel Tools?

[SteveHGraham]

Now that I'm actually putting cutting tools in a tool box with rubber liners instead of putting them in tackle boxes and on a plastic cart, I need to ask: will putting steel tools on rubber make them rust?

I haven't had a problem with other tools rusting on rubber, but then the vast majority of my tools are plated or painted.

I just threw a whole bunch of lathe tool holders in my new box, and I don't want to take them out and find rust on the undersides.

[John Evans]

I use a treated liner material I buy a Lowe's.

[earlgo]

In my cheapo Craftsman box I used cheapo perforated spongy shelf liner I found at the Giant Eagle Grocery store. No rust yet, and it went through the coldest sweatiest winter in a long time. But we don't have Florida humidity in the summer.

--earlgo

[ken572]

Good Morning Steve

You Know....

Once you get your walls, and ceiling insulated
Foil, Foam, or Bats of Insulation, and a 4 to 8
mill polyethylene vapor barrier, you can install
a small ac window unit in the wall, along with
a small dehumidifier with a permanent drain
hose from the pan through the outside wall or
into a floor drain, and all your temperature, and
humidity problems will be history..

Also you will keep it seperate from the house
HVAC so it will not be putting shop fumes into
your home. Should be very reasonable to operate
as well.

Ken.

[SteveHGraham]

The stuff in my Craftsman box is the same junk they sell at Bed, Bath & Beyond for kitchen drawers. Spongy, with little perforations in it. It eats certain types of plastic. I have considered getting some natural fiber to replace it, or even using parchment paper, but I was afraid the fiber would absorb humidity and rust things.

[reggie_obe]

What Ken said.....you live on a peninsula. Are you controlling temperature and humidity 24/7 in your shop or only when you re out there? I use the cheapest liners in my tool drawers and have never had any "eat up" any sort of plastic. Are you referring to the white white smelly coating certain Crapsman and Xcellite plastic handles develop?

[SteveHGraham]

I found a link to the kind of drawer liner I'm talking about. It's some kind of foam. It has a solvent in it that eats some types of plastic.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Non-Slip-Drawer ... 0475869805

It would cost $150 a month to maintain humidity control out here 24/7. I'm not going to do that. I don't have rust problems, apart from a corner of the garage where I stored pool acid. I don't need to fix something that isn't broken.

[warmstrong1955]

Oh man....that stuff is crap.
You have to glue it down or it ends up in a big ball at the back of the drawer. The stuff won't stay put.
I got some at Wally World a while back. Junk.

Bill

[BadDog]

I've got some of the thick softish rubbery stuff from HF. I'm a bit OCD and lay my tools out organized and flat in order so that I can lay my hands on any size of my choice. My son-in-law heard me talking about getting some liner to better control my tools sliding around with opening/closing the drawers. I must admit I was skeptical of the source, but it has worked amazingly well. Stays in place, and so do the tools, with no deterioration or corrosion in evidence some 2+ years later.

[SteveHGraham]

I should toss the stuff I have in my Craftsman box. It's horrendous. I guess it could be useful for holding flat stuff in place on the bench when I'm working on it.

[ken572]

I should toss the stuff I have in my Craftsman box. It's horrendous. I guess it could be useful for holding flat stuff in place on the bench when I'm working on it.

YUP Keep It.,
Make yourself a scrap rubber box for new and old
rubber and start your collection. You might want to
build yourself a scrap felt pieces box, and a scrap
plastic box. You will be amazed what you can make
with that stuff. It doesn't take up much space.

JMHO.

Ken.

[Charles Spencer]

I had rubber drawer liners in one of my tool boxes that I bought used but I never really liked them. I removed them, cleaned up the bottoms of the drawers, and lightly oiled them.

Just about the only cutting tools I keep in a tool box are files. I put cardboard on the bottom of my file drawer ($0.00) and the files themselves in old cardboard paper towel tubes ($0.00).

Charles