Best way to store mild steel to prevent rust?

[ELL]

I have lots of 2 metre lengths of mid steel 40x40x3mm (about 100 lengths total). I need to store them for weeks, possibly months at a time. They will be stored under cover, so rain isn't an issue, but is there a coating I can use so they don't rust from the moisture in the air? I have seen steel coated in a thin layer of grease before. What other options are there? Thanks. Ideally, something relatively quick and easy to apply, and not hard to remove when I want to use them. Thanks.

 

[Dee J]

Hot rolled with black mill scale? A wipe over with linseed oil and then kept in a dryish environment is generally ok.

 

[Farside]

Cheap grease dissolved in kerosene and misted over them with a cheap spraygun might do the trick.

 

[RWD3M]

I just spray mine with duck oil.

 

[gaz1]

you can spray the outside all you want but you wont get the inside of the tube

unless you spray the inside of it a swell

its fine not to do when they are being coated with galvanised but not if your not doing so they can still rust from the inside to the outside even when you have painted them

 

[Agroshield]

I think that 100 lengths would be about 400mm x 400mm when all pushed together.

Find a ductwork fabricator to make you a 450mm square x 2m length with two end caps.

Seal them in there with some bags of dessiccant.

In principle it is the same as people storing welding electrodes in lengths of plastic waste pipe, just on a bigger scale. You might be able to think of something better or cheaper then ductwork.

 

[Erie Fred]

I've purchased short pieces like you describe, surplus.
I find that the water soluable coolant used on the saw helps them rust faster.
I think I should have washed them off, and then after drying, apply some light oil product.

 

[frank horton]

buy that quite a lot.....
I've tried all sorts ...
now I just bite the bullit. wash down with a petrol rag *outside* then paint with a grey metal primer....
then it lives outside untill I need it...

 

[caprinut]

Clean em up and spray with 1K epoxy that's not much use for anything else.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Bath of used engine oil!

 

[God mode restorations]

Cover em in duck oil.

 

[Robotstar5]

A couple of folks have mentioned Duck Oil, I had to store an engine under cover outside last year so gave it a good coating of Duck Oil, uncovered it a couple of weeks ago and found surface rust had formed on it

 

[Islander71]

A wipe over with ACF50 ?

 

[Erie Fred]

Bath of used engine oil!

Have tried this, no go.
engine oil has detergents in it, it appears to allow the water to emulsify or mix with it.

 

[awemawson]

Shell Ensis: used by the military for out door storage of kit for up to a year. I cut it with white spirit and spray it with a hand pump spray bottle. Have one by the bench all the time next to the WD40 !

 

[Onoff]

Shell Ensis: used by the military for out door storage of kit for up to a year. I cut it with white spirit and spray it with a hand pump spray bottle. Have one by the bench all the time next to the WD40 !

Ensis V I think, uses to come in big yellow drums if I recall. Ends up like a waxy coating?

 

[tom2207]

acf50 nuf said

 

[Erie Fred]

Isn't there qty (3) LPS products for this ?

What is the Difference Between LPS 1®, LPS 2®, & LPS 3®

Exactly what is the chemical and performance difference between LPS® products 1, 2 and 3, and how are these used in industry?

www.itwprobrands.com

 

[beeRS]

I keep used engine oil. It’s useful for all sorts. I damp a rag in the stuff and wipe down surfaces of bare steel and store in a dry place.

 

[bricol]

"Dry" is the important bit - I simply shoved all my mild steel sheet in the pit in the garage of my last house. It was bone dry, the steel stayed nicely rust free over 8yrs. Current place . . . rather damper, so it's in a shed with plenty of ventilation - still reasonably rust free.