What to coat wood tool holders

[arvidj]

Lets assume you are making an assortment of drill bit, tap, ER32 and ER40 collet and other tool organizers.

Lets also assume you are making them out of wood ... most likely MDF ... because it is cheap and relatively easy to machine.

The question becomes "What do you apply to the wood [MDF] to prevent the oils, etc. that will be on the tools from harming the wood and to prevent the moisture that will be in the wood from harming the tools?

It needs to be easy to apply and not thick ... as in significantly alter the size of the hold drilled to hold a bit or tap, etc.

Thoughts?

[Roadracer_Al]

I have a large block of pine with a buncha holes sitting on the headstock of my lathe. I just hosed it down liberally with spray-can shellack.

IMHO, any oil that soaks into the wood will preserve it. I only coated it to keep it from warping. The MDF doesn't warp.

[dallen]

throw the mdf away and get yourself a good hunk of pine of oak 2X, any oil that hits it will make it live longer

[RobWilson]

(10-02-2015, 01:55 PM)dallen Wrote: throw the mdf away and get yourself a good hunk of pine of oak 2X, any oil that hits it will make it live longer

I used Teak for mine , no need to oil   


Rob

[EdK]

I use this for stuff like that. Good product IMHO.  

Ed

   

[Vinny]

For my ER32 collet rack I used a piece of laminate flooring and some 2x4 for a frame (2x4 for the weight since the flooring isn't very thick). It's been working with no signs of stress or oil damage for a couple of years now.

[Mayhem]

I thought that Oak caused corrosion of metal or discoloured it...

I've used Jarrah (the wood I used for the handles on my drawbar hammer) and I've just given them a few coats of Ballistol and then once it has all soaked in I've rubbed in a bit of wax.

[arvidj]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Please continue as "the project" will not start for another couple of weeks.

And yes, I'll provide pictures when I get something done.

[Roadracer_Al]

@ Mayhem: you're absolutely right. Oak has high acid content. Never use oak for tool boxes!!! Maple or ash are good hardwoods, poplar is a delightful wood to work with - wide, straight grain. For some reason, it's classified as a hard wood, but it's quite soft, IMHO.

[arvidj]

(10-03-2015, 01:03 PM)Roadracer_Al Wrote: @ Mayhem: you're absolutely right.  Oak has high acid content.  Never use oak for tool boxes!!!  Maple or ash are good hardwoods, poplar is a delightful wood to work with - wide, straight grain.  For some reason, it's classified as a hard wood, but it's quite soft, IMHO.

I don't do much with wood, just collect useless information that seems strange. And strangely enough the terms are not based on how dense the wood is.

Hardwoods are defined as "Comes from angiosperm trees that are not monocots; trees are usually broad-leaved.".

Softwoods come from "Comes from gymnosperm trees which usually have needles and cones."