Kennedy chest is rusting my tools

It may be that the felt is wicking away the oil that you put on the surface of the tools. All of my kennedy boxes were always bought used, and had the felt pretty oily to start, so I never saw this problem.
Jim
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What is the chest made of?
Greg H.

All of the Kennedy chests that I have seen were made of steel.
[ ... ]
I would say that you should rip up the felt. It may have some form of contamination. Perhaps in the glue which holds it down. I suspect that it is not the original felt which came from the factory, but rather a replacement put on prior to selling it.
Don't just rip up the felt, but scrape clear all of whatever glue they used, as that may be the source of your problems.
I've got several Kennedy chests with brown felt liners, as well as other (wooden) chests with felt liners (usually green), and none of them are producing this problem -- although I don't have as damp an environment as you apparently do.
At least one of the wooden chests I have came with the felt wearing out, and I got some of the self-adhesive felt which I found in Home Depot, and it has done an excellent job, with no problems.
And as another data point, I should mention a nice wooden case for a set of collets for a Unimat SL-1000. It was a rather old one around work and the set of collets in it were all covered with rust. I replaced the collets with some new ones, and within a day they started to rust, too. I traced the problem to the flat plastic sliding lid, which had gone from clear to somewhat yellowed. I now think that it was a nitrate based plastic, which had started to decompose, and was releasing nitric acid fumes into the closed area where the collets were. I pulled the collets, cleaned and re-oiled them, and replaced the plastic lid with Plexiglas of appropriate thickness, and have had no subsequent problems. So -- if the glue used to anchor the felt happens to be a cellulose nitrate glue (as I believe that model airplane cements were), then it could be decomposing and similarly attacking your tools. It is for this reason that I'm suggesting scraping up all of the existing glue when you replace the felt.
And -- yes, once it is mounted, spray it with a good oil like what is found in the CRC 3-36 aerosol cans before putting the tools in place.
Best of luck, DoN.

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 04:25:09 GMT, Tom Young put forth the notion that...
I had a similar problem a few years ago. In my case, it turned out that my solvent tank had gotten contaminated by a very tiny amount of carburetor cleaner, and I had wiped my tools down with the solvent. Everything that was touched by the solvent quickly accumulated a light layer of rust. It's possible that someone did something similar to that and contaminated the felt in the process.

A theory: if it is genuine wool felt, it may be molding in the damp environment and producing acidity. Does it smell musty?
The obvious tests with a variety of removals and replacements would be indicated.

Yes, it's steel with the wrinkly brown paint.
-Tom

It doesn't smell musty, and the fact that it started happening pretty soon after I got it makes me suspect there's a different cause. But maybe I'll spray it with Lysol just for good measure :-)
-Tom

Well, it was new when I bought it, and I'm the only one with access to it. Good to know that about carburetor cleaner, though.
-Tom

I considered that also, and I expect it contributed to the rust early on. That's why I was surprised to see rust again after I poured the mineral oil into all the drawers. The tools were kind of swimming in it, actually.
I'm moving to New Mexico in a few months. Maybe that will solve the problem.
-Tom

I suggest that you also put some silica gel packets into any containers for important stuff that shouldn't rust.
Here's a link to a place that has it. Also, although it doesn't directly address this problem, LPS-3 is a great rust inhibitor for things stored in a condensing environment.
Pete Stanaitis --------------------
Tom Young wrote:

Felt is disastrous for causing rust. On a good day it's not good, but if it gets damp it usually starts to sweat something acidic. Even the all-synthetic stuff will hold moisture and encourage rust.
I use polyethylene foam floor underlay (the thin white stuff). Not as long-lasting as good butyl toolbox liner, but a lot cheaper.
-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

Checkmate snipped-for-privacy@The.Edge
Perhaps there was a junk-laden abandoned swimming pool close by. FM

is this common knowledge anywhere? why does Kennedy still use it? my 40yr old Craftsman cab's came w/paint only and i used cardboard to line the drawers. never a problem, 1st out west, and the past 13yrs in the NE Dallas area, w/lots of humidity year round.
this is a good thread, and it makes me wonder, can felt be hygroscopic?
thanks! --Loren

I don't know about machinists. I know this stuff from hanging around museum curators.
(the whole site is a good read) -- What ? Me ? Evil Dictator of Iraq ? Nah mate, I'm just a Hobbit, honest

You've been reading that JG Ballard, haven't you ?

I have the Canadian made equivalent, a "Beach" machinists chest. Same problem. I solved it by impregnating the felt with high detergent motor oil. That was several years ago, and there has been no problem since. This, in spite of a leaky roof, and close proximity to the sea.
Steve R.

Funny how that works. :)
Jim
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On 14 Dec 2003 16:45:02 -0800, jim rozen put forth the notion that...
Sure, that makes about as much sense as a lot of the other shit you come up with.

I replaced the felt in a machinist tool chest several years ago and had a similar problem. When I replaced it again, I washed the felt first and didn't get rust. The source of the first and second pieces of felt was different, so this may not be a valid fix. My guess is that some felt has something left in it from the manufacturing process. Maybe a salt or acid?
Dick Morris Anchorage, Alaska