How To Look After Your Metal?

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How do you look after your metal? Keep the rust off? Plain mild steel even kept indoors seems to develop a little film of rust after a while. For my tools I use WD40 or similar.  I don't suppose stuff like that would be any worry to weld through,  either stick or MIG, which is all I use. So it wouldn't need cleaning off prior to welding, I'm thinking. But it would need cleaning off before painting the stuff, I suppose.  And that might be hard to do...  What with? Petrol?  Boom? So a bloke welding has to think ahead to the painting..... I migged some car panel with galv  .9mm steel and I see rust getting into the weld. I put undercoat on it but there's still rust getting in there.  The job's not finished. It is sitting out there in the wind and rain. Anyone got favourite methods of looking after/protecting/preparing their metals?Last edited by abrogard; 07-02-2011 at 01:51 AM.
Reply:It depends, but I have bought new 20 foot lengths of material that had to be stored outside until I was ready to use them. A good method for me has been to primer paint the entire new piece right away. When cutting and fitting time comes, I treat it no different than unpainted steel until it is fitted up, then just clean the weld zone as needed before welding. More primer after cleaning the welds, and it is ready for paint.I am not talking about custom paint, just plain, rattle can work.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:In the 80's, I had a friend that was learning to repair quarter panels through an extension class. He was working each night in the shop and afterward would spray primer on the work to avoid rust that would form in less than the 24 hours till the next class.I had never heard of that before and he would have to remove the primer the next day to continue. This made me realize how much work doing things 'the right way' can take.I don't treat any of my raw metal, having heated dry storage but I do like to lightly sandblast before priming/painting anything that will need superior corrosion resistance. If I can't, I use the rust inhibitor paint, but weather will cause any leftover rust to eventually pop through.Millermatic® 211 Auto-Set™ with MVP™Miller Diversion™ 180 AC/DC TIGEvery air tool made...if it can be driven by air, I want it.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neon Sign Fabricatorwww.casinoneon.com
Reply:Well that looks like it, guys - it needs priming. And I guess it has to be a primer that'll suit the eventual topcoat - auto or not, acrylic or what... Either that or remove it all before repainting. I like this:This made me realize how much work doing things 'the right way' can take.