In article ,
gregz wrote:

Within two days in my screened porch it started to rust. So while I'm
not using it, I used motor oil on a paper towel to re-oil the metal
surfaces.
This will be a rarely used tool, and will be stored in my non-climate
controlled outdoor shed.
How do I best protect the surface
Ditto, my new drill press!.

There are a wide variety of marine corrosion protection sprays and
pastes available.
https://www.theruststore.com/Protect-Your-Boat-from-Rust-W39.aspx
https://www.theruststore.com/Rust-Prevention-C4.aspx

Also, automotive rust inhibitors:
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-heavy-duty-anti-rust-in-amber.html

http://www.corrosionx.com/ has a bunch of anti-rust/corrosion products
of this sort. They speak proudly of their special "polar bonding"
technology, but the safety sheet doesn't mention any ingredients other
than mineral oil and hydrotreated neutral base oil. I haven't tried
this stuff myself.

For the non-working surfaces of metal tools, you might want to
consider an old woodworker's trick - wipe them with some pure tung
oil. This is a "drying" oil - it polymerizes on contact with air and
forms a solid film, which (from what I've read) is quite a good
moisture and water-vapor barrier. I don't think it has any specific
oxidation-blocking chemistry (such as Jeff referred to) so it's a good
idea to de-rust the surfaces before you coat with tung oil.

I've treated some hand tools by first cleaning up the rust with a
phosphoric acid dip/wipe (rinsing well afterwards) and then wiping on
some tung oil. A thin coat will "dry" (polymerize) within a day or
two, and the coating on those tool surfaces has held up well in
storage.

Note that this is pure tung oil I'm referring to - not one of the
commercial "tung oil" varnishes, which often contain little or no tung
oil.