Putting equipment into storage - what precautions to take

[Richard]

I'm moving some of my woodworking equipment into storage for the next few years (until I build my new house). I plan to use a few pieces of machinary but the rest will not likely be used. What precautions should I be taking to ensure the everything works fine when I start to use it again? Should I be treating the steel surfaces with some- thing? Someone recommended wax. The items going into storage are a wood lathe, uni-plane, sanding station (disc & belt), shaper, and a dust collection system. I will continue to use the table saw, drill press, planer, and grinders.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Steve Wilson]

Richard,

You'll need to clean everything very well. Any part that has paint on it will be ok. Any exposed bare metal will rust unless protected. You could use a heavy coat of Boeshield on the exposed metal (don't wipe off) or even use Cosmoline (McMaster Carr sells spray cans of the stuff). On top of the cosmoline you could lay a sheet of plastic. For hand tools you might want to wrap them in paper impregnated with rust inhibitor; IIRC Lee Valley or Lie Nielsen sells small quantities of the stuff.. You'll also want to cover the machines with a breathable fabric; I like to use the HTC tools covers but anything will do. Condensation will be your enemy. If you can afford to store them in a climate controlled storage facility so much the better.

[Joe_Stein]

You can store the lathe in my basement. :-) Joe

[CW]

I'll second the Cosmoline. Sprays on so gets into crevices and great protection.

[bridger]

in a pinch auto parts stores sell white lithium grease in spray cans.

if the storage place isn't climate controlled get the machines up off of the floor. a red clay brick under each foot should do it.

I have heard of people filling oil and grease reservoirs up to the top with clean lubricants. you'll have to empty them and refill to the proper level before use, but this should prevent corrosion of those out of reach parts.

I'd remove any glued on abrasives from the disc sander and clean the disk well. hard to say how those adhesives will age.

slack the belts.

box up the shaper cutters wrapping them well enough to survive the box being dropped without chipping the cutters.

good luck...

[Tom Young]

Good advice. One thing not to do is spray with Boeshield then cover immediately with a tarp, or anything absorbant. The tarp will wick up the rust preventative and leave the tool unprotected. I did this on my tablesaw, and everywhere the tarp touched (it was one of those HTC tool covers) rusted within a month. For reference, this was in a damp, sub-grade garage in the Calif. Bay Area.

I've used both Boeshield and LPS-3 (just sprayed it on heavily and left it alone), and they seemed to last about 6 mos. to a year. Cosmolined items have gone longer for me, but it's probably not a bad idea to check for rust every 6 mos. or so, if possible.

-Tom

[Richard]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm sure this will save me some heartache when I put the tools back into service.

Richard

[Andy Dingley]

If you use this stuff, remember a couple of things. It has a finite lifetime - best buy it new. Also it _must_ be wrapped in a moisture barrier. The paper alone isn't enough. Give it an over-wrap of kitchen cling-film.

[John]

BreakFree (the gun lube/cleaner folks) make something called BreakFree Collector, supposed to give you 5yrs+ of rust protection, and is supposed to be easy to clean off when the item is put into service. Cosmoline can be a PITA to get it all off teh tools - my bandsaw came heavily coated with Cosmoline and it was a real PITA to clean off, took most of a couple days with lots of solvent and paper towels

BoeShield T( would be a good choice, BUT only says it is good up to

1yr for rust protection, so unless you are planing on re-applying at yearly intervals, the BreakFree Protector or the Costmoline would be the best choice

John