Storing and moving with tools, HELP!
mikkimel
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
My family and i are relocating from nashville tn back to Geneva Nebraska, my wife’s home town. I’m not sure what our workshop situation is going to be at first, might rent for a few months while we get situated. So i started to pack my tools and realized they could be in storage for a while, few months, or several :o(.
What do i need to do to protect them?
obviously i know to keep them out of a moist environment, i guess i’m most concerned with my nice handsaws, planes, and chisels. I don’t want them to rust. a friend suggested that i give them a spray with WD40, or the table saw TOPCOAT. I’m pretty sure that would work, but don’t want to wreck them because i’m forgetting something.
thanks
Replies
Get some desiccant. Put it in with the tools that you are storing. It will absorb any moisture. You can also buy desiccant paper to wrap around your saws and planes. If certain ones hold special meaning to you. Like all of them...LOL. I would take them with you.
Mikkimel,
Just to echo len....I stored for three months in a move situation and lost many good hand tools...a brand new wooden plane my father gave me that I never got to use once. They swapped out the boxes with some cheap pottery...so the count was right..but not the contents. I would figure out how to take with...and maybe even drive shotgun...lol
If you can't get an airtight seal around the tool, like a plastic bag, no amount of dessicant will give you long term protection.
Boeshield T-9 is better than WD40, IMO, but it's not hard enough to resist much rubbing and jostling. There's a reason machinery gets packed in cosmoline for ocean voyages or long term storage. Here's a source.
http://www.schafco.com/cosmoline.asp
Years ago, I moved half way across the country, and had to store my tools for about 3 months before I could unpack them. I wrapped all the handtools in newspaper, and packed them in heavy duty cartons (mostly liquor boxes).
They came through just fine, although these days, I think I would give them a spritz with Dricote, or some other rust inhibitor.
For the stationary tools, I gave all the rustable surfaces a heavy coat of furniture wax (Johnson's paste wax, as I recall), and wrapped a loading blanket around the top. Didn't have any problems with rust with these tools either -- even though the move/storage period fell in the humid summer months.
Have you looked into container shipping? You didn't say how you were going to move, but freight rates can be dramatically lower than household moving rates -- especially for heavy items such as tools. And a container might be just the ticket for storing your goods while you get situated in Nebraska.
good luck....................
>> Have you looked into container shipping?
I've been wondering about this. Do you lease (borrow?) a container from the trucking company? From somebody else? How does the trucking company pick up the loaded container at your house? Giant forklift?
I thought about containers because I recently helped a friend who was moving locally. He rented a "pod" for $250/month, which included dropping it off at the old house (to be loaded) and then dropping it at the new house. It was about 8 X 16 (with an 8' ceiling), and he managed to get all of the really heavy stuff from his shop packed in. The construction was pretty simple -- 4 X 4's with OSB sheathing, covered with a thin metal skin. The top was one piece plastic which overhung the sides.
They used a crane type device -- which enabled the pod to be lifted straight up and then slid onto the truck (so packed items wouldn't shift around too much).
I think these guys were strictly local, but it might be worth checking around to see what kind of containerized service might be available to you for a cross country move. I would start by looking through the yellow pages, and making a few calls.
A couple of my neighbors used PODS for moves:
http://www.podsusa.com/moving/long.aspx
Bill Arnold
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
RE: PODS
Yep -- that looks exactly like the container my friend used.
I had no idea they would ship these things around the country. Since a special truck is needed, I wonder how expensive it would be.
Get a quote. Upper right of the PODS home page get you started.
Bill Arnold
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
mikkemel,
Outside of the cosmoline, I think I'd go with an even coat of a heavy grease of some kind, rather than a light oil, or a dry product. Even a thin coating of grease will provide a barrier to moisture. It will be more likely to stay put even if the container gets hot.
Be a mess to remove, but less work than scrubbing rust...
Good luck with your move,
Ray
Lithium grease in a spray can. I have not tried this for moisture barrier myself but I believe it would be a quick way to coat any tool.Do not use wd 40 or any product similar, too slippery. I once sprayed wd40 on a block plane sole, some of the spray got on the sides. I couldn't hold on to the plane until I got the wd 40 off the sides.
mike
I was preparing dinner tonight and opened a vacuumed sealed bag of fresh salmon my Mom sealed (Dad caught it.) Yes, she still makes food for me. No, my sweetie doesn't complain.
I got to thinking. (Sometimes it happens to the best of us. ;-)) You could store your really valuble tools with a food saver. It would suck all the air out. No air, no rust.
I know our crating and shipping company; bags, seals and vacuums out the air out of products before we ship them overseas. Might be worth and looking in to.
You could always buy a food saver and then give it to your Mom after...LOL.
Check out climate controlled storage. Units are available in all larger towns. I used one in Little Rock, Arkansas, for over 1 1/2 years and did not worry about any rust. All tools came through without any problelm. Just find the closest to your destination and pay to get your tools there.
Then don't worry but do make sure your homeowners insurance covers transportation enroute and in storage!!!!!
Luck to you
My last move, I coated the tools down with 30 weight motor oil, wrapped them in newspaper, then boxed them.
Mind, I unpacked fairly quickly. For longer term storage, you might consider using butcher's paper, it's coated as I recall.
Whatever you do, make an inventory of your tools, store it on your computer, copy the disc, print it out twice, give one to the mover.
Mark the boxes distinctively, note the number of them, tape them closed securely. Check the boxes immediately upon delivery.
If tools are missing or boxes look damaged, tell the mover they'll be replacing them at their expense. That's what their insurance company is for.
Leon Jester, Roanoke VA
When you mark the boxes, use only a code number. Marking the box "tools" only tempts the weak willed.
John W.
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