Parts storage

For those that take on long term projects how do you store the parts that you have machines while you are busy making other parts. I don't mean put in a draw but how you store them to prevent rust until you are ready to assemble and paint.

This mainly concerns steel and cast iron parts

Hello Derek, I'd be inclined to use a proprietary corrosion inhibitor. Providing you're prepared to remove it prior to paint.

Depends on how long they need to be protected. Assuming bare steel, which rusts quickly, and paint primer is over the top:

• Up to a few days, quick wipe with an oily rag, and then loose wrap in paper.
• Few weeks, careful wipe with oily rag and then into an air-tight box wrapped in some protective cotton cloth or acid free-paper. Small items in plastic or glass jars, tupperware, biscuit tins etc. Larger items in cardboard or wooden boxes. Bet Derek knows better than me which woods corrode metal, e.g. some types of Oak.
• Few months, as for few weeks plus wrapped in VCI paper, and then inside a sealed plastic bag, then in a box.
• More than a few months, as for few months except apply a thick layer of grease after the oily wipe.
• More than a year, buy a long term protective product. The original was Cosmoline, there are various modern alternatives. Choose carefully because Cosmoline and some other heavy duty products harden on the item and are difficult to get off. Modern alternatives offer somewhat shorter protection, but are considerably easier to remove. The manufacturers instructions explain what the product is for, how to apply it, and how to get it off.

Important to thoroughly clean protected items before painting.

Avoid storing different metals in contact with each other in case they corrode electrolytically.

VCI paper is useful for lining tool drawers etc too. It emits a vapour that deposits a thin protective wax layer over the contents. The layer, which isn't messy, repels water and seals out Oxygen. Works well.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 20/01/2022 17:23:39

Spray with corrosion inhibitor (not wd40)and seal in polythene bags.

Thank you all not sure how long the parts will be stored it all depends how fast I am at making bits for the Loco

LPS4 is an excellent spray on inhibitor

Robert G8RPI

There are lots of good rust inhibitors out there but I use plain old paraffin with oil in (about 90:10) to wipe over the parts. I do have a fairly temperature stable workshop so rust isn't a problem but for long term storage I keep parts coated as such in card boxes with VPI paper wrapping.

Recently packed all the Bentley BR2 parts for sale which had been stored thus and hadn't seen light of day for quite a long time - two/three years possibly more. Just as they were put away with no rust anywhere.

Dampness in any form is the real issue to resolve to preventing rusting IMO

Tug

Also to help me out for storage I had a £20 voucher for screwfix and brought three of these to keep them in I will be bringing these into the house with the parts in (If they fit). They stack together with clips on the side

I will get some inhibitor to coat them with as advised by some of you

Edited By Derek Lane on 20/01/2022 18:55:01

My problem is remembering where I've put bits, and sometimes forgetting that I've made bits and making them again. Would be a lot easier if I did a parts list and ticked them off as made, with a note of where I'd stached them

That is one reason for buying the boxes I like the idea of making a list of part already made. At the moment the list is simple One set of frames

I keep a log of all the assemblies Iv made, how many parts down to individual pieces in a fabrication ( not difficult but must be started at same time as starting the build) , and dates interesting to see the progress

have I made it? Yes cos there’s a pencil tick on the drawing …….

my workshop is attached to the house with background heating radiators. Never had any storage degradation problems, but parts in boxes like above, bagged in small tin boxes, wrapped in a drawer, sat on shelves fir the biggies, boiler in its custom housing, chassis assembly sat on a solid trolley on the building stand. Espasy to move round and rotate.
it all depends on your shop, time and the size of the parts

Edited By Zan on 20/01/2022 20:29:56

Waxoyle , clear version diluted with white spirit, after cleaning off oil with white spirit. Has to be done on a dry warm day so that it can be done outside. Also beeswax furniture polish but not car wax or any other polish that might contain silcone.

I am looking at a new source of a soft wax in the candles used in church to burn continuously (well 7-9 days) in plastic tubes. They end up with about a cc of unburned wax at the bottom when they are thrown away which seems to be quite soft - ie smearable over metal, especially if warm.

Bugger I should have thought of beeswax as it is something I use on my bandsaw table it stops it rusting as well as makes the wood slide easily. I apply a very thin layer and buff it up which also helps any transfer to the wood I am cutting.

The stuff I use is Woodwax 22 which I can pick up at woodturning suppliers

VCI paper + plastic bag, clingfilm or similar to seal the atmosphere out will do fine for "years" in any inhabitable space. If you bring things indoors a plastic box or securely lidded tin will do nearly as well on its own. Stick it in the back of the airing cupboard if you want to be inspector meticulous.

Main thing is to avoid damp environments or ones where the temperature regularly cycles through the dew point.

I don't care for nostrums on anything that might need to be painted. If the stuff sticks well enough to prevent rust getting it all off can be hell on wheels. None of these things seems to come with an official solvent.

The wax dip stuff that you used to find on new cutters to protect the edges is very good for small things. It comes off clean with no deposit. Not, I believe, the same formulation as the dip stuff used to sleeve handles. That seems to be sticker so bits get left behind.

Now leaving things in the garage with the usual ill sealed door will be a whole n'other thing.

Clive

*1 for VCI paper. I bought a few metres and wrapped lots of things when I stored them in a container, from reamers to whole lathe beds. very effective.

Neil

G'day.

I am not biased because this is an Aussie product. It just works as advertised!

Inox and Lanox

I have been using these products for over 20 years to prevent rusting of all my tooling and model engines.

My C3 Minilathe and X2 mill are still as rust free as the day that I purchased them many years ago, I just give them a spritz at the end of a working session and whether I return the next day or the next month or two they are just as I left them..

The best part is that they don't dry out. A bonus is that Inox MX3 is a great cutting lube for machining aluminium alloys if one is temporarily out of kero.

A wipe with Lanox over seldom used drills, cutters and reamers before storing in a ziplock bag has stood me well over the years, never a rusty part.

A friend who owns a large ocean racing yatch advised me about this product when we were flying model seaplanes in 1999 as it is his 'go-to' corrosion inhibitor in the extreme environments in which he races.

Available worldwide too. (No I don't own any shares in the company)

* danny *

Edited By Danny M2Z on 21/01/2022 05:24:24

Plus 1 on the use of INOX.

I have also successfully used a number of other products - ACF50 and while lithium grease in aerosol form.- to name a couple.

As a very corrosive person - I have only to look at a piece of steel and it turns into a pile of rust - I have also learnt the wisdom of applying rust preventative to any new steel stock or tooling before it comes into contact with my fingers.

The procedure is to remove the item from its packaging holding it with a clean paper towel and then spray liberally with your preferred anti-corrosive. Larger items which are a bit heavy for the one hand treatment can be sprayed in-situ once the packaging has been removed. As before - don't touch before spraying. It work wonders.

It takes a little self training to make this into a routine procedure but I have found it really helps to stop rust before it gets a chance to get a start, e.g. with the classic rusty fingerprint on shiny steel..

Pero

As used on milling cutters etc - CROCELL but I don't expect the OP could be bothered with this.

Bob

A little OTT in respect of the price could buy some new tools for that.

I have decided to go with some VCI paper just going to order some

VCI paper in your Stanley boxes will work well. The box stops damp air circulating over the contents, and the VCI deals protects against any wet that does get in.

Much depends on local circumstances. Leaving the boxes in a cold dry garage is safer than walking them through a hot steamy kitchen. But warm and dry is better than cold and damp.

Dave