I’m about to pack up my house and family and embark on an extended overseas journey - open-ended at this stage - and I’d really appreciate any advice the Swaylock’s brains trust can share on the storage of my shaping tools. We’ll be getting rid of the majority of our worldly goods before we go, but what’s left will be stored in my shaping shed until we eventually return.
It’s pretty much weather tight, and thankfully we live in a reasonably dry climate, but it’s very dusty and might have the occasional rodent visitor.
I won’t be taking any of my tools on the road, so will be storing everything in large sturdy plastic tubs with sealed lids. I’m most concerned about the smaller hand tools - the planes, spokeshave, surforms, microplane rasps, saws, chisels etc, many of which are old and well-made, so I want to give them as much protection from the elements as possible while I’m gone.
I was going to clean and oil all the blades before I leave, but what’s the best oil to use and should I be wrapping the planes etc. in some kind of protective cloth - oilskin or something similar - for maximum impact?
Any and all advice gratefully accepted. We’ll be leaving mid-April, first stop Spain…
I’ve stored cleaned and sharpened blades, knives, small planes, with a light wipe down of WD-40, and then wrapping in waxed paper. Carefully done, you should be good for years. Rodents will chew through plastic containers, so you may want to look at metal tool boxes, and ammo boxes for small stuff. Cloth will absorb ambient moisture, waxed paper will not.
Cheers folks, rest assured, there will be rat bait all through the shed. I’ll keep an eye out for some old steel boxes in some of the salvage yards around the local area.
Any former service members out there that remember Cosmoline? Do they still use it? Not a recommendation. A light grease would suffice like lithium and then wrapped in wax paper as others have said.