Need storage advice for tools

[beeforty]

DriZair (?) is something that I've used in the past for keeping a camper dry. White crystals that suck moisture out of the air and turns it to a nasty liquid. Liquid is as deadly or more than Roundup. I used it to get rid of all my poison oak. Motor home supply places carry it and the special container that holds the crystals and has a built in drip pan.

 

[TMGT]

DriZair (?) is something that I've used in the past for keeping a camper dry. White crystals that suck moisture out of the air and turns it to a nasty liquid. Liquid is as deadly or more than Roundup. I used it to get rid of all my poison oak. Motor home supply places carry it and the special container that holds the crystals and has a built in drip pan.

Sounds like it's just a desiccant bag, if it's really humid it's a fairly short term solution.
Humidifier in a sea container sounds like a good option.
From experience WD40 is not adaquate to protect the metal surfaces. There's a number of products that are designed for storage like that, can't remember any of their names though. Fluid film works ok, might have to reapply it every so often.

 

[Budweiser John]

First off, the decommissiong of a family members shop, let alone two shops is a daunting task.
Akin to viloting ones personal space digging into the personal resources of a deceased serious woodworkers shop is like opening a Pandora's box of emotion laced with a serious dose of THF.... Decisions will have to be made on what to save, what to toss, and perhaps what to give away. Unless you really need or want two of everything, something's got to give.
Through out the selection process, i'de five high pitotity to American made equipment especially vintage Delta, Powermatic, Walker Turner, Tanawitz, Northfield, and a host of others. Vintage machinery.org is a great resource on vintage woodworking equipment. Don't overlook the value in the accumulated machinery tooling such as shaper cutters, router bits, molding knives, and carbide saw blades.
Most woodworkers purchase tooling as needed and a lifetime collection of molding cutters can equal or surpass the value of a molding machine as an example.
Relative to short/long term storage, rust is the big issue here so plenty of grease, WD 40, and weather protection is a must as is a secure location. Hopefully, the current shop(s) are located such that a reasonable amount of time is available to sort and pack up all the stuff.
Good luck,
B. John

 

[tcreeley]

Get a shipping container and cut vents in it. Build yourself a wood framed inexpensive shed.

If there is good ventilation, tools will do fine. However, you need to realize unless it is climate controlled (heated,cooled. or indoors) steel tools will warm up with the rise in temperature and as the temperature falls, they will cool. When the warm air contacts a cool surface, moisture will form on the surface and that moisture will be the start of rust. Some rust is ok, but after a while it isn't good.
Oil the steel hand tools, wrap them and put them away (don't use linseed oil- some say linseed oil rags self combust- fire.). I'd do the same with steel table surfaces. (some -WD 40, or grease that you can later strip with rubbing alcohol. - I never used fluid film, but that sounds good. - If you are going to get into woodworking- keep the tools. It is costly to buy those new. Duplicate table salws, router tables, drill presses - you just need one. Sell one. - Keep the better quality one, and the bigger one. Keep any dust collection system- useful. Planers, jointers, lathes.
To find prices- just google the tool brand name and model number.

Re pawing through their stuff- don't worry about it.

A lot of work you set yourself.
You can just sticker what you want to keep. And let an estate buyer cleanout the rest.
Good luck.

 

[civilian]

I don't agree with the comment "if there are two of an item, keep one and get rid of the other." In my case I have 2 table saws and 2 band saws. One table saw is set up with a dado blade in it. The othe does the ripping, cross cutting etc. The bigger band saw is used to resaw thicker material in thinner stock used in furniture building. The smaller band saw has a smaller blade for cutting curves in the thinner stock. Jon

 

[BukitCase]

I'm with you Jon - I have 2 or 3 of dang near everything in the wood shop - 2 table saws, 2 radial saws, 2 miter saws, only one (woodworking, that is) drill press, 3 router tables, 3 jointers, 2 planers, 2 band saws, a pocket hole station, plus 3 or 4 separate routers, various sanders, 2 belt/disk sanders, 3 circular saws, 2 recip saws, 2 jig saws, and then there's the SEPARATE metal working shop area....

The advantage of this - I can set up 3 router tables, one with raised panel bit, one with stile bit, one with rail bit, using scrap pieces of intended materials - I can run all the material for a complete set of cabinet doors without ever changing/messing up the setup, and if done correctly the FIRST time, every single door will fit PERFECTLY. Some of the OTHER duplicates just sorta happened, the smaller 6" jointer was inherited and gets used for "junk" projects instead of using the Powermatic 6", and the 12" spiral head jointer happened when I got about 2200 board feet of rough-sawn oak planks for a bit less than firewood prices.

My shops aren't heated except to take the chill off a bit, they're un-insulated - my "de-rust" methods are: first of all, NO WD40, I find it just gets gummy after a while and doesn't belong in a WOOD shop - all cast iron surfaces get multiple coats of Johnson's Paste Wax (no silicone to mess up finishes), then each power tool gets at least one clamp light fixture with a 100 watt bulb inside (two on the jointers) - these get hooked up to a power strip that's fed by an SCR "motor speed control", set at around 50% and left on all but summer time - This keeps ALL the metal surfaces ABOVE their dew point and the bulbs pretty much NEVER burn out, so I NEVER get condensation (in rainy Oregon)

The light bulbs help keep the rest of the shop a bit warmer than it would be otherwise too.

It's a little more expensive, but I NEVER use combustible fuels for heat, only electric and not too much of that - all fuels produce a LOT of water vapor that I DON'T NEED helping things to RUST.

IF the OP goes with container(s), I'd recommend ALL the methods I outlined above PLUS a continuous-drained de-humidifier as mentioned above - in addition, maybe even a taut line at ceiling height, centered and running full length of the container, with a tarp draped over it and down at the sides, just in case the container decides to drip a little - the de-humidifier will eventually lower the moisture inside, but I tend to believe in backup plans

HTH... Steve