Advice needed: long term storage of midi-lathe bed extension

[Mitchell Garnett]

I've moved and am trying to fit my woodworking tools into a 2 car garage. I haven't used the full length of the extended bed on my Delta midi lathe in a long time so I've taken it off and want to store it in my attic, possibly for a long time.

Is there anything better/cheaper than cosmoline? I'm less worried about cleaning it off than keeping rust away.

Currently I'm thinking about spray cosmoline but I don't have any experience on this topic other than removing it.

thanks.

[Matt Day]

Cheaper would be a good coat of JPW.

[George Yetka]

I'd say spray it with some kind of oil and bag it air tight.

[Roger Chandler]

Get a can of grease from the auto supply store.....the kind like they pack wheel bearings with. Smear a heavy coat over the bed, and place some blue shop towels over the grease. Store away. It will prevent rust and can be easily cleaned up with mineral spirits when you get ready to use it again.

[Len Mullin]

Buy the cheapest can of spray grease you can, then give the extension a good coating of it. After you spray the extension, put it onto a large garbage bag and seal it closed. Then put it in the attic, and never worry about it rusting again. I put a small cast iron old cheap lathe in storage this way years ago, and stored it in a damp unheated basement of a two story shop. It was stored there for 8-9 years, and it never showed a sign of rust.

Len

[John K Jordan]

...spray grease...

I also use spray grease to protect cast iron and steel. I use Zep 2000 - it comes out of of the can as a fairly low viscosity liquid then gets thicker as the solvent evaporates. I buy it by the case since I use it a lot around the farm. I have three lathes in a storage shed with no rust. I don't put them in a plastic bag.

[Prashun Patel]

Wouldn’t boeshield work too?

[Peter Christensen]

I am out there :rolleyes: in that I would mask off the painted parts of the bed extension, then prime and maybe paint all the exposed metal surfaces with spray bombs. A little work with some acetone on those surfaces will remove the paint. No different than greasing the H out of it but easier to handle when you have to move it around but not ready to use again.

[david privett]

I would add that plastic gets brittle with age use cloth bags like old pillow cases when saturated with grease it will last a long, long ,time.