Rust prevention

[JScott]

I have a month long trip scheduled for September so I've been going through all my "boxes" and prepping items for storage while I'm away.  I've also been using this opportunity to clean and scrub everything that has picked up surface rust, gunk and crud.  The big box store here in Colombia that is equivalent to Home Depot and Lowe's carries WD-40 by the gallon for around $44 US.  I had been using the aerosol cans which are useful, but the pure liquid is much easier to apply exactly where I want it with a spray bottle and it's more economical as well.  And of course, it's also a good lubricant for machining aluminum. 

   

Another thing I've been doing is adding a small container with a "cube" of camphor to enclosed storage spaces like tool box drawers, plastic containers, etc.  This is a hack my friend Sherman told me about.  He learned it in North Carolina when he was working for IBM.  The guys in the shop told him about it as a way to keep his precision tools from accumulating rust immediately in his Gerstner tool box.  He had been working in Colorado where the climate is practically bone dry compared to the Carolinas.  My wife found these little plastic condiment cups for me at the local market.  I just pierced a small hole in the lid about 1/8" in diameter to make it into a slow release applicator.  It seems to be working and smells just like Vicks Vaporub!  I'll let y'all know how it turned out when I return in October.