Non-boaty - preserving machine tools?

[prv]

I have been lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) enough to have recently inherited my grandfather's metalworking lathe. Unfortunately I don't currently have the workshop space to set it up for use. I hope to one day, so I want to store the lathe until then.

How would I best preserve the lathe and its numerous accessories for storage in a typical garden shed for a period of two to ten years?

I'm assuming that I will build a crate for it, and treat everything with some kind of preservative oil, but I'd be grateful for further details.

Pete

 

[mtb]

axminster do a preservative wax
if you crate it up you may find mice making nests in there and unless there's free movement of air it will condensate sheds get very hot and cold quite quickly
what you really want to do, is tell me its a harris or dean smith and grace and I'd better come collect it ;-)

 

[sarabande]

Castrol Rustilo is the stuff used by the Navy.

http://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/60DC02E085ECE21180257796003027B3/$File/451261_XI_en.pdf


I bought a 25l can about 15 years ago to spray on the baler at the end of each season. Excellent liquid; really stops any corrosion.

 

[prv]

what you really want to do, is tell me its a harris or dean smith and grace and I'd better come collect it ;-)

Myford, I believe.

Pete

 

[neil_s]

Plenty of old blankets wrapped around it. Make sure the first one on is polyester. My Drummond round bed has been in an unheated garage for 11 years without rusting.

Neil

 

[Adamastor]

Myfords have bits like gear-covers made of ali, whilst the rest is lovely black iron that rusts while you watch.
I'd strip the headstock off the bed, as well as the cross slide and tailstock, along with the motor. I'd also pack each piece in its own plastic bag after painting every part with something like mtb and sarabande mentioned. But be prepared for the paint to get buggered up.
once you're done, the whole thing packs into a crate about 48 x 18 x 18 inches, and you should be able to preserve it quite well.