A gift from kitty.

[DICKEYBIRD]

I've been organizing and cleaning around the shop this morning and was about to throw out an empty kitty litter bucket when I had a little eureka moment.

The 28 lb. (12.7 kg) size is rectangular and as such is much more useful for storage than a round bucket. Infrequentlly used items (like my spindexer and tilting angle table) can be stored inside the sealed bucket for a long time without fear of rusting or dust & grit buildup. I sprayed them lightly with WD-40 before sealing the lid and covered the printed-on label with duct tape so it'd look more...professional. ;D

A quick label on the PC printer and a final layer of transparent tape finishes it up. Now I gotta get another one for my rotary table and some other stuff. C'mon kitty, let's get with the program!

 

[Tin Falcon]

I have used litter buckets quite a bit around here. I need to get some cleaned up and organized. Have used them to store clutter that is not used but too good to get rid of also make handy trash buckets just do not get them mixed up lol. We have 4 cats so they supply plenty of buckets.
Tin

 

[Loose nut]

You might want to put some descant in the tub, you don't want a rusty surprise, there could be moisture trapped in there.

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

Thanks, that's a great idea.

 

[jgarrett]

My Dad always kept Camphor blocks in his tool chests for rust prevention. Was this something that worked or just old wifes tale stuff. It smelled good!!!
Julian G.

 

[zeusrekning]

I had never heard of this Camphor stuff , but Rick recently posted a video where a guy was talking about using it to fight rust.

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

Dunno about camphor. I rooted around in wifey's cupboards and found some "DampRid." Little white pellets of calciuum chloride. The label says "Do not let liquid residue contact metal or leather." I put the stuff in a plastic zip-loc bag with the top left open to let it absorb moisture but the mush shouldn't drip out & damage the metal. I'll keep an eye on it for a while to see what happens.

 

[PTsideshow]

The official damp rid container looks like a cottage cheese sized plastic container with another one in side that goes down about half way to the bottom. It will do the job of sucking the h2o out of air. the slimy stuff that results is a mess to clean. So do keep an eye on the baggy. It works better with a wide opening at the top.
A container made up of an outer one with a short one turn upside down and another short container with slots in its sides placed on top of the one in the bottom should do the job and keep the tools safe as plastic bags aren't good for holding they shape with out help.
You all so can buy the refills of damp rid in an old style waxed cardboard 1/2 gallon sized carton.
;D

 

[av_kel]

If you need dessicant packs, call you local harley-davidson dealer. Each motorcycle is shipped with a 2.5 lb log of dessicant. I usually grab a couple a year and throw them in the the safe to replace the ones from the year before. The rest get thrown away. They also should have a ton of small ones from each leather product like jackets and chaps that get shipped to them. I get a good sized bag from my motorclothes department every other week.

Rob