Storing tools with salt?

[ishiboo]

I have several 4'x4'x4' wood boxes made from 1.25" thick plywood I want to store some tools/supplies in, as storage space is at a premium. My plan was to fill them and then place a Damprid moisture absorber in each (with generic calcium chloride flake as I'm cheap) inside to absorb any moisture.

Is there any danger of salt vapor causing corrosion?

Should I paint the insides of the boxes with latex paint, or leave them be? The inside of the plywood is unfinished, the outside has a shiny coating.

 

[RCStocker]

Wood breaths, Painting the inside will only cause moisture to condence and stay on the insde of the box. With that said Paint will not make any noticable difference. They use a different salt in the ahiping packets. I am not sure what type that is. You can find out.

As for long term storage. Get a rag with a light oil and wipe the tools down and that will keep them form rusting. Make sure to take woold planes and tools apart. the real rust in planes is downin the joints where the frog meets the soulof the plane. hand tools all need wiping with oil. I even wipe down my machinist tools in my shop in Indian. Even my garden shove gets wiped down with an oil rag. They do not rust. Here in California where I am it is so dry nothing rust that is inside.

What in the world are you suing foor decing plywood to make your boxes out of. That is an over kill. LOL

Moisture gets trapped inside of any box. Just oil the tools and take them out every once in a while to make sure they are ok.

 

[neonnblack]

go to every store that sells shoes, steal the silica packets out of the show boxes.

 

[cheechi]

or some nylons/hose with rice inside. Not as effective as the silica but good enough for 'regular' humidity in storing tools.

 

[LSU]

A long time ago, I was in the military and we frequently had items that had been stored in sealed wooden boxes. I never saw the inside of a wooden box that had been painted. Not sure why you'd want to do that? I would think the plywood would do just fine by itself.

Your question about salt scares the heck out of me. Salt attracts moisture (this is why sometimes you see in a restaurant a salt shaker that has rice kernels in it. The rice is to absorb the moisture from the salt.

I'd stay away from the salt.

Some of the answers to your questions provoke other questions - what is it you're storing?

If you're storing ammunition - then leave it in its original packing and leave it alone. In the early 1970's we were using Franklin Arsenal ammo that had been made in 1945. It all worked fine and had been packed in its original cardboard boxes inside metal ammo cans.

If you're storing metal (tools, firearms, etc.) think about how often you're going to be accessing the items. We had some parts that had been packed in cosmoline (nasty stuff) which looked brand new when we exposed ourselves to harsh cancer causing chemicals to clean the **** off.

If you want to store some stuff short term (less than 5 years) use something like Corrosion X or some other long term storage product. Get on the web and look at what's out there.

There are also paper products that you can wrap metal parts in for storage. I can't recall the name of them but the Army used some brown paper that seemed to have some sort of oil infused into it.

How are you going to open and close the boxes? Wood screws? Metal straps.

I'd suggest that you make sure the base of your boxes are not stored flat on a surface. You might want to put some wooden slats or block to make sure air flows under the box.

There is a lot of information out there on long term storage. Look at some of the survivalist websites for some ideas.

When I went on active duty I packed up all my tools, etc. in metal tool boxes. I'd wiped them down with some LSA (military spec weapons oil) (WD40 and the other wonder stuff had not been invented yet).

I put them up off the floor at my parents' house and when I came home, everything was fine. They were not exposed to the elements but were not in a climate controlled area

Look at some of the survivalist websites if you really want some ideas on how far folks will go to store stuff.

 

[Outlawmws]

Re: Storing tools with salt?

 

[03protege]

Re: Storing tools with salt?

My thoughts exactly. Rice would be something I would consider but salt just scares me.

 

[ishiboo]

To clarify - what I'm storing is a mix of everything. Some pallets will have power tools (my spare chop saw, circular saw, multiple drills, etc.) as well as hand tools.

These boxes are premade, they are approximately 40x48" and about 42" high. They were used to ship apple juice concentrate from China. Great deal for storage as I can move them with the tractor, pallet jack, etc.

 

[ishiboo]

Well, if the salt does not vaporize it's completely safe... that's the only question. Being these are large boxes, silica gel would be expensive initially.

 

[LSU]

Well, if the salt does not vaporize it's completely safe... that's the only question. Being these are large boxes, silica gel would be expensive initially.

I'm not sure what you're saying with "if the salt does not vaporize". . .

Oxygen present in water and salt causes corrosion. Salt is hygroscopic in nature and it attracts the water. Water is required for corrosion and salt speeds up the process.

Corrosion is the transfer of electrons from one substance to the other so salt present in water improves the capability of water to carry electron through redox reactions. Redox reactions are the oxidation and reduction reactions. In oxidation a particular substance loses electrons and in reduction a substance gains electrons which are released by the oxidation. When these both reactions took place it is known as redox (Reduction and Oxidation) reaction.

If there is humidity in the air the salt will "draw" the humidity into the salt. Silica absorbs the salt and doesn't break down like salt does.

I think putting salt in the boxes would draw additional moisture into the box -this is something you don't want.

Since you explained what you're storing, I'd just wipe the metal part of the tools down with some type of firearm long term oil and let it go at that.

Think about how cheap salt is then think how expensive Siicia is. If salt worked as well as silica then the major shippers would be using salt instead of silica.

 

[Maexle]

get some VCI paper / tabs, or even bags, oil them well wrap them up, it all depends how long you want to store them and in what kind of climate / environment, i would not use wooden boxes to store them, certain wood absorbs moisture and releases it again (inside the box).

 

[ishiboo]

I'm not sure what you're saying with "if the salt does not vaporize". . .

Oxygen present in water and salt causes corrosion. Salt is hygroscopic in nature and it attracts the water. Water is required for corrosion and salt speeds up the process.

Corrosion is the transfer of electrons from one substance to the other so salt present in water improves the capability of water to carry electron through redox reactions. Redox reactions are the oxidation and reduction reactions. In oxidation a particular substance loses electrons and in reduction a substance gains electrons which are released by the oxidation. When these both reactions took place it is known as redox (Reduction and Oxidation) reaction.

If there is humidity in the air the salt will "draw" the humidity into the salt. Silica absorbs the salt and doesn't break down like salt does.

I think putting salt in the boxes would draw additional moisture into the box -this is something you don't want.

Since you explained what you're storing, I'd just wipe the metal part of the tools down with some type of firearm long term oil and let it go at that.

Think about how cheap salt is then think how expensive Siicia is. If salt worked as well as silica then the major shippers would be using salt instead of silica.

Thanks, unfortunately I just dropped chemistry so I understand the chemical process at work overall, my concern is just whether any salt becomes "airborne" which would make corrosion worse instead of helping it I don't imagine this being a problem, just wanted to gather other opinions.

As there is little airflow in the box, I am not concerned with it drawing moisture in... some will pass through the wood, obviously, but very little. Wiping with oil will attract a ton of dust, and these tools will be used at times and the boxes moved to be able to be used, so oiling them is not really an option. Plus tools that interact with sawdust and oil, no matter how light, do not mix well

Silica is great but realize it's used for shipping because it's "dry" and great for shipping, whereas calcium chloride will liquify. Calcium Chloride is a far better moisture absorber than silica gel by weight/volume/etc.

I have 10 of these wood crates, most will not have tools but many will have things with steel parts or others so I'd like to keep each dry and mold/mildew free.

 

[LSU]

Understood.

Let us know how it all comes out in a few years.

 

[Sureshot]

We used to throw out alot of large silica packs that came packed in explosives boxes. Do you have a quarry or elplosives user near by? I had boxes of the packs at one time.

 

[kunkernator]

If you go to the grocery store, they sell baking soda moisture absorbers for refrigerators for a couple bucks. Try one of these out.

 

[bsaint]

Salt gives off vapor or gas?

 

[LLundstedt]

I would keep tools as far from salt as you can. I work in a salt plant and as long as the tools remain in the "work" environment, they only slowly rust. When you bring a tool home, it will be covered in rust by morning.

 

[metaldad]

I think I'd be more worried about the fact the wooden boxes came from china.

 

[Stuart in MN]

get some VCI paper / tabs, or even bags, oil them well wrap them up, it all depends how long you want to store them and in what kind of climate / environment, i would not use wooden boxes to store them, certain wood absorbs moisture and releases it again (inside the box).

Here's a good place to buy VCI products: http://www.theruststore.com/VCI-C12.aspx They aren't that expensive and they work well.

 

[Conductor562]

I'd just get some of that brown shipping paper, coat it in grease on the inside, and wrap everything up. May not be the absolute cheapest way to go but it's still inexpensive and you know your **** is protected. If you plan on using the stuff to be stored every now and them the baking soda sounds like a good idea. Salt is a fine obsorber, it's also corrosive.

 

[Alan Douglas]

some will pass through the wood, obviously, but very little.

More than you think, over the long term. Sealed polyethylene bags inside the boxes would be better. Metal film would probably be needed to stop moisture entirely.

I believe you're right that calcium chloride will eventually absorb enough moisture to dissolve, so naturally will have to be in a liquid-proof container. I don't think it would otherwise affect the tools, though of course by the time it dissolves it will have stopped absorbing moisture. If you change it out for fresh crystals, your scheme could work.

As already noted, silica gel is often thrown away after a one-time use. Trick is, finding someone nearby who gets it regularly. It can be regenerated in a hot oven for a certain length of time.

 

[skiingman]

go to every store that sells shoes, steal the silica packets out of the show boxes.

It used to be ridiculously cheap from HF, but now I can't find it there. It was like 5 bucks a pound.

 

[nehog]

Go to a store and get some of that 'new' kitty litter (the crystal stuff, not the clay pellets) and use it to **** up moisture. You can heat it in the oven to dry it out and it will work effectively--better than salt.

 

[Nowater]

Forget trying to absorb the moisture in the air over a period of years. Wipe with oil or a corrosion inhibitor.

 

[DMAR]

To clarify - what I'm storing is a mix of everything. Some pallets will have power tools (my spare chop saw, circular saw, multiple drills, etc.) as well as hand tools.

These boxes are premade, they are approximately 40x48" and about 42" high. They were used to ship apple juice concentrate from China. Great deal for storage as I can move them with the tractor, pallet jack, etc.

I'm not sure what I'd be more concerned about, the salt slowly corroding my tools, or somehow ingesting products made with the apple juice concentrate that came from China!

I went to buy some fruit cup snacks for my kids, and noticed the fruit was sourced from China. Not sure if it was Dole, or Del Monte. Gotta read the fine print, this is not something they are clearly labeling. I bought the brand that had the USA fruit in it...

I'd wipe your tools down with some good gun oil that is designed to inhibit corrosion. I like "Rig" gun oil, or grease, made by Birchwood Casey now. Fluid Film also seems to work well.

 

[antinym]

You can buy that silica gel stuff from a craft store. People use it to dry flowers.

 

[Coach James]

Amazon has numerous desicants available. If you will be able to access the boxes periodically, I would just get a silica gel container for each one and dry it out on a regular basis plus oil the tools prior to storage. It will cost a few bucks but will also be the better way to protect your things.

Coach

 

[srmofo]

cosmoline

DO IT!