As part of preparing to sell my late MIL’s home I need to pack up my
bench, tools and equipment and get them out of the way of buyers
eyes. These items will be stored in a storage unit for an unknown
length of time and then will be transported 500 miles by movers. I
need some advice regarding best practices in packing certain items so
there will be no degradation in quality during storage, as well as
dealing with my chemicals (such as fluxes, both paste & liquid, paste
solder, ultrasonic cleaning solution, gel & chunk LOS, ferric
chloride etchant, etc.).
I plan to clean all my tools then to oil and wrap them. The dapping
set and bench block will be greased and wrapped as they were when I
purchased them, the files will be cleaned, chalked, then individually
wrapped in paper. That’s the easy part I think. How should I store my
torch? I have a Smith Silversmith air/acetylene torch with the B
tank. What’s the proper way to pack the hoses, regulator & torch
head? Paper or plastic (or both?) Since movers won’t deal with
anything potentially dangerous, I think it might be best to either
swap my tank for an empty one or trade it back to the welding shop
and simply get another one when I set up my bench back home.
Opinions?
What about the chemicals? My first instinct is to dispose of
anything caustic then to store the rest in a plastic bin. I’d like to
keep the paste solder and gel LOS, would sealing in a plastic bag
inside the plastic bin preserve them?
And my Foredom flex shaft, should I service it then disassemble for
storage? Do I need to be concerned about the abrasive rubber wheels
and the 3M Radial Disks drying out or becoming brittle?
Aside from the items above, my biggest concern is “What haven’t I
thought of?”. I really want to avoid unpleasant surprises when I
unpack my tools & equipment some months from now.
I know many Orchidians have been through this so please accept my
appreciation in advance for sharing your advice and experience.
Iris