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I just picked up a 10e, but I don't really want to keep it indoors. I have more space available to me outside, and I'll be doing most of the work on it outside anyway. I can't build a shed or anything to put it in. The waytubes are in great condition so I don't want them to get rusty. I was thinking of making a cover out of tarp-like material, but I'm sure moisture/critters would get in somewhere I don't want them to be. So does anyone have any suggestions to storing this machine outside?

confab wrote:I just picked up a 10e, but I don't really want to keep it indoors. I have more space available to me outside, and I'll be doing most of the work on it outside anyway. I can't build a shed or anything to put it in. The waytubes are in great condition so I don't want them to get rusty. I was thinking of making a cover out of tarp-like material, but I'm sure moisture/critters would get in somewhere I don't want them to be. So does anyone have any suggestions to storing this machine outside?

First of all, where are you located. If you would store it on my patio, you could just throw a water proof tarp over it and all would be well. But, in some parts of the country that might not work. Anything less than environmentally controlled storage might allow it to rust.

i think confab is saying right....i think it only the way to save your machine from moisture.you can you machine in his patio,it would be safe.tell him you location.

If you're in my town, you can store it in my garage (as long as I can use it, and for a modest fee of course:D )

Funny guys here, I don't know where Newhall is, so it must be somewhere in so-cal. I'm in Sacramento, we don't get a lot of rain, but enough that a year or so without protection makes things rusty. I thought of making a case to cover it up, and match the custom roll around cabinet it sits on, but that sounds excessively heavy to have to take off. I'm sure someone has an innovative idea.

I live just outside of Vancouver, B.C., on the 'wet coast', and I keep my 10ER in an outdoor, unheated shed, although it is under the carport. I have made a cover out of a canvas dropsheet, and have attached large packages of (I believe) silicon dioxide, the stuff they pack with electronics and medicines to keep them dry. I read about this in an old machinery magazine, and it seems reasonable as the stuff absorbs moisture. I use the machine weekly, so as the winter progresses, I can check the effect.

Derek in Surrey, B.C.

Derek hit the nail on the head. Another option is camphor blocks. In the Midwest, rust is always lurking around the corner. I use camphor blocks in all drawers, tool boxes, cabinets, etc. The blocks don't absorb moisture but the gas created by the blocks somehow encapsulates the metal and doesn't allow rust to start. The area must be contained with a tarp or container of some description.

Checking your unit frequently would be key as well.

Is it possible to build a crate around it? All you would need is a floor wide enough to roll it in, two sides higher than the machine and a top and two ends one or both would be hinged to roll the machine in and out. I would then throw a tarp over the whole thing.

The crate if you made it seal tight enough would keep dirty and critters out and would help moderate the temp/humidity a little. The tarp would keep the whole thing dry. If you built in close to the dimensions of th ER10 it really wouldn't be that much bigger than just the machine with a tarp.

If you get a lot of rain in your area you might consider making one side higher than the other so the top/roof slants. I'm sure you could whip something up from 3 or 4 sheets of exterior ply, a few hinges, a latch or two and enough screw/nails to hold the whole thing together.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Is it possible to build a crate around it? All you would need is a floor wide enough to roll it in, two sides higher than the machine and a top and two ends one or both would be hinged to roll the machine in and out. I would then throw a tarp over the whole thing.

The crate if you made it seal tight enough would keep dirty and critters out and would help moderate the temp/humidity a little. The tarp would keep the whole thing dry. If you built in close to the dimensions of th ER10 it really wouldn't be that much bigger than just the machine with a tarp.

If you get a lot of rain in your area you might consider making one side higher than the other so the top/roof slants. I'm sure you could whip something up from 3 or 4 sheets of exterior ply, a few hinges, a latch or two and enough screw/nails to hold the whole thing together.

Yeah, but with two more sheets of plywood you could build a garage.:)

I have read that potassium nitrate makes a good rust inhibitor. I stumbled on a machinist forum many moons ago and one of the threads addressed the use of potassium nitrate as a super rust preventative. The machinist writing the thread mentioned one container would last a person a lifetime. I wish I had bookmarked the site. Potassium nitrate has a number of uses, one of which is stump removal. Apparently, that is one way people buy it & then use it for blue gun metal. I have never tried it.