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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.9.37] on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 20:00:11 :
In Reply to: transmission storage ideas posted by John S [108.3.84.254] on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 19:34:58 :
I've got to believe that what worked in WWII when they had to ship machinery and parts to anywhere from the arctic to the south pacific is still the best today. There are spray-on oils and waxes like "Boeshield" that are supposed to work, but I think they're more for short-term protection against surface rust on machinery kept indoors. The trouble with oil is it eventually drains off. I thought I was protecting two milling machines and a lathe by slathering them with heavy, sticky gear oil, diluted with gasoline enough that I could splatter it all over everything. After 2 years under a tarp, there was lots of rust on them. I concluded oil alone just doesn't work long-term, no matter how thick it is.
Cosmoline, I believe, is a mixture of beeswax and oil. The beeswax is the key to keeping the oil in place. It's also the key to removing it. Nothing dissolves beeswax, but the proper way to get it off is with heat. Putting parts in a bucket of boiling hot water will usually do it. I don't know where you get cosmoline these days, although I did once see a want ad for a guy trying to sell a whole barrel of the stuff. It wouldn't be hard to make your own.
The main enemy in a shed is condensation, and condensation is caused by temperature fluctuations as much as by humidity. When you have moisture condensing on bare steel, like gears and bearings, I don't think there's anything short of cosmoline that will protect it for more than a couple months.
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