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Miniature tools storage: a plain-terms guide
Miniature tools storage, from knives and files to paints, resin, decals, and wiring, with practical ways to keep each item clean, dry, and ready to use.
What to take away
Miniature tools storage works best when each tool and consumable has a clean, dry place that protects its working surface and keeps parts together.
- Steel rusts at a humidity you would not notice, and rust on a blade edge is permanent.
- Dust is the second enemy. An enclosed box beats an open rack for anything with an edge.
- Store each tool so its working surface touches nothing, and put removable parts beside their tool.
- Enclosure materials matter for what they touchacid-free is not the same as buffered.
Humidity is what rusts a blade
Metal storage guidance is more specific than keeping things dry. The University of Illinois preservation program's page on museum objects sets out the practices.
Ideal Metal Storage Conditions
- 65°Fideal temperature
- 50% RHstable corrosion
- 35% RHcorrosion not stable
Its object-material figures put metal at an ideal around 65 degrees Fahrenheit, with relative humidity around 50 percent where corrosion is stable and around 35 percent where it is not.
That dust guidance translates into practical options: keep small tools in a gasketed box or compartment case. For larger tools or an open rack, use a dust barrier of clear polyethylene or unbleached cotton, held in place with magnets or binder clips.
In a drawer, use a clean barrier such as acid-free tissue or polyethylene between tools and the surface. Avoid stacking tools unless necessary; if you must, put inert foam or tissue between them. Store removable parts beside their tool.
For a drawer of tools, that means a gasketed box or compartment case, a clean liner, and no exposed edges pressed against each other. Keep the chuck with the pin vise rather than loose.
Store each tool by its working end
- Hobby knives:Retract the blade or fit its cap, then store the knife in a covered slot or blade holder. Keep replacement blades in a closed container.
- Sprue cutters and clippers:Protect the cutting edges in separate slots or sleeves so they do not knock against other tools. Keep them dry.
- Needle files:Brush off filings after use and store files flat in separate sleeves or slots so their teeth do not rub against each other.
- Tweezers:Use a tip cover or individual slot to protect the points from bending or getting knocked out of alignment.
- Brushes:Clean them according to the paint used, reshape the bristles, and let them dry before storing them in a sleeve or holder. Do not rest them on their bristles.
- Airbrushes:Clean and store them according to the maker's instructions. Keep the needle and other removable parts protected and together with the airbrush.
What actually attacks a tool
- Humidity, which rusts steel and swells wooden handles.
- Dust, which grinds into moving joints and blunts edges by abrasion.
- Contact, since two blades in a drawer dull each other.
- Solvent vapor, which perishes rubber grips and gasket seals over years.
- Being dropped, which is a storage problem disguised as an accident.
Enclosures, and a distinction worth knowing
What you wrap a tool in or use to line a drawer matters. The University of Texas at Austin's guidance on storage, use and handling makes a distinction most people miss.
Acid-free should not be confused with buffered. Buffered means an intentional deposit of alkaline material in the paper stock that can absorb acid from the contents or the surroundings.
It also notes buffering is not universally desirable. Contact with alkaline material may cause color shifts in color photographs, some color media, blueprints, and cyanotypes, especially if they get wet.
Lignin is native to trees. It contributes to discoloration and brittleness in wood-based paper, and is usually removed when processing paper for archival use.
For tools this means plain, and for the paper stock and printed textures stored alongside them it means acid-free and lignin-free. A drawer lined with ordinary cardboard is slowly acidifying everything in it.
Where consumables belong
Blades in a closed container, used ones in a sealed one. Abrasives flat and by grit, because a curled sanding stick sands a curve. Drill bits in a block rather than a tin. Glue upright, cool, and not in the same box as anything with an edge, since a leak in that box costs you both.
Store other consumables by type
- Paints and primers:Keep them in their original labeled containers with clean, tightly closed lids. Store aerosols and other products according to their labels.
- Putties:Seal them in their original containers. Keep components of two-part putty separate, and avoid contaminating either part with tools or other materials.
- Pigments:Close their jars or containers tightly and keep them dry to limit spills and dust.
- Static grass:Keep it in a closed, labeled bag or container, away from moisture and anything that could crush it.
- Decals:Store them flat in a sleeve or folder, dry and out of direct light.
- Resin:Keep it in its original, tightly closed, labeled container. Follow the product's directions for light and other storage conditions.
- Wiring:Coil it loosely, keep different wires sorted, and protect any exposed ends from tangling with tools or other supplies.
For a broader tool overview, see the miniature tool categories covered for first-time buyers. For other material-storage questions, see storing miniature supplies.
