I would like to give both a thorough cleaning, but am afraid to do
something stupid. In particular, if you look at the last 3 pictures,


I would start with a kitch pot scrubber or bathroom scrubber and WD40.
If that doesn't take the crud off, switch to an abrasive pad.
WD40 and paper towels will remove a lot of crud all by itself.

On 20 Apr 2005 12:51:25 GMT, Ignoramus14555
wrote:

So, I have this mill and lathe:

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/clausing/

Pix of them in my garage are at
http://igor.chudov.com/projects/clausing/01-home/

I would like to give both a thorough cleaning, but am afraid to do
something stupid. In particular, if you look at the last 3 pictures,
you will see that the horizontal "arm" of the mill is all gunked
up. It is not as rusty as it is just covered with polymerized oil (or
so I think, anyway). Can I use over cleaner and scotchbrite to try to
get that stuff off? How about steel wool? I doubt that sandpaper is
appropriate...

i

Oven cleaner will lift the paint.

This is the one place I can think of that WD-40 is actually good for
something. And a green kitchen scrubbing pad.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"

Gunner writes:

And a green kitchen scrubbing pad.

Use the blue ScotchBrite brand, not the green. Less abrasive but still
scrubby.

Old credit cards make good non-scratching scrapers. With the lending biz
as it has been the last few years, these tend to pile up in my drawer
faster than I use them up.

Richard J Kinch wrote:
Gunner writes:


And a green kitchen scrubbing pad.


Use the blue ScotchBrite brand, not the green. Less abrasive but still
scrubby.

Old credit cards make good non-scratching scrapers.

New credit cards work just as well.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

....
I would like to give both a thorough cleaning, but am afraid to do
something stupid. In particular, if you look at the last 3 pictures,
you will see that the horizontal "arm" of the mill is all gunked
up. It is not as rusty as it is just covered with polymerized oil (or
....

Your machines are real clean compared to a surface grinder and CNC mill that
I bought from a place that used oil for coolant. Gunk was over 1/4 inch
thick. For these units, I set them outside in the sun on a warm day. Then
sprayed down with engine degreaser, I call it the purple stuff. After a
couple coats had soaked in, I hit both machines with a 4000 psi 200 degree
hot pressure washer. Both units cleaned right up. As soon as I finished
cleaning, I opened as many covers as possible, sprayed in WD-40 to prevent
rusting. The whole procedure worked great.

Overkill for your machines, but at least you know degreaser will work on a
stubborn spot.

Karl