Total clean lathe

[FredM]

I am gonna strip down my lathe and clean everything cause I have never done it before AND it spent a few weeks at my "friends" house and has some staining, possibly had some rust that was wiped off.

With this chance I am wondering what is the best solvent to use that is not to volatile and smelly.

Also the lathe uses grease in areas I don;t think it is needed. Do I really need to coat the leadscrew in grease? My lathe (7x12) has no cover for the leadscrew and it basically just loads up with chips so fast the grease seems worthless. I would like to switch to 10-30 oil everywhere on the lathe I can.

Thanks!

 

[precisionworks]

A couple of products work well -- WD40, and Castrol Super Clean.

WD40 contains a high percentage of solvents & cuts light grease & oil well, especially if you help with a toothbrush or a fine wire brush, or with a fine Scotchbrite pad.

Castrol Super Clean is a strong degreaser, & you need to wear rubber gloves & face splash protection (like a grinding shield). Parts can be soaked, but watch aluminum parts as it attacks & etches aluminum. WalMart sells it, as well as some hardware stores.

 

[G1K]

Krud Kutter, found at home depot or lowes will work very well. Look at my new lathe thread and see the before and after pics. All degreaseing was done with tha krud kutter.


Ryan