Cleaning Oil And Grime From Used Machinery

[steve323]

Last thinner I got in this state looked like milk

That's what happens in California. Mineral spirits and most other solvents have been reformulated to be low VOC. You can probably still buy the real stuff out of state.

Steve

 

[dlane]

Paint too
And the list could go on , and on

 

[lawlessman]

Several years ago in Home Machinist, the guy who used to run the CNC clinic out in Michigan wrote about what he used for cleaning up for reconditioning. He swore it was so good you just paint it on, wait 24 hours and hose it off. Of course, he had a facility where he could do that. I will go back thru some of the old HMs that I saved and see if I can find the formula. It was quite a mix, including something called "Cabosil". I think he said it lifted off stains so well, sometimes he didn't need to repaint the machine.

 

[John Hasler]

+1 on that siphon sprayer. It makes a little Thinner go a long way.

Or do what we did in Viet Nam to clean caked-on road oil off trucks: fill a pump-type fire extinguiser with MEK. Or maybe not. That extinguisher sat next to the back door of the shop, full of MEK all the time. Years later it occured to me that that may not have been a clever thing to do.

It did get that caked-on oil off, though.

 

[hman]

Or do what we did in Viet Nam to clean caked-on road oil off trucks: fill a pump-type fire extinguiser with MEK. Or maybe not. That extinguisher sat next to the back door of the shop, full of MEK all the time.

Just gotta hope you didn't grab it by mistake to fight a fire!

 

[rick9345]

No chemical or grit cleanup, larger metro areas have portable on site rigs neighbours and EPA police thank you, can be done in a basement no flammables, no mess, no smells, wife won't even know. Price of chemicals about the same as CO2 blasting. Worked for me on big lathe,even on rusted ways,clean and shiny. Alum castings look like fresh out of mold. My opinion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry-ice_blasting

http://www.coldjet.com/en/information/what-is-dry-ice-blasting.php

 

[Scruffy]

Steam cleaner, pressure washer , and what ever liquid that will make you dizzy I have around. Just kidding
Thanks ron