Short version of long story. I am going to attempt to bring my father-in-laws old Logan lathe back to usable condition and learn to operate same lathe, or at least that's the hope. The lathe was last run a year or two before his passing and that was 33 years ago. First task is to clean off the gunk and grime on the machine to see the actual condition. What are some of the suggestions you might have for what to clean the metal with first, I have heard WD40 is a good cleaner/oil, but not good for protection. What are some of your thoughts. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
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[Newbie] Just Joined And Brand New "no Realy" To This Hobby, How To Clean Up Old Lathe
- Thread starter John TV
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2010
- Messages
- 699
Welcome to the forum. This is a fine bunch of folks here and lots of knowledge!
WD-40, fine steel wool, and lots of elbow grease is a good start. Take it easy on the machine ways. The old Logan that I had did not have hardened ways.
Benny
The Orphanage Never Closes
WD-40, fine steel wool, and lots of elbow grease is a good start. Take it easy on the machine ways. The old Logan that I had did not have hardened ways.
Benny
The Orphanage Never Closes
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2016
- Messages
- 8
keep abrasives OFF the ways - the parts where metal slides on metal.
Scotchbrite is an abrasive. Packaged in a different form. It comes in different grades, from aggressive to fine.
Using very fine grade to polish what has already been cleaned, a bit of polish, is likely not going to make anything
go wrong with an old lathe.
For the painted areas, degreasers, as mentioned which are alkaline based are fine. You can find them in most of
the low price stores, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and the like here in the USA. That will take most of the grease off.
Keep in mind, IF you take the grease and oil OFF, you will need to PUT IT BACK where it belongs.
For tougher stuff I've used spray oven cleaner, which is Sodium Hydroxide, aka Lye.
SOME of the things sold, like Whitewall cleaner spray also contains Sodium Hydroxide.
For removing paint, the older paint, like on this lathe, gives up easy to the newer "green"/non-solvent cleaners.
Back in the day it was Methylene Chloride, which is NASTY stuff...
I'd say you're best to start with a simple cleaner/degreaser spray - Fantastic or 409 are mild but effective, and
see if you can get the gunk off. Graduate to tougher stuff.
For some things an acid will be good. That ranges from Vinegar + Salt + water bath to some bathroom cleaner products
that have acid in them to Muriatic and Sulfuric and Hydrochloric acids in stronger concentrations. The commercial rust removers
& converters are more pricey and may be best in some cases.
You can take the thing out, or apart and hose it down, you just have to get the parts that are important dry
and re-oiled before they rust...
Cosmetics are somewhat secondary to actually running properly, and making sure it is worth doing a
restoration and/or painting...
Department of free advice.
Post a picture and it's easier to see what needs to be done?
Scotchbrite is an abrasive. Packaged in a different form. It comes in different grades, from aggressive to fine.
Using very fine grade to polish what has already been cleaned, a bit of polish, is likely not going to make anything
go wrong with an old lathe.
For the painted areas, degreasers, as mentioned which are alkaline based are fine. You can find them in most of
the low price stores, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and the like here in the USA. That will take most of the grease off.
Keep in mind, IF you take the grease and oil OFF, you will need to PUT IT BACK where it belongs.
For tougher stuff I've used spray oven cleaner, which is Sodium Hydroxide, aka Lye.
SOME of the things sold, like Whitewall cleaner spray also contains Sodium Hydroxide.
For removing paint, the older paint, like on this lathe, gives up easy to the newer "green"/non-solvent cleaners.
Back in the day it was Methylene Chloride, which is NASTY stuff...
I'd say you're best to start with a simple cleaner/degreaser spray - Fantastic or 409 are mild but effective, and
see if you can get the gunk off. Graduate to tougher stuff.
For some things an acid will be good. That ranges from Vinegar + Salt + water bath to some bathroom cleaner products
that have acid in them to Muriatic and Sulfuric and Hydrochloric acids in stronger concentrations. The commercial rust removers
& converters are more pricey and may be best in some cases.
You can take the thing out, or apart and hose it down, you just have to get the parts that are important dry
and re-oiled before they rust...
Cosmetics are somewhat secondary to actually running properly, and making sure it is worth doing a
restoration and/or painting...
Department of free advice.
Post a picture and it's easier to see what needs to be done?
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2011
- Messages
- 8,031
I'd suggest mineral spirits rather than WD. Cheaper. It will degrease if you use clean spirits, so be sure and re-oil bare metal.
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2016
- Messages
- 8
fwiw, the blue stuff used in Shor's Atlas dissasembly (btw I also have that same lathe, it was my Grandfathers! Now replaced by a Clausing 5913) IF it is
the stuff sold for kitchen use, and is NOT the "heavy duty" sold for the same purpose, that is these are soft to the fingers when rubbed, then they
will be fine for the use shown. Got to be judicious and know your abrasives/steel wools, etc...
the stuff sold for kitchen use, and is NOT the "heavy duty" sold for the same purpose, that is these are soft to the fingers when rubbed, then they
will be fine for the use shown. Got to be judicious and know your abrasives/steel wools, etc...
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2013
- Messages
- 731
Yes, the blue stuff I used is the kitchen type which is nothing more than plastic which will not even scratch your non-stick pans.
Thank you Benny, I look forward to starting the process. Do you have thoughts, or favorite products, on what to coat the metal with for future protection. Not sure yet how much actual rust I will run into, do you have any thoughts on either electrolysis or some "soak" to remove some of the corrosion?