Middle of rebuild - 3 questions

[kf4zht]

In the middle of a clean, paint and rewick of my new to me Heavy 10l. Tailstock is done, and most of the cross slide and compound are done. Just got the apron and saddle off. I want to have the saddle up back together before starting on the apron so I have a clean work area before I start. So far the only missing piece is the compound jib adjust screw, I may have to make a new one.

I have found 3 questions in my rebuild so far.
1. What is a safe way to clean the ways? I was thinking wd40 and 000 or 0000 steel wool, but I know this isn't a hardened bed
2. The nut behind the star wheel clutch - should it be tightened against the apron or the star? Mine is loose and the rebuild book is pretty much based around the lever type
3. Should have the rest of the wiring supplies soon. I am assuming these old motors have a cover/box for the connection to the motor leads. Any trick to wiring it up without removing the motor?

Thanks for any assistance. So far it's not been too bad. Seems the last owner liked to paint far more than machine, so most of the work has been removing 5+ layers of paint.

 

[woodtickgreg]

You are going to get many answers on how to clean the ways. I say to try many things. Mine had a pretty good layer of gunk and some paint overspray so I started with just a plain razor blade to scrape off the first layer of crud. Then wd40 and a scotch bride pad, I even used some 600 grit sand paper with oil on some tough spots with very light pressure. That was really just a polish.
Nut should be tightened against the apron.
You may need to pull the motor so you can see the connections to verify where each one is, otherwise you are just guessing where the wires are going. I also wanted to inspect the wires for wear and the connections.

 

[Glenn Brooks]

Yep, lots of opinions on this... Personally I gave up on WD 40 for cleaning, as it is expensive and not much volume in their spray cans. Also isn't as good a solvent as plain old diesel (again, personal opinion). In stead I prefer to keep around a small pump bottle of diesel. A gallon goes a long way, and cuts just about all kinds of lube, grease and grime you will run into around a machine shop. Also I use diesel to flush the surface clean, after scrubbing, as I wipe it down with shop towels.

Sometimes will use scotch brite pads to loosen up rust or caked on dried out oil. As others said above, 300-600 grit paper good sometimes, but use very sparingly as this reduces the surface.

Glenn

 

[kf4zht]

As an update: the ways came clean without too much fuss. They weren't that dirty, whoever had this lathe last didn't let it get too nasty. It does seem they had a policy of painting even of they didn't use it, there were 5-6 layers of paint, and items painted out that wouldn't have lasted with any use

Glad I pulled the motor. Bearings feel good and the windings all ohm out the same but the old cloth wrapped insulation was starting to fray badly on a few and the ID tags were barely hanging on. Pulled the back case off and going to put heat shrink over the wires and retag them all. Also need to get new motor to midshaft v belts.