Old lathe cleaning

Janderso said:
Kerosene or diesel. Diesel is cheaper in California.
A gallon of mineral spirits is over $10.
Can't buy most of the good stuff.
Simple green full strength is strong stuff. It will take paint off.

Have fun.
Click to expand...
I found that out the hard way, not to use it in the newer cars.
I cleaned the labeling off some switches
 
"N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone is an agent that causes the production of physical defects in the developing embryo.[7] It also is a reproductive toxin, a chemical that is toxic to the reproductive system, including defects in the progeny and injury to male or female reproductive function. Reproductive toxicity includes developmental effects.[7] The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, through the skin and by ingestion. When people are exposed to it, rapid, irregular respiration, shortness of breath, decreased pain reflex, and slight bloody nasal secretion are possible.[7] Inhalation can result in headaches and exposure on skin can result in redness and pain. When ingested it will cause a burning sensation in the throat and chest. It also can cause an acute solvent syndrome." Readily absorbed via skin or breathing!

I have tried lots of stuff, some worked better on certain things than others. Simple green, Dawn, WD40, alcohol, diesel all work to greater or lesser degrees and none seem terribly toxic. Ultrasonic cleaning small parts gets into the places hard to clean by hand. Prepping for painting requires getting rid of all the remnants of the cleaning agents. Acetone & xylene are pretty strong solvents and very flammable. Neither is good for the body, they are often found in lacquer thinner.
Has anyone used ethyl acetate for cleaning? Seems pretty safe.
 
Larry$ said:
Has anyone used ethyl acetate for cleaning?
Click to expand...

Not sure on that..

Prefer WD40 / Industrial degreaser / paraffin / Mix of Degreaser, parrafin, WD40 has worked for me too.

For heavy deposits, a soak in Celly Thinner or D Thinner does the job for me or a rag soaked with the stuff on flat/vertical surfaces. Cleaned many a part as well as bearings like that before now.

Also used a panel degreaser before now which works ok on light stuff, but nothing too heavy.
 
Pevehouse said:
Anything sodium hydroxide based,lol
Click to expand...
Simple Green has sodium hydroxide in it, but it is not sodium hydroxide based (ignore the pun in there). The sodium hydroxide is a stabilizer, activator, and preservative. It is necessary to keep protons off the active sites of butoxyethanol, which is the active ingredient, and is inerted by acidity.

Janderso said:
Kerosene or diesel. Diesel is cheaper in California.
A gallon of mineral spirits is over $10.
Click to expand...
Fuels are petroleum garbage fit only for burning. Solvents are refined products made to do work. Take your pick!

Larry$ said:
"N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone is an agent that causes the production of physical defects in the developing embryo.[7] It also is a reproductive toxin, a chemical that is toxic to the reproductive system, including defects in the progeny and injury to male or female reproductive function. Reproductive toxicity includes developmental effects.[7] The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, through the skin and by ingestion. When people are exposed to it, rapid, irregular respiration, shortness of breath, decreased pain reflex, and slight bloody nasal secretion are possible.[7] Inhalation can result in headaches and exposure on skin can result in redness and pain. When ingested it will cause a burning sensation in the throat and chest. It also can cause an acute solvent syndrome." Readily absorbed via skin or breathing!
Click to expand...
Larry, you're not pregnant, are you? Just kidding, but really. Joking, but seriously... The NMP is a paint remover, not a detergent. I meant its use for stripping paint. It don't matter if a product is made from oranges or soybeans, if it strips paint well enough to sell in a bottle, it's toxic. The question then is, how toxic is it? All substances are poisons; the poison is in the dose (Paracelsus). I've said before the simple chemicals are the most hazardous, and that is true for NMP. NMP is a simple and strong nucleophile, just look at the electron-rich region betwixt the tert-amine and the ketone. That screams polymer-breaker, at least to the learned chemist. It's hugely more powerful than the craptastic methanol-based stuff Jasco's been selling since they took methylene chloride away, which is way more toxic- it was one of the first OSHA expanded standards, nasty stuff- but it worked. A little household use is a lot different from being the guy whose job it was to spray it on aircraft with a garden hose 40 hours a week. And a quart here or there in the driveway or in the gravel by the shop is broken down by the sun. It might kill the weeds, but it won't end up in your well or drainage ditch due to the scale of the operation- we're not talking about 55 gallon drums or railcar tankers. So while some of the stuff has potential for harming health and environment, knowing what that potential is and what the scale of your use is provides the key to keeping things in perspective.
 
Also, the vapor pressure of NMP is ~100x lower than water at room temp, meaning you won't be able to inhale it any more than you can inhale hydraulic oil due to evaporation. It needs to be a mist to inhale, which is probably why it's sold as a brush-on product instead of in a rattle can.
 
WD40 and scrub scrub . Tough spots use brass brush. Then wash rinse off with mineral spirits. Parts that are just smudged with grease like covers just wash with Green cleaner. Al.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top