The work begins...my JTM-4VS purchase

[Hozzie]

I have been looking for an upgrade to my benchtop mill for a bit and found a JTM-4VS a couple of weeks ago that looked great, but after driving two hours to go hopefully buy it, it had a lot more wear than I had hoped based on its appearance overall. That story is on another thread (that I put in the wrong place I now realized...oops) so I won't bore with details. Only reason I mention it here is it was really nice looking machine as far as paint not being beat up, etc.

Seems like around here things are either totally beat up or you just don't see them for sale a lot, but low and behold another JTM-4VS popped up on CL yesterday. I went and looked at it today and decided to buy it. Going to pick it up tomorrow. What's funny is that this one looks well used from the main pictures, but after inspection, it actually has much less wear than the great looking one I looked at two weeks ago. Below is a couple of pics.

They said they used it with coolant which basically just made a mess of it on the exterior. They took it out of service in 2018 and it has been sitting in the way since then and the owner just wanted it out of the way. The ways look to be in good condition, just has a lot of dried coolant/lube on it from the looks of it.

It has X and Y Powerfeeds, a Pneumatic Drawbar, DRO (older, but seems to work), includes the 6" Kurt vice and has some other tooling they are throwing in. Mostly a mix of collets and what looks to be a cheap drill chuck, but hey, it's something. They even have new way covers they are giving me. Everything functions and works as one would expect. The spindle is quiet and runs smooth. Only about .010 backlash on the X which is pretty good compared to others I have looked at. Priced at $2750 I thought it was a pretty decent deal. Going to pick it up tomorrow. He also had a used 7x12 Jet Bandsaw that functions great I am buying for $350. All in all, I think I did ok.

I have been looking up cleaning threads to see what my options are. I don't like the idea of power washing, but some good chemicals to break up the grease and a hose will hopefully be enough to make it look a bit nicer. Anyway, excited to get it home and start the cleanup process. Ordering the VFD tonight.

I will post some pics when I get it cleaned up and know if I have a gem or a turd

 

[mmcmdl]

You'll love the upgrade !

 

[Hozzie]

Well, got it home without any excitement (thank goodness). It looks like it is going to clean up fairly easily. Some Formula 409 seemed to do a good job of cutting through the light oil on the head and I think with some brushing will take care of most of it. I think I will just do it little by little and avoid the hose.

While loading it, they said "hey, we have this other vice, you want it?" I figured even if I don't what can it hurt, throw it on the trailer. Well, it's a doozy. Most likely nothing I will ever use as it is too big and heavy for me to be lugging up and down, but it is a Wilton 8" with Swivel based. Made in Taiwan. Needs clean up, but a quick search show the vice is fairly expensive. May sell it off at some point, but always fun to get a nice freebie.

Now for a nap after the move

 

[Firstram]

Nice score. They gave you that 8" Wilton because they didn't want to lift it either!

 

[Hozzie]

Seems like most of the time when I clean up something after I think I got a deal I am left wondering if I really got a deal. In this case, I am really pleased with the outcome. Other than where coolant/oil softened the paint on the base, this thing is in really good shape. It's nice to not have to break down a complete machine and restore it for once. I may throw a coat of enamel on the base, but it isn't hurting anything as it is.

If this comes up in a cleaning thread search at some point, I know Mineral Spirits is often recommended, but it didn't do crap on this. It would have taken me forever. Formula 409 worked great though and I highly recommend it. I sprayed it on and you could see immediately the oil was dissolving and running down. With a heavy nylon brush it really was easy to take the majority of the grime off. Anything stubborn I just used a rag in soapy water with the F409. A rinse with water and it was really pretty painless. I didn't hurt the paint at all. I used air to blow it off good, then a coat of WD-40 on all metal sufaces, then blew the excess of that off as well. It is sitting in the sun right now in a nice breeze so it should dry out pretty well. I did use a shop vac to suck out the sump area so it can dry as well.

All in all, not a bad or super long process. Only took me a couple of hours taking my time.

Before (I had already test cleaned the top is the only reason it looks somewhat ok in this photo)

After cleaning (Now the real work of moving it to where it goes starts).