# after a 2 year search i found the one



## 777mechanic (Sep 19, 2013)

bought my first bridgeport with a proto-trak , the head was rebuilt before i bought . the only problem is he used some sort of gooey cutting oil that all over the machine and it's a real bear to remove , so here's so pics . and if you have any sugestion on how to remove i'm all ears .


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## LEEQ (Sep 19, 2013)

Looks pretty nice! Very capable machine.  How are the ways? pretty like the machine in general? Chrome maybe?


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## Old Iron (Sep 19, 2013)

Nice looking mill and it doesn't look that dirty. You could get some of the purple cleaner it is strong and if you leave it on to long it will eat the paint.

I use Kerosene and a soft brush it should cut that stuff off.

Paul

You should be able to find it in WalMart,


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## LEEQ (Sep 19, 2013)

Have you tried simple green?


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## 777mechanic (Sep 20, 2013)

its a 84 model with chrome ways and still has scaping marks on ways . machine came from a small garage shop . today i used simple green , it worked slowly if i let it sit and soak for hours for hours .


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## LEEQ (Sep 20, 2013)

More than a little jealous.


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## Bradman (Sep 21, 2013)

I bought a lathe that had dried cutting fluid everywhere. I used Krud Kutter I bought at Home Depot. It still took alot of scrubbing but it really cut through the grimey stuff. Looks like a very nice mill.


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## twraska (Sep 21, 2013)

I had good luck with mineral spirits on my lathe.  I just put rags & old newspaper down on the floor and went to work with a parts cleaning brush.


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## talkingmonkey (Sep 21, 2013)

i have found carb cleaner to be excellent.  Even dissolves cosmoline like butter.


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## jeff_g1137 (Sep 21, 2013)

Hi
Nice GS 1200
jeff


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## RWL (Sep 21, 2013)

Over the years, I've tried solvents, Simple Green, and Purple cleaner.  Room temperature Easy Off oven cleaner beats all of them.  Spray it on and you can almost immediately wipe off old dried oil with paper towels.  If it's not coming off, leave it on 5 or 10 minutes and then wipe.  If it still has a coat, you can spritz it with full strength or near full strength purple cleaner, but try with just the oven cleaner first.  Like purple cleaner, if you leave it on too long it will soften the paint.  Work on small areas of a square foot at a time.  If it's more of a thick coat of gooey oil or grease, I often use a putty knife and scrape it thinner and then wipe with kerosene as my solvent.  If the kero doesn't handle it easily, it's oven cleaner time.


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## 777mechanic (Sep 28, 2013)

well have mill up and running , have made 2 projects and been cleaning in between playing . haven't tried easyoff yet . hopefully tomorrow i'll try it , been chasing a couple lathes around town but haven't found the one yet . really like the geared and oiled heads and carriage lathes the best so for . one my way from colorado to orlando to drop off woodworking tools to my sons house and hope i can find one on the way back . looking for a 14 x 40 minimum size .


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