Before I go any further, let me address what I am doing to this lathe. I am NOT restoring this lathe. The ways and all the wearing surfaces are what they are and I will make no attempt to bring them back to new.
I AM going to disassemble this lathe as far as I have to, to insure that all the mechanical parts are sound, cleaned, well lubricated, and that the lathe will function as designed. I will clean and lubricate everything and give the machine a new coat of paint. I refer to the whole process as "Freshening Up"
Now that you know what I am actually doing, let me tell you what I got done in the last few days.
The weekend had a full social calendar of events but I did manage to sneak a few hours here and there and continue scraping and sanding. With just a very small area remaining to be scraped, all of the green paint is gone. I got a coat of primer on the outside of the bed. I scored a Dynabrade D/A sander that hooks up to a vacuum that catches 95% of the dust it creates and it works great. The only paper I have for it is 180 grit so I still have to do a fair amount of hand sanding but the D/A does a great job of getting it ready for primer.
I pulled off the end covers and all the access covers. I have taken anything that will fit to work with me and put in our big blast cabinet and sand blasted them. I have about 2 more days of sanding and then I will be ready to prime the rest of the machine. I sometimes have to reel myself in and remember that this is just a machine tool and not a show car that will be judged on the concours. I'm really eager to start tearing into the saddle and apron but I have to stay focused on getting the bulk of the machine cleaned and painted first, I hope to have it done by the end of next weekend.
