Best liquid for a lathe washdown??

[OldMachinist]

Another thing I find that works pretty good is the cheap ($2.00 a can) aerosol brake cleaner you can buy at auto-stores. With the little red tube you can pinpoint the spray. As the other guy said..wear safety glasses...I hate to say that as it looks like your a kid getting preached to which is not why I'm doing that. I rebuild machines for a living and clean machines a lot. I use a Safety Clean Parts washer for the parts I remove. I use the soap and water on the painted surfaces, wash it and wipe it dry. I do not slop it on the parts and let it rust, that's insulting to say that. I use a water soluble die spotting ink when I scrape ways and soap and water washes it off easy. Then I wipe dry it off and oil the ways.

You have to watch which brake cleaners you buy these days some them have changed the chemicals they use. If it contains methanol, toluene, acetone and heptane it will cause paint to blister. Look for the stuff with tetrachloroethylene if you don't want strip the paint.

 

[Richard King]

Odorless Mineral Spirits about $13 a gallon. Not completely odorless but not bad at all. It keeps my wife happy when my clothing has some on it. WD40 works good for minor cleanup but gets pricey for major cleaning jobs.

I have a friend who was badly burned using gasoline to clean some engine parts. He lost all fingers on one hand and two on the other. Many weeks in the hospital horrible pain and 25 years later he still has problems. He has no idea what caused it to ignite. He is one of the lucky ones that lived, most victims aren't around to tell the story.

Your right....We can't go around telling folks to use Gasoline....Many of us have opinions and one must think about what answer makes the safest and best sense. Care has to be taken even with Kerosene and brake cleaner. That is why a liquid soap and water makes sense as long as you don't let it get into the precision ways and parts. Heck if you want to find products that are dangerous, have you ever looked at what's in a woman's nail polish remover? Acetone...

 

[Tom Griffin]

Your right....We can't go around telling folks to use Gasoline....Many of us have opinions and one must think about what answer makes the safest and best sense. Care has to be taken even with Kerosene and brake cleaner. That is why a liquid soap and water makes sense as long as you don't let it get into the precision ways and parts. Heck if you want to find products that are dangerous, have you ever looked at what's in a woman's nail polish remover? Acetone...

For what it's worth Richard, acetone is one of the least toxic solvents around. In fact it is a naturally occurring compound within the body, a product of the breakdown of fat. As a runner, I've smelled and tasted it many times on my breath after a long run. Like anything else though, moderation is the key. I wouldn't recommend bathing in it. Also, it is extremely flammable, so a definite hazard in that respect.

Tom

 

[GK1918]

EDIT

Oh no I am not promoting the use of gas, Kerosene, cant find any. We just put another 5gal in the
parts washer, that stuff is new world wimp stuff. Even diesel prices are outragous. Last week the
most hated job; V8 heads. All day in the parts washer and still had to use gas in the 2nd washer
that we keep just for that to soak heads and small parts. If this was summer, different story then
its outside Tuff Stuff and a good water blast. Tuff Stuff is made local and may just be sold around
here but it beat simple green 10-1 great stuff. Uncle Bucks got it, this was definatly inhereted from
my father he was a gas/mopping floor freak. He hated speedy dry I do to.

 

[DanGraves]

Lot of good ideas here. Question. I was told a washdown was done with a gun that is air operated that has a hose that sucks liquid (from can or bucket) with an adjustable nozzle. Is this OK if done with out to much pressure?

 

[Ray C]

Might seem odd but when I rebuilt an old Atlas that was filthy beyond all belief, I made the best progress with rubbing alcohol.

I started-out using K1 kerosene mixed with light oil. Worked well but after a day of that, it gives headaches and the wife was complaining -and that adds to the headache. Anyhow, she's the one who suggested I use rubbing alcohol. Once I was done getting hollared at for stinking-up the house, I got some Isopropyl rubbing alcohol and I'll be darned if it didn't work-out just great! It happed to be the 80% alcohol kind -was on sale for 50c/bottle at the thrift store.

Alcohol is an outstanding degreaser... At 80% the flammability is quite low -and the health effects are known, predictable and minimal.

Ray

 

[Frank Fox]

Might seem odd but when I rebuilt an old Atlas that was filthy beyond all belief, I made the best progress with rubbing alcohol.

I started-out using K1 kerosene mixed with light oil. Worked well but after a day of that, it gives headaches and the wife was complaining -and that adds to the headache. Anyhow, she's the one who suggested I use rubbing alcohol. Once I was done getting hollared at for stinking-up the house, I got some Isopropyl rubbing alcohol and I'll be darned if it didn't work-out just great! It happed to be the 80% alcohol kind -was on sale for 50c/bottle at the thrift store.

Alcohol is an outstanding degreaser... At 80% the flammability is quite low -and the health effects are known, predictable and minimal.

Ray

You need to watch "Alcohol" as it will burn and one canot see the fire, ask any race car driver/fan. That is why tou see a squart if water sprayed on Indy cars after a fueling stop as thay pull away.
I am trying to figure out what to clean the gears on my SB-13 with? think I will spray the gears down with diesel and blow dry. I also need to clean my Monarch 9" juinor.

 

[Frank Fox]

Good ole bucket of gas and a paint brush, and I aint blown up yet. Once cleaned and painted they
get a wipe down gas rag and good to go. Of course this is a commercial shop not in a basement.
even floors mopped with gas two minutes its all dryed up. Not to be reminded by the fire nazis
you can put your cig. out in a bucket of gas, its sparks or ignition you got to worry about.

We use to use "line solvent" to clean aircraft engines in the Army also used for "prop wash" Both hard to find any more.
"line solvent" (for the young ones) is a can of avation gas drained in to a can from the fuel tank slump, sloped over the engines to get rid if any fire causing oil. Now that I know better and am a lot older, it is a wonder we dident blow or burn our selfs up.
Never had any fires or heard of any one else burning up them selfs or an airplane. Had an endless supply in the fuel tank on the airplane. And that stuff was just ready to light up.
Dont ever use any, gas for clean up!. save it for us old guy's, not a good idea!

 

[Ray C]

You're right, wood alcohol (aka. methyl alcohol) is flammable. I mentioned isopropyl at 80 to 90% (medicine cabinet rubbing alcohol). The other 10 to 20% is water. If you soak it in a rag it takes a moment to ignite with a match -and not very spectacularly at that. It's just a fraction more flammable than a shot of Bacardi 151.

I use it constantly for degreasing and the medical risks are zero given it's the most commonly used substance in a hospital

Ray

Trivia: Why do they call it "denatured alcohol" you ask? Those dumb and desperate enough to get drunk will sometimes drink wood alcohol. Chemicals are added to make it distinctly non-drinkable and thus, it is denatured.

You need to watch "Alcohol" as it will burn and one canot see the fire, ask any race car driver/fan. That is why tou see a squart if water sprayed on Indy cars after a fueling stop as thay pull away.
I am trying to figure out what to clean the gears on my SB-13 with? think I will spray the gears down with diesel and blow dry. I also need to clean my Monarch 9" juinor.

 

[OldMachinist]

Denatured alcohol is actually ethanol(grain alcohol) that has has chemicals added to make it undrinkable and poisonous. Wood alcohol is methanol and is poisonous without adding anything to it. Rubbing alcohol can be made from ethanol or isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol is made from propene a byproduct of oil refining.