Cleaning of old lathe

Whatever you use, apply it, walk away for 10 minutes to allow it to soak in (Grab a tea/coffee/Irish Coffee/beer/whisky et-al), then try with a stiff bristle brush to see how much muck comes away.

It may be a case of multiple applications and soakings to get rid of everything you can but it will never be 100% unless you strip the lathe down and clean each part separately and even then, it may never be 100% clean, no lathe ever is once it has been used a few times, let alone when it has been left for a long time.
 
Mineral spirits applied with a brush or rag should more than do the job. I've used it on several machines before bringing them into the shop.

The toughest one I've ever done was getting the road tar off our 34' motorhome. When it was about 3 months old, we took it on a 2-month trip to Alaska. Like here in Wisconsin, they only have 2 seasons, winter and road construction. As it happened about 80% of the roads we traveled on were either being paved for the first time or getting repaved.

By the time we got home it was covered front to back top to bottom with not only spots, but literally gobs of tar. I started with the roof and worked my way down. I went through 3 gallons of mineral spirits and about a dozen boxes of shop towels. The job took about 10 days working 8 to 10 hours a day.

The end result was perfect. No scratches or chips except the dozen or so on the windshield. That was in 2013. I've had to do a couple touchups after going through extensive road construction since then, but thankfully nothing quite as bad.

Just keep in mind it's not like in the movie Karate Kid where he goes through the wax on, wax off motions. It involves a bit more elbow grease, and a lot more patience.
 
Buetaler said:
Many thanks for your suggestions.

I will try with WD40, mineral spirits, some brushes and my lack of patience.
The lathe hasn't been used for 45 years, so it's some hard hardened oil that needs to be removed, and there isn't much room to get around the corners.
If I lose patience, I'll probably try to soak it in mineral spirits and then try to rinse it off with the pressure washer.
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1) Unless you’ve completely disassembled the bed from the carriage & head, pressure washing will (not may) result in water getting where you don’t want it.

2) From the photos, the bed really isn’t in bad shape.

3) Additional brush suggestions:

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Just remember that pressure washing can promote total flash rusting everywhere. Especially places you can't see. You might be able to get away with it if you use compressed air to blow off the water immediately.

You would be far better off to be patient and use mineral spirits or wd40 and a toothbrush. The machine has been unused for 45 years, what's a weekend for clean up? Do it right - once. Don't ruin your machine because you are impatient!
 
Thank you for your help
I have found a solution with some odorless biodegradable alkaline degreaser.
It works perfectly, so now there is progress and hope ahead.
The lathe will be completely disassembled and now that I've freed the bed ways, it's easier to clean them.


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I've had very good luck with ZEP floor stripper, buy it at the big box store by the gallon. Just don't let it soak too long; it can damage some paints.
 
ChazzC said:
Something like this:
View attachment 507266

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I looked at that HF sprayer when this thread originally came up. One of the reviews says it puts out a pretty fine spray pattern that doesn't work well for blasting away gunk. Maybe the nozzle on that sprayer could be altered? It did make me start to think about would would be a good way to produce a pressurized stream of mineral spirits with some blasting power... like a can of WD40.
 
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