Mini lathe,cleaning?

[srislash]

So my brother traded me this for a Losi XXT for his 7yr old.

What is the best treatment of this thing



Everything works but is a little gummy and surface rusted. Shall I disassemble? Clean with 600 grit with oil?

[properchopper]

works great

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/s_trmt_naval/overview/Loctite-Naval-Jelly-Rust-Dissolver.htm

[Darin Jordan]

Kerosene is what a lot of people use. It depends on what your overall goal is.

On my 1938 Craftsman/Atlas 618 lathe, which I inherited from my Great Grandfather, who bought it new, I wanted to retain all of the original paint and "patina", but get it clean and functional.

I used regular paint-thinner on it with some scotch-brite pads and some elbow grease and got everything clean. I disassembled whatever I had to to make sure it was pretty much spotless. I did NOT repaint anything, however. I wanted to leave it "used" looking.

I then lubed everything with 3-in-1 oil, grease, or whatever was appropriate for the area being lubricated.

You can see the results here: http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...ighlight=lathe

I wouldn't use sandpaper on much. Those sliding surfaces are ground and should remain as smooth and polished as possible. Scotch-Brite pads would be safer for those surfaces.

[srislash]

Ok, thanks Darin. I love the old stuff. Gonna take me a bit to clean it up but it will be handi.

And thank you Tony, I'll look into that stuff.
They have some nice Rust Dissolvers on the site. Thumbs up

[martin]

A word of warning is to keep rust dissolvers away from the aluminium castings, the only parts of this lathe that are steel is the 2 bed round bars, the 2 top slide round bars, tailstock spindle, headstock spindle with chuck & the toolpost holder + threaded lead screws.

[Basstronics]

WD40 and steel wool. I would tear it down and get it good. For the screws a good stiff wire brush. Pretty much any oil that has got a good consistency will do something.

[Fella1340]

I have owned a unimat and several other old lathes. I still have a 1930's southbound that turns as true as when new. Wd-40, solvents and degreasers would not be my first choice for cleaning. It can get into places like bearings and seals and once cleaned with they leave a barrier against the oil you will end up using to lubricate the ways and cross slide. Scotch Brite pads, the purple ones and the light oil you will use to lubricate the lathe will work very well at removing the surface rust. You will be left with a patina regardless once done. Checking the headstock for horizontal and vertical play is important before use as it will give you an idea of bearing shape. Look up unimat lathe forums and you'll find a pile of crazy lathe guys just like here with boats! It's a very popular lathe so you should be able to get a list of things to check and even tricks for tightening things up so you can run better tolerances. It's slow machining with one of them, depending on condition and tooling a 0.015" could be considered a hog cut. Lots of extras you can get for them to make turning easier. Sorry if I have stated the obvious and disagreed with howvto clean it. I love my old machines and just found cleaning with oil was best. It Sucks when you clean it all up, move the cross slide and find a pile of new rust because all the cleaners weren't removed. Even interchanging types of oils can have negative effects as some oils have detergents that break down other oils etc. Etc.The old lathe forums will guide you through bringingbit back to life. My southbound runs a leather belt that you swear will break and take you down. I still use it more than the minilathe I bought new to use in the basement. Sweet old machines will treat you right if you treat them right. Probably over the top advice given the simplicity of the lathe but just my own opinion. Enjoy it!