Cleaning Machinery

[MrForbes]

the one process that will remove all the grease (and the paint too), but requires completey disassembly of the machine, is the a "jet washer" at an automotive machine shop.

I kind of like the patina on my 60 year old south bend lathe...scrubbing it half clean with mineral spirits is good enough for me. This solvent requires good ventilation, and the soiled rags are flammable, but it's not quite as bad as kerosene, and not nearly as bad as lacquer thinner. And it won't get all of the grease off, just the top layer, so the lathe will still look old when you're done cleaning it up.

have you searched the web for info about this? there's at least one South Bend Lathe forum out there.

[Gabe]

What you might try is carburator choke cleaner. It is a solvent spray that removes hardened grease and other gunk. Also very good for cleaning tools. I used it to clean my drill press, as well as my woodworking tools. Find it at any store in the automotive section.

[DonRotolo]

I was about to suggest kerosene, but Dave covered it well. The elbow grease part is important - you can spend a week of 8 hour days and still not really have ot *clean*. You might consider taking some of the parts off the machine for cleaning - it sounds like you know what you're doing.

As you suggest, a clean machine will last a lot longer, and work better, too. The most important parts of the lathe are the ones that slide across each other - the bed ways, screws and nuts, etc. - THOSE need to be clean enough to eat off (if you don't mind some oil...).

Grease is not what a lathe wants - use 10 or 20 weight non-detergent oil. An auto parts store would sell that. Coat everything that isn't painted with a light coat.

If you need to rig up some ventilation, do it. Fans and flexible ducting is a workable solution - a good fan blowing air through 25' of 12" flexi-duct (Home Deopt) bringing fresh air into the room will be enough, and you won't have much of a fire risk from the fan motor (sparks!) and solvent fumes.

WEAR GLOVES while you do this - Nitrile are the best. Although brief contact likely won't kill you, no contact is always preferable. Also, don't forget your safety goggles - grease in the eyes hurts.

Wish I had that problem. My 6" Atlas is already clean...

Don

[lukevanoort]

I don't know how bad your lathe is, but I have yet to run across something I can't clean with good 'ol isopropanol. If you can find a shop in your area with one of those nifty ultrasonic cleaning devices, it'd probably take care of the grime in no time. (At some point I'd like to try to build one of those, but it is probably a bit hard and unlikely that I will)

[Jay H 237]

Two other cleaners I could suggest that don't have heavy fumes are Simple Green and Power Disolve Dawn.

I've used both of these in my 20 gallon parts washer when cleaning car parts of grease and oil (similar to your situation) with success.

They are available in spray bottles that will work well for your situation and also 1 gallon containers like I use. The Power Disolve Dawn has been known to attack some paints if left on for some time, I found out the hard way about this.