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Should I removed the table to clean new to me mill?

Bigtalljv

Plastic
Joined
Apr 7, 2018
Hi,

So I have my new to me Lagun FTV-1. During setup and install I have noticed there are chips everywhere on the underside of the table. Me being the kind of person that thinks everything should be spotless clean I was thinking about removing the table to clean everything up. I did a little reading and have an engine hoist to hold it but any major maintenance like this always poses risks of breaking things, especially for newbies like me. So, worth the risk and effort or just get in there as best I can and clean in place?

As a plan B is there any cleaning product safe to use on the assembled mill? The old oil is gummy and sticky. I haven’t really used the mill yet, I just got the way lube and then the work week showed up and took all my play time.

Thanks
Jason
 
Its a TOOL, its not a piece of Art..

Me being the kind of person that thinks everything should be spotless clean

Well then, you aren't going to like making stuff.. When "making stuff" things get dirty, and YOU get
dirty..

A mill is a TOOL, you maintain it, and you run it, and when it wears out, you get another one.

What are you going to do in 3 weeks when there are more chips under the table?
 
while it is a tool, and it will get chips all over it, since you bought it used, it is a good idea to inspect and clean everything, but if there are no obvious problems with table movement or signs of damage on the ways (score marks, deep scratches, excessive wear, etc), then major disassembly is not necessary.

What you should do is at least remove the way wipers, clean the wipers and everything behind them, loosen up gibs and oil the ways, check to see if the oil is getting to all the sliding surfaces (and continue to pump the oil till you see clean oil squeeze out, if there is a lot of gunk coming out, dark gray oil indicating metal particles, then table disassembly and major cleaning might be a good idea), once you're sure every way surface gets fresh oil, put the wipers back on, adjust the gibs to your liking and condition of the ways and proceed to making chips. Same stuff regarding feed screws, X axis can usually be accessed right away, clean it, inspect for wear/damage, check if the oil delivery is working and back to making chips again.

If there are no way covers, bellows on the machine, just wipers, then it might be a good idea to install them, it will prolong the life of the machine, if the regular maintenance is carried out like it should.
 
and then the work week showed up and took all my play time.

Surely that can happen again, eh?

Not a good plan to start fixing what ain't yet proven to be broken.

Find a way - manual or power-assisted - to pump oil or a lighter solvent'ish oil (ATF & Kerosene 50/50 mayhap AND NOT "brake cleaner") to flush out what can BE flushed out.

Give it fresh lube. Set up a job and see how it runs.

Odds are, it was making chips the day before it was last shut down and will not be aware it has any excuse to not do so again the same the day you fire it back up after its holiday.

Absent rust or a fire, most machines are kinda repetitious dumb that way.

:)
 
Thanks all. I’ll skip createing headaches. No signs of anything wrong, just been sitting a while. Oiler looks good, no grease in there, movement is fine. It’s a toy machine at home so no production to worry about. I got no issue getting greasy and dirty, I use my machine tools but dont want to abuse them.

Jason
 
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