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What is in your bag of tricks to take off the grime on a 80 year old machine?

Kevin T

Stainless
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
I went to my hardware store today to get a gallon of Kerosene and a bunch of brushes to attack the built up deposits on my new baby and no Kerosene for sale. Is that a thing? no longer available to gen pop? Also I saw a product called MEK substitute! NO MEK either? OK what do you guys use?

I got all the brass brushes I wanted and a few other brushes but then I figured I better ask the forum what works for you? I guess I will use a bunch of wood implements like chop sticks and skewers to do some "detail" work and get the gunk off but I have to ask, "what are your secret tools to clean an old machine?"
 
Get a good scraper. Maybe two. Good old solvent works very well (if you can get it). I also use brake cleaner to get what the solvent misses.
Start by scraping off everything you can. Then scrape again. Then liberally apply solvent with a good stiff brush and get to scrubbin. Then hit the stubborn areas with brake cleaner and a stiff brush. I’ve even used an angle grinder with a heavy duty poly brush on it to get through the big areas
 
I relate it to washing dishes. A good industrial soap or Dawn and HOT as you can stand HOT Water. Wear rubber gloves or your finger nails will curl up. , Use a putty knife tool, scotch brite. Also you can scrape off the paint using a carbide tipped blade and then repaint the machine. If it is cosmolene use lacquer thinner.
 
I was in an Ace Hardware a while ago and they had all that stuff people say you can't get ...

But if you are going to strip paint, my newest leetle friend is the $12 Harbor Freight heat gun. Bam ! Slam ! Zowee damn, works super and fast ! The paint comes off in sheets, no effort at all.
 
I can still buy kerosene at many local places near me, but im not in hawaii. It's my go to for cleaning up a machine. I invested in a few nice spray bottles and brushes of various types. A small putty knife, rags/paper towels and that's about all I use. I have also used diesel fuel in a pinch.
 
Heat gun is indeed good for paint stripping, if the base material can take it. On a machine tool, a heat gun might actually affect temper (800F output air temperature is basically cherry red) or more likely affect surface stresses. This won't matter on cast bases and columns, but might get a bit dicey on table, saddles and knees. Absolutely it will endanger exposed cables, hoses, belts, bearing seals, control buttons and bezels, liquid-tite tubing, plastic fittings, oil and grease on exposed control shafts, and exposed electric motor windings. I use mine to pinch seal PVC tubing, among other things. Takes about 1/2 second to get heavy wall PVC tube to melt, as it's well above the PVC welding temperature. On a wooden painted window sash and surround, the danger is scorching and setting little slivers on fire. Yes, electric hot air gun, not a blowtorch.

Can't speak to Hawaii, but in Oregon good hardware stores, farm/fleet supply stores, and many outdoor sporting goods stores sell kerosene by the gallon, and some places by the 5 gallon. Possibly even the big box home center stores, but I've never looked for it there. Some places you can even get a couple of different types of kerosene, generally "low odor" for use in lanterns or indoors and "normal" for burning in heaters/salamanders outdoors. In a pinch, you can use diesel or fuel oil in lieu of kerosene. Diesel and #2 fuel oil (which are basically the same) are heavier than kerosene and #1 fuel oil (which are basically the same). The lighter oils are more effective as solvents, but the heavier ones aren't useless. #2 fuel oil is cheaper (and usually dyed red) than diesel, because diesel has vehicle taxes paid on it, but fuel oil doesn't.
 
Thanks guys I am not giving up on finding kerosene yet but was shocked that my Ace didnt have it! I am in the mode of cleaning really good and not set on doing any painting so I am not stripping any paint now, just trying to get a clean starting place to make decisions. I am trying to get down to just machine and not machine with 75 years of crud on it!
 
I have found that sometimes a petroleum base product seems to harden some types of grime and have had better luck with a cleaner like 409 or a citrus based product.

Stuart
 
Spray nine and nylon brushes for paint, wd40 and steel wool/scotchbrite for metal. Navel jelly when the rust gets really deep, paint stripper and carbide tipped scrapers then paint thinner and steelwool/scotchbrite when your going down to the casting. A bench buffer set up with a scotchbrite pad on one side and a 6" brass wire wheel on the other is a god send for any parts light enough for you to hold! All in all, if your pulling the whole thing apart, a good pressure wash is a nice place to start.

Corey
 
I've had good luck with Spray and Wash stain remover and a brass brush on dried coolant that did not yield to various hydrocarbon solvents.
 
I use an industrial cleaner sold for cleaning truck tarpaulins. It is nothing but 409 concentrate. It is an emulsifier as opposed to a solvent. The best technique is to spray on a spot at a time, then use a finger nail brush and with circular motions scrub a bit. Then wipe the crud off with a paper towel. Sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't. Use on small spots so the solvent doesn't dry, then wipe off immediately. It will not harm paint in any way, but it certainly lifts dried old oil very well. Once a large area has been cleaned wash with a wet sponge to remove the cleaner. You will go through a lot of paper towels though. The cleaner I use is sold in industrial supply houses in large containers including barrels.
 
I start with 409 or Simple Green. If that doesn't cut it, I use Mineral Spirits. If that doesn't cut it I use Lacquer Thinner. If THAT doesn't cut it, I might try a stiff bristle wire wheel grinder, glass media or sand blasting (individual parts with critical areas protected), and if THAT doesn't work... It's not coming off. Often it's a combination of all of the above. Oil residue comes off differently than old paint or glue.
 
Believe it or not, some of the aeresol penetrating oils work REALLY good. And they leave a bit of oil film behind that helps stop flash rusting. Beyond that, mineral spirits is my go to.

I use #4/0 (0000) steel wool, but I warn people that it will leaving fine metal hairs on whatever your are cleaning, so don't use that if there's a risk it can work its way into a critical but inaccessible area.

For machines, I found it nearly essential to have a slim, flexible scraper. I actually used a small piece of a cheapy protractor. It's a great shape. Needs to have a good temper, but not come to a perfectly sharp edge anywhere. (I've also made similar tools with HSS but they are riskier as they will cut in easy). You can drag it across ways and other things without fear of scratching, but it will scrape off anything above the surface, including rust.
 
I relate it to washing dishes. A good industrial soap or Dawn and HOT as you can stand HOT Water. Wear rubber gloves or your finger nails will curl up. , Use a putty knife tool, scotch brite. Also you can scrape off the paint using a carbide tipped blade and then repaint the machine. If it is cosmolene use lacquer thinner.

I like PK liquid pink lotion soap.. you can fill a coffee can and it takes a very long time to show any rust..
With other liquid soaps I add two table spoons of washing soda, this so it dries with a little soda powder and again avoids rusting. I like to damp rag wipe a machine so nut getting so much liquid into the works. best to not wire brush hand wheel dials but fine file off dents and bugs to just make the original surface, then use a fine sand paper to just clean up.. IMHO.
Agree good to finish wipe with thinner or alcohol before painting..
I avoid spray can stuff..it is not good the breathe and it can push grit into the works.
 
Late to the game but I always prefer to use plastic putty knifes or spatulas to remove as much as I can before I ever get anything wet. Lately I have been using Greased Lightning and I really like it. It can soften paint and I feel it leaves a residue that I clean off right away with some soapy water and the put oil of some kind on the exposed surfaces.

Greased Lightning seems to work best when wet, that sounds strange but if you just put it on a rag it doesnt do as well but if you flood the surface and scrub it works great. After it starts to dry up you have to flood the surface again to get it working. Not sure what the chemistry is here but it seems to either oxidize or it changes pretty quickly as it is working. I use a plastic squirt bottle with a small orifice and just squirt it on like ketchup. It works ok if you pour it on a rag or towel but you have to keep the towel wet constantly or it doesnt seem to work as well.

Its not a miracle but it seems to work better than Simple Green or the Purple stuff on machine tool oils.

Charles
 








 
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