lathe clean up

[Tommyf]

Hi everyone,
A mate of mine has given me an old myford super7 lathe that he has had for years in his garage.
I managed to get it home (couldn't believe how heavy it is) and back on its base but as you can see from the pictures, as it hasn't been used for many years there is some surface rust and the hand wheels feel a bit stiff to turn ( I have never used one before perhaps that's how they are meant to be ?).
Anyway has anyone got any suggestions on how to give it a clean / lube up. I was thinking of spraying some red diesel on the rusty parts and the handles and see if that helps.

Many thanks in advance.
Tom

 

[brightspark]

Hi everyone,
A mate of mine has given me an old myford super7 lathe that he has had for years in his garage.
I managed to get it home (couldn't believe how heavy it is) and back on its base but as you can see from the pictures, as it hasn't been used for many years there is some surface rust and the hand wheels feel a bit stiff to turn ( I have never used one before perhaps that's how they are meant to be ?).
Anyway has anyone got any suggestions on how to give it a clean / lube up. I was thinking of spraying some red diesel on the rusty parts and the handles and see if that helps.

Many thanks in advance.
TomView attachment 41893View attachment 41894

wd 40 and a few scotchpads is a good start take toolpost off and wire brush and emery cloth. u can use an engineers scraper to take the rust off the bed and give it a light going over. nice find ,did u get the chucks and faceplate with it

 

[MattF]

wd 40 and a few scotchpads is a good start

Pretty similar to how I do it. Those green pan scourers and paraffin are my method.

 

[Tommyf]

Thanks very much, I have a box full of different chucks, plates and cutters etc, they are a bit rusty to so I shall do the same with them as well .
Do you think it is worth repainting at some stage?

 

[MattF]

Depends. If the paint and the surface underneath is sound and pretty much rust free, then I'd say just clean it and go with it as is. The paint coverage seems fairly complete. End of the day though, it's completely upto you. You're the one who'll have to look at it daily, so just go with whatever makes you happy.

 

[Keith 66]

I use red scotchbrite & parrafin, penetrating oil to free things up. If its stood for a very long time it is probably best to dismantle the carriage & cross slide assembly to make sure no crap is left under them from the cleaning. Assemble everything with a good light oil machine mart hydraulic oil will do fine.
With the norton box on it reversing switch & stand that is a damm good gift you got there especially if its got all its tooling.

 

[RonA]

Hi everyone,
A mate of mine has given me an old myford super7 lathe that he has had for years in his garage.
I managed to get it home (couldn't believe how heavy it is) and back on its base but as you can see from the pictures, as it hasn't been used for many years there is some surface rust and the hand wheels feel a bit stiff to turn ( I have never used one before perhaps that's how they are meant to be ?).
Anyway has anyone got any suggestions on how to give it a clean / lube up. I was thinking of spraying some red diesel on the rusty parts and the handles and see if that helps.

Many thanks in advance.
TomView attachment 41893View attachment 41894

I have an identical lathe & can inform you the hand wheels should not be hard to turn but neither should they be very loose, I think as well as the sound clean up advice given above some lubrication on the cross slide/ longitudinal lead screws is the order of the day.
When you get it fully up & running, have a look at Chronos Engineering who sell a nice line in Myford sized ceramic tipped cutting tools which are far superior to the HSS tools normally supplied for Myfords.

RonA

 

[nodeward]

take it to bits, go to tesco and buy about 10 litres or so of vinegar(cheap as possible), fill up a big container (i use one of those big storage containers) leave all the bits in there for a day or so to soak then take all the bits out and wipe off all the vinegar, rust will be gone. if not clean of the vinegar and dirt off then re soak for another day.

i am doing this with a small lathe i picked up recently, forgot how well it worked. mine had probably been sitting about 20 years longer than yours, the slides no longer moved they were so rusted and now it looks pretty much brand new (well its not rusty any way)

obviously no good on big bits like the bed (unless you have a paddling pool full of vinegar) but good on small stuff and requires no elbow grease. just made sure you get all the vinegar off, i usually wipre all the bit over with white spirit.

 

[Pete.]

I saw a tip by someone to use a dull flat carbide scraper and I've done that a couple of times now, as suggested by Brightspark above. It shaves off the rust leaving a nice clean, and un-damaged way surface. For non-way surfaces I use a soft wire wheel on my 8" bench grinder. brings everything up really nice, even threaded parts look almost like new.

 

[scott0031]

I saw a tip by someone to use a dull flat carbide scraper and I've done that a couple of times now, as suggested by Brightspark above. It shaves off the rust leaving a nice clean, and un-damaged way surface. For non-way surfaces I use a soft wire wheel on my 8" bench grinder. brings everything up really nice, even threaded parts look almost like new.

I agree with the scraper method far more efficient on heavier rust than scotchbright, As you say Pete it shaves it off leaving a lot less work for using scotchbright. I use old broken hack saw blades either ground like a very shallow chisel or I or use it with each end of the blade in each hand, put a slight bow in it and use it like you would a spoke shave.

End of the day it all works, just a matter of which is more efficient and less time consuming for you.


Kind regards,


Scott

 

[doubleboost]

That will be a very nice lathe once you get it cleaned up
The gear box is a great feature

 

[Tommyf]

Thanks for all your replies,
Once I get it cleaned up and lubricated I'll be back asking how to use it properly !!
Many thanks again,
Tom

 

[Pete.]

Where in E Sussex are you Tommy? I'm in North Kent, don't mind a ride out to show you some basic stuff for tea & biscuits.

 

[Tommyf]

Thats very nice of you Pete , sorry for the late reply been offline with broadband problems for a while .
When I get it tidied up I'll send you a message , cheers.

 

[Chook]

That will be the best value you could ever spend on tea and biscuits ever.

Some first hand demonstration will be well worthwhile.