Ultrasonic Cleaning

[Martin-Sy]

I'm in the process of stripping down the apron of my lathe (a CVA). It's very mucky in there!

Everything seems to be covered in brown sludge....at least it doesn't smell like C**P!
I will be taking all the internals out to clean.
Is this something an ultrasonic jobby would do or am I better off with wire brushes and harry-flynn?

If U/S is the way to go, any recommendations?

 

[zzr1200]

I'd start personally with a soak in/with degreaser, then blast it with a steam cleaner , strip it, wire brush (nylon/brass?) and then ultra sonic clean if needed.

hth.....

 

[voipio]

The "gunk" is probably the soap thickener residue from grease, where the oil in the grease has evaporated/wicked away over time. Is the clean up for cosmetic reasons? If so, some paraffin and a brush. Else, just scrape the "gunk" off with a screwdriver whilst rotating the gears by hand, and apply some more lubricant. Recommended grades depend on the manufacturer to some extent. Some recommend grease. Gearbox oils should have the required properties, else some motor oil. Any lubricant is better than no lubricant. Also, see here:

Machine Oil & Lubricants | Headstock, Gearbox, Coolant, Anti-Rust Oils

Lubricants & Coolant System - Oil, anti rust & corrosion treatment, ToolGuard, metalworking protection, buy from Warco

www.warco.co.uk

 

[Kram]

Soak in a tub of diesel for a day, no need for ultrasonic on that, it will look like new in couple hours.

 

[frank horton]

what Kram said then degreaser.....
Screwfix's own brand works well and a good price or was.....

 

[Brad93]

Ultrasonic doesn't remove thick grease great because it just soaks up the cavitation. Degreaser and a jet wash is the way to go

 

[Dilkris]

It all depends what equipment you have got access to - me, I don't have much equipment but first I would use a degreaser, (paraffin or diesel), applied by brush, followed by pressure wash, repeated with detergent, (soap powder really is good), pressure washed again and finally blow dry all areas with a compressor. After cleaning I would apply a film of machine oil by brush to all parts.

 

[Martin-Sy]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
I should have mentioned...
It's 60 years old.
The whole thing was oil lubricated, there's a small reciprocating pump in the bottom that feeds oil up to the pipes visible in the picture.
When I got it the oil sump was empty and the pump was missing
The residue is almost certainly whats left after water soluble cutting fluid has found it's way in and dried up.

I like the idea of dunking the entire thing. I reckon it would take 5 gallons of diesel/paraffin but I'll need to strip it anyway to check all the components for damage/corrosion.
I'm intending to clean the bits in paraffin. I suppose my question was whether an ultrasonic cleaner would save time at this stage.
The main casting I'll do with Screwfix degreaser - I've already had good results with this on some of the larger bits of the machine.

 

[graffian]

I had the pump out of mine for some reason.
It was a pain to get the pump back in, the original copper pipe to the pump was snapped.
I replaced part of the pipe with flexible hose so I could drop the pump and work it manually to check the oiling.

The pump is driven by an ecentric on the carriage hand wheel, maybe, it's a long time since I cleaned mine.
A jewelery sized US cleaner might not be a bad idea for the little jets, I soaked, poked and blew through them till they worked.
After fixing the pump I wound the carriage back and fore and no oil seemed to be oiling the front way.
There is a jet block under the middle of the saddle, several of the jets[or filters in them] were blocked and
some were stuck open. So it wasn't oiling everywhere.
Now when I wind he carriage along the ways and back it leaves a visible oil film on them.

 

[zzr1200]

I like the idea of dunking the entire thing. I reckon it would take 5 gallons of diesel/paraffin but I'll need to strip it anyway to check all the components for damage/corrosion.
I'm intending to clean the bits in paraffin. I suppose my question was whether an ultrasonic cleaner would save time at this stage.
The main casting I'll do with Screwfix degreaser - I've already had good results with this on some of the larger bits of the machine.

Unless you have another use for the ultra sonic cleaner after cleaning the parts, I'd spend the money on 5 gallons of Screwfix Degreaser, a suitable tank and a set of nozzle cleaners for gas welding to clean any blocked oilers, plus a cheap pressure washer....

Plus there's no point in buying a small ultra sonic cleaner, your looking at a 6 litre minimum for cleaning small chainsaw carbs, for machine parts your looking at 20 litre+ I would suspect, probably 30 litre tank capacity.

hth

 

[Martin-Sy]

I had the pump out of mine for some reason.
It was a pain to get the pump back in, the original copper pipe to the pump was snapped.
I replaced part of the pipe with flexible hose so I could drop the pump and work it manually to check the oiling.

The pump is driven by an ecentric on the carriage hand wheel, maybe, it's a long time since I cleaned mine.
A jewelery sized US cleaner might not be a bad idea for the little jets, I soaked, poked and blew through them till they worked.
After fixing the pump I wound the carriage back and fore and no oil seemed to be oiling the front way.
There is a jet block under the middle of the saddle, several of the jets[or filters in them] were blocked and
some were stuck open. So it wasn't oiling everywhere.
Now when I wind he carriage along the ways and back it leaves a visible oil film on them.

Nice to know there's another CVA owner here in addition to @fizzy & me. Regarding the pump:
There are at least two versions. The older is either a Bijur as fitted to 10EE's or a copy of it.
This pump has the inlet on the end and outlet on top.

Later pumps have an inlet underneath and outlet at the end which makes removal and refitting a bit easier.

Later style is at the top and it's one like this that was missing on mine. The pipe and union nut were still there and line up.
As you say they are actuated by an eccentric on the apron handwheel shaft that waggles the lever on the right.
The delivery pressure is determined by the ram diameter and the spring rate. The eccentric action draws the ram back.

The older one in the picture came from a 1953 series 2.
It has 'issues'

What's left of the ram! I assume some sort of electrolytic corrosion.

Thanks also for mentioning the manifold block under the middle of saddle. Been there and done that.

Perhaps that's why the pump had been removed

After looking at 10EE's I did this:

New metering valves have M8x1 threads. I couldn't get BSPT ones any more.
I'm hoping that the pipes are now high enough and don't act like bulldozers on piles of swarf in the middle of the bed.

Anyway, I'm rambling....The consensus seems to be don't bother with an US cleaner on stuff like this. OK.
De-greaser, scrapers, brushes and paraffin it is. Perhaps a pressure washer too.

Thanks everyone.