Just bought a Holbrook Model-C No. 10

[flatlineParticipant @flatline]

Hi… as per the Topic Title… the lathe has the usual covering of gunk, ranging from light oil to quite heavy grease (mainly on the bed that the taper-turning attachment sits)…

Is there an ideal cleaning solution that’ll shift the more stubborn deposits??

 

I have yet to delve into the innards of the machine, but anticipate plenty of oily dust, & a suds-tank that’ll be pretty dire.

Any recommendations?? TIA 😎🇬🇧👍

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

I use white spirit to clean my machines as it does not affect the paint then re oil as needed. I also use wood wax to cover any bare metal that does not get much use, I find that helps keep light rust at bay.

Whether that is right or wrong it works for me

[Dave WoottonParticipant @davewootton]

I’m in the process of cleaning up the above mill, unused and covered in a thick oily grease for thirty years, it seems like it might be Waxoyl or Ensis, but whatever it is it’s the devil to get off.

Best results so far, and I’ve tried brake cleaner/duck oil. WD40, paraffin, panel wipe, are with Jizer, the one in the green tin, hasn’t so far affected the old paint, and Screwfix no nonsense degreaser (which is water based so not suitable everywhere). Bought some cheap sets of small wire brushes, a bit like big toothbrushes in steel brass and nylon which have proved very useful. Hard work but very worthwhile especially for a Holbrook used a 13″ swing one at work, one of my favourite machines. Good luck. when theres an adult home I’ll try to post a picture of progress so far.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Flatline

Might be worth spending a few minutes on this thread on the Practical Machinist site :-

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/solvent-for-sticky-or-polymerized-oil.448880/

More or less the same topic with some useful asides as to why different cleaning substances are effective on different things. The explanation as to why acetone, relatively mild degrunker, works when more aggressive chemicals don’t was mostly new-to-me.

USA-centric so brand names don’t help and some of the substance common names differ too.

Mostly I’m Brake Cleaner guy ‘cos I bought 5 litres at good price way back. Gunk, iso-propyl alcohol, meths, petrol , white spirit and acetone in stock for more occasional use.

Ran out of old style Hammerite thinners, trichloroethane, about 4 years back which was a shame as it’s even more effective than it is dangerous. I’m old enough to remember when folk used to wash their hands in it to deal with things that Swarfega et al wouldn’t touch. Which never seemed a good idea to me.

Clive

[Dave WoottonParticipant @davewootton]

Hopefully a couple of pictures attached one before of the feed gearbox and the Jizer I’m using, has proved quite effective and although using outside has no detectable odour or fumes, the old fashioned Jizer had a strong smell to it. And an after of the machine cleaned, repainted and being reassembled, had to completely strip it as some clown used thick grease in all the oiling points, which had hardened over the years making removal difficult. The little things that look like teeth on the horizontal slide are the replacement oil nipples which have just been turned down as a push fit to replace the original 7mm push fit oilers.

[flatlineParticipant @flatline]

Many thanks for the replies & information, some very useful advice – I’ll be getting started on cleaning her up this weekend 😎🇬🇧👍

[southernchapParticipant @southernchap]

For non painted surfaces Methyl Ethyl Ketone work pretty well (don’t huff on the stuff, and try to keep.it off your hands as best you can; it will very quickly dissolve the usual nitrile gloves mind you).

Acetone will attack older paints, but if you’re quick it may not do tons of damage.

For surface rust WD40 (or any Kerosene based solvent; I use DW-40 from Smith Allen; they’re on Amazon.co.uk and careful scraping with a razor blade.

Evaporust works reasinably well on small parts and assuming correct usage won’t remove material, but is expensive. No problem though, you can make your own, that uses the same mechanism (chelation).  Gour easily accessible, cheap ingredients (water, sodium carbonate, citric acid; all available on Amazon, just mix em up as you need).  Video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/fVYZmeReKKY?si=HLHDkvon23rC3_UC.

You can use Scotch Brite pads on precision surfaces, but make sure you use the very fine or ultra fine grades and don’t scrub like you’re trying to get the blood of your latest victim, off the floor of your bathroom before the forensic team turns up!

Finally, for those precision sliding surfaces, consider getting a pair of precision ground flat stones.  I have a couple of pairs (one standard 4″ rectangular pair and one 4″ knife edge pair).  Do you need them? No.  Can you use a normal stone to take off burrs and raised spots from dinks.  Yes.  Are precision ground flat stones safer for us clumsy eejits to use around precision sliding surfaces? Yep.

[peterhodParticipant @peterhod]

Congrats on your purchase. I had a Holbrook back in the 70’s. Very good and accurate machine. No problems to work to half a thou unlike my modern chinese machine.

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