3 replies to this topic

[helix]

Nothing to do with Pyro (not directly anyway) but I thought maybe some of you folks with more knowledge of chemistry than I would perhaps know how to remove tarnish from whats some form of carbon steel...

The reasone I'm asking is that Ive got myself a metal lathe, its in need of a good clean and a lick of paint as its about 30 year old (a Harrison M300 out of a secondary school metalwork dept)

Whilst stripping it down I was intending to clean the main bits that have exposed metal ie top slide and cross slide to remove the tarnishing.

I was intending to clean these parts in some some form of acidic solution perhaps with dilute sulphuric or perhaps phosphoric acid.

Does anyone know if this will work ok, or have any suggestions?

regards


James

[crystal palace fireworks]

your best bet is to use a standard metal/brass polish like "duraglit`, use with fine grade wire wool!

[Arthur Brown]

Jenolite is a rust remover and corrosion inhibitor, BUT first I would try any of the elbow grease methods! metal polish, wire brush, ultrafine emery paper or wet'n dry. Valve grinding paste will be for the very worst marks as it will remove metal and render the slides in accurate.

[phildunford]

Does anyone know if this will work ok, or have any suggestions?

I'm the proud owner of a 1950's Myford and I must say I just use very fine grit emery (polishing paper) on a flat piece of steel to clean of any tarnish. There will be adjustments to take up any slack in the slides. The accuracy of older machines such as this is not going to be seriously impaired by such treatment. Do make sure you clean the slides well afterwards.

If the slides are in a really bad state, there are companies around that can regrind them for you on giant machines, but it's not a cheap option.

I've had years of good service out of my lathe, even though it is a bit worn.