Couple of questions

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Mike8623

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Merry Christmas to all.

Couple questions on mills and lathes

1. I've got a spindle light on my bridgeport mill....now don't laugh but I'm so tired of it falling off. I tried a magnetic one and it got just covered in chips....the current one is a 3 screw type and keeps coming off. Is there a spindle light that attaches to the frame just above the spindle?

2. What do you folks use just as a general cleaner for a quick wipe down to remove aluminum and similar swarf from the machine.....is there something one can spray on a cloth and just run over the machine.
 
Mike8623 said:
Merry Christmas to all.

Couple questions on mills and lathes

1. I've got a spindle light on my bridgeport mill....now don't laugh but I'm so tired of it falling off. I tried a magnetic one and it got just covered in chips....the current one is a 3 screw type and keeps coming off. Is there a spindle light that attaches to the frame just above the spindle?

2. What do you folks use just as a general cleaner for a quick wipe down to remove aluminum and similar swarf from the machine.....is there something one can spray on a cloth and just run over the machine.
Click to expand...

When I clean my machines, I use a combination of a clean dry cloth (those red shop rags), paper towels, and way oil (Mobil Vactra #2).

My machines are particularly filthy when I clean them because I do not have a chance to clean them as often as I like. Because of this, I start out with paper towels to just get a start removing chips. At some point, I apply way oil on to the paper towels so as not to scratch the machine when I am wiping off the chips. I sure end up using a lot of paper towels!

I will definitely use some magnets if the chips are carbon steel, which they usually are.

At the very end, I squirt probably too much way oil on to any surface that might see corrosion, & then I wipe the way oil around with *very clean* fingers.
 
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I have a ring, and a goose neck, you could put a 2nd goose neck. Commercial laundry services sell rags, if you use terry cloth it's like a magnet for swarf.
 
I just use a chip brush to clean my mill. It is well saturated with way oil and does a nice job of keeping the rust at bay. Same for the lathe.
 
I use brushes too- the cheap disposable ones from Home Depot or Horror Fright
 
I brush off the chips wit an acid brush from HF and a cut down 2" paint brush. . Then wipe everything with toilet paper, first dry then wet with way oil. Used to use towels until I saw the TP idea on you tube Tried it and never went back. Made three TP holders out of 1 pound plastic Folgers cans. Mounted one at the mill, lathe and work bench. Buy the cheapest, roughest TP you can find. It will last for several years.
 
Lots of designs using angel eyes LED rings. I bought a pair of LED rings and machined a ring on my lathe. Epoxied some magnets to hold it on to the spindle. Really helps light up the area.
 
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