Wabeco F1210 cleanup, surface rust on ways?

[ultrafastidious]

Hello, I just got an early 2000 Wabeco F1210 which is in need of cleaning up. The previous owner used the machine exclusively for wood milling for some reason and there is a lot of grimes on the machine. Upon disassembly I notice that the ways on the base plate has lots of brown stains on its surface. The surface is still smooth and is still oiled. The stain seems to follow the milled surface texture. Are these surface rust? Should I remove them? Thanks!

 

[matthewsx]

Hello and welcome

That doesn't look bad to me, some scotchbrite and WD40 or whatever equivalent you have access to in your country should be fine. Please grace us with some pictures of the whole machine and any information you would like to share about yourself and what projects you anticipate with your new machine.

John

 

[ultrafastidious]

Hello and welcome

That doesn't look bad to me, some scotchbrite and WD40 or whatever equivalent you have access to in your country should be fine. Please grace us with some pictures of the whole machine and any information you would like to share about yourself and what projects you anticipate with your new machine.

John

Hi John, thanks for the warm welcome and the tip! I'll try scotchbrite and WD40.
Here is the whole machine when I got it. It is covered in wood dusts. The electrical system is still working fine, and the power feed is a nice addition. Looking at it again, I'm not sure why the whole bed is dark brown colored? Is this a normal thing?
I'm planning on cutting gears for small industrial machines, as well as building hobby lightsabers .
My manual milling experience is still very limited. So hopefully I can practice more often when the machine is reassembled.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

I believe aficionados of old machinery refer to that as a "patina".

Really any solvent will do to get it off: kerosene, mineral spirits, brake cleaner, etc. It's probably just built up oil, more of a tarnish than rust. A soft scotchbrite (maroon, grey) or 0000 steel wool should do it, preferably the scotchbrite over the steel wool for the actual table surface. Let the solvent sit for a bit (an hour or so for stuff that doesn't evaporate quickly, otherwise 15 min) before scrubbing.

Doesn't look too bad. If it doesn't come off soak paper towels (ideally the thick blue shop ones) in evaporust and stick to the table with magnets.

 

[matthewsx]

Looks like a fun little machine. Yes, it's very common for cast iron machine parts to turn brown and it won't hurt anything. I wouldn't spend too much time trying to polish it, with how it is you won't have to worry when it starts to discolor like so many new machine owners do. Interesting power feeds, that should make milling more consistent.

You'll find many others on here who share your interests.

John

 

[NC Rick]

I wonder why scotch bright over steel wool? Scotch brite scratches hard steel and steel wool won't. In my experience.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

I think it depends on the scotchbrite and the steel wool. The maroon and the grey stuff usually doesn't scratch, the green stuff often does, the white stuff seems to have zero effect on anything. Steel wool down to about 00 scratches, 000 and 0000 do not. Of course, this is in my experience, and certainly the force applied makes a difference.

The real problem with steel wool is that it disintegrates, so small particles of metal may end up in the ways. Not the end of the world of course.