How do you clean your small machine?

[j ferguson]

i'm having a terrible time getting the tiny aluminum chips off of and out of my Sherline 2000. Part of the problem is that they are sticky from the mister fluid.
I don't know if the size is part of the problem.
I spent first summer in machine shop in Glenview Illinois in 1959 cleaning the lathes, mill and shapers. I used broom brushes, small paint brushes and clothes and I think I did a pretty good job. We used an oily cutting fluid then which I think was not sticky. The swarf tended to be much bigger than what the Sherline produces.

Compressed air doesn't work very well and although the shopvac with a small nozzle gets some of it, I want a method which gets all of it.



What are you doing?

 

[FOMOGO]

You could try solvent (paint, or lacquer thinner), and a stiff parts brush, then a clean rag. Mike

 

[Eddyde]

Be careful with lacquer thinner, it can dissolve paint and certain plastics. I use kerosene mixed with WD-40 for cleaning machines.

 

[mikey]

I don't use a mister on my Sherline but do brush on cutting fluids when cutting. I use magnets to hold some paper towels around the vise so chips don't get down into tiny spaces and I also have fitted plates to cover my tooling plate holes; I do what I can to keep chips out before they can get stuck in small places. I have a rubber sheet to protect the main column from chips.

If the chips are ferrous, I use a magnet covered by a plastic bag to get the bulk of the chips out. Then I use paper towels to soak up any liquid/oil because that is what holds onto chips. When I get things as dry as possible, I use a 2" brush and a vacuum to suck up all the chips I can. This gets almost everything out/off so I can lube the machine before storing. I also use alcohol on a paper towel to wipe the Melamine base the mill sits on before storing it.

I do not use compressed air around my mill routinely but on occasion I do use it to get small chips out of areas I cannot reach, especially inside the threads of my leadscrews.

That's it for me. My mill is totally clean of chips or debris and is wiped down and oiled before I store it.

 

[dirty tools]

Blow the chips off with mineral spirits an air
then clean the shop as mineral spirits can splatter all over the shop

 

[Nogoingback]

It's common for folks to use compressed air on their machines, but I have read posts
from machine rebuilders that advise against it because swarf gets into places that you
can't clean and can cause wear. I used a paint brush, the shop vac and lots of paper towels.

 

[Eddyde]

Air, with few exceptions, is the worst way to clean a machine. Not only will you blow swarf deep into the machine, you will blow it all over your shop as well. However If done very carefully, it can get stuff out of areas that can't be cleaned any other way, I like to use canned air as it is more subdued than the blow gun and has a thin straw to precisely direct the stream. I also try to cover the area with a rag to catch the ejected chips.

 

[addertooth]

A good set of wipers will keep the chips between precision surfaces to a minimum.

 

[Aaron_W]

I just use those cheap straw colored paint brushes. I go light on the cutting fluid, and just brush it on as needed so my chips are not that sticky.

WD40 does a pretty good job cutting gunk.

 

[jwmay]

What do they say? A little bit every day is better than one big job a week? Ah no...Clean as you go! That's it. I spend a lot of time cleaning. But I don't have any special secrets. Cheap brushes, rags, and a shop vac. Cotton swabs might be handy sometimes for tight quarters.