To clean and repaint, where to stop?

davidpbest said:
When I bought my knee mill from Precision Matthews, first thing I did was strip it down and repaint it. I have high standards that extend beyond how it "functions" and I take pride in my equipment and workmanship standards. If you want to just get it working, you'll have lots of company in the "hacker" community egging you on. LOL.
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David, it's obvious that you take a great deal of pride in the work you do, and your machines reflect that fact. But, ahem, to suggest that those
of us who, for whatever reason, don't paint our machines are hackers is a bit insulting.
 
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I'm not a fan of black: Shows all the dust, dirt etc. and kills the light. Lighter colors reflect and disperse the light making things easier to see.
Yellow with purple poke-a-dots would be a great conversation piece but not my thing.
 
Nogoingback said:
David, it's obvious that you take a great deal of pride in the work you do, and your machines reflect that fact. But, ahem, to suggest that those
of us who, for whatever reason, don't paint our machines are hackers is a bit insulting.
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You're making a connection (between painting a machine and orientation toward craft) where none was intended. Perhaps you missed the "LOL" in my post. I didn't mean to insult anyone, and if you took offense, then I apologize.
 
I "is" a "hacker!" by the above definition. My 2004 Jet mill is still in it's original paint. I keep it "relatively" clean. I'm such a slob that I've never even considered painting it. I'll assume I haven't lost my high standing in the hacker club due to my rattle can paint job on the cold saw. Above all folks, have fun.
 
I guess it's a question of how much precision do you need, and how much of a perfectionist you are.
If you give it a good exterior cleaning, it should look presentable without a paint job.
 
Whatever you do just don't make it so pretty that you don't want to get it dirty by using it. I had a Triumph TR4 once that we restored and when it got done it didn't get driven nearly as much as when it was a beater. Of course I painted it black and then promptly proceeded to move to Arizona:rolleyes:

John
 
Janderso said:
#1
To me it's all about mechanical function. I don't care how it looks as long as it does an outstanding job.
A pretty machine won't make you a better machinist.
Just 2 cents worth
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My thoughts & feelings as well. A Biker friend of mine put it this way, "Chrome Don't Get YA Home."
 
Having a machine nicely finished makes it much easier to keep clean.
 
I strip and reBondo and repaint all equipment from China and Taiwan. I do so because I take pride in my equipment, it's reflective of my workmanship standards and a reminder to always do the best quality work possible when using the machine. My customers notice. And it makes it much easier to keep the equipment clean and functional.
 
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