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10th Nov 2019, 02:05 PM #1Golden Member
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Cleaning Cast iron surfaces : Mill Table & Lathe Ways
It seems to me that my mill table and lathe ways are always grungy gray compared to the almost silvery shiny surfaces I see on forum photos.
Scrubbing with a kerosene soaked rag is all I have ever done to clean these surfaces, it helps a bit but its not great.
Today I used some 1200 grit emery paper backed by a file, with some kerosene - that made a huge difference on an obscure part of the mill table that is almost never used. Compare the top two "beams" of metal in attached photos, in the improved photo they reflect far more light compared to the lower beams.
I don't think I will damage the mill table if I do the whole lot with 1200 paper but happy to be told off if that's a silly idea. Mill is 30+ years old and has had previous owners.
Am aware that some people rub their cast iron surfaces with fine stone.
What do you do to clean and maintain mill table and lathe ways ?
Bill
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10th Nov 2019, 02:57 PM #2Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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10th Nov 2019, 07:46 PM #3Member
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It looks to me like the table top surface is planed rather than ground which really means it will never look much better.
I use a fine stone on my table surface to remove small dings not to made it look nice.
Robert
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10th Nov 2019, 09:44 PM #4
If you can do to whole table consistently I don't see a problem as 1200 will remove minute metal, add a bit of kero for lubrication and to flush away the crap. I've done this in the past.
Using Tapatalk
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11th Nov 2019, 03:24 AM #5Senior Member
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Steel wool or scotch Brite are other options.
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21st Nov 2019, 10:06 AM #6Golden Member
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planer marks and job done
...... and these would be the planer marks ? .....see attached ......they are obvious right on the ends of the table and less obvious but still there along the length of the table. Mill is RF30 made in Taiwan approx 30ish years ago
Thanks for all replies, tried a fine stone but not quite as good a finish as the 1200 sandpaper ...... need to try a finer stone.
......an awful lot smmmmmooother and cleaner now.
Bill
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1st Dec 2019, 11:46 AM #7
I was reading somewhere someone was using the fine siide of a normal grind stone one might use for chisels.
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1st Dec 2019, 06:59 PM #8
They look like grinder marks, one of the new Mills I looked at had these same marks.
Check it over with a dial indicator, if it checks out leave it as it.Using Tapatalk
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3rd Dec 2019, 12:57 PM #9
not steel wool please it'll rust up real quick, minute fibers will break off and hide in the porous cast iron surface. Scotchbrite is a much better option or use stainless steelwool.
I made this mistake when I 1st got all my WW'ing machines couldn't work out why it was happening until one day I decides to clean a Veritas straight edge only to see it rust up beyond repair(cheaper to buy another than getting it remachined)....................................................................
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3rd Dec 2019, 06:45 PM #10Member
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Well Bill looks like I have to eat my words as that looks better than the original planed surface.
But....if you have soooo much time to spend on that you don't have enough projects.
Robert
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4th Dec 2019, 07:16 PM #11Golden Member
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- Jul 2011
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- Adelaide
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- 837
If you are only worried about the way the surface looks in photographs then the only way that involves removing absolutely no metal is photoshop.
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