Question about shipping grease.

Julio Navarro

Member
Messages
281
Location
Tampa
Whats the best solvent or cleaner to take the sticky grease that comes with new equipment?

I need to remove the grease form the cast iron top of my new TS but I need to be sure I use the right solvent/cleaner. I don't want to mar the surface of the ts, least not yet.

Thanks
 
Hi Julio, I've had good luck with WD-40 and a cotton cloth. There might be some reason why that's not a good idea and I'm sure others will comment but to me it's the safest, easiest clean up for that grease. After it's all cleaned up, I use some household cleaner, Simple Green in my case, to clean off the WD40 and then I put on the wax. Again, has worked fine for me.

BTW, a new TS! Congrats, that's exciting.
 
I have had very good luck using kerosene to remove all the gunk. In actuality since I had problems finding low quantities of kerosene for sale, I used a bottle of carburetor cleaner from auto-zone. The clerk there told me that the main ingredient was kerosene and I only had to buy a container containing less than a pint. That quantity was enough for me 14" band saw, 1 hp mortiser, and a 6" PM jointer with about 1/3 of the container remaining.

Congratulations on the saw!!!
 
I have some mineral spirits and WD40, I'll try them both. I wasnt sure about household cleaner but sounds like it would work. I'll use the wax I use for the chrome on my bike. I use some stuff called NEVER-DULL, it's a wadding polish by Eagle One. It cleans as well as polishes. I've used it on my BS and jointer. Any thoughts?

Thanks again guys, I've been dying to use that saw.
 
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hi julio

the "gunk" on your table top is cosmolene(sp). it is a great rust protector and inhibitor. cosmolene is commonly used to protect brake discs and drums during storage and shipping. brakekleen is the stuff to use to get this stuff off , it was invented for this reason! you can get it in any autoparts store for 4 bucks . brakekleen comes in two formulas (red)can is regular . (green) can is supposed to be environmentally friendly. the green is highly flammable and stinks the worst of the two , not sure if the red is flammable, but it doesn't stink half as bad as the green

HTH grizzly
 
Julio,

I've been critisized for saying this in the past, but I try to keep WD-40 away from all of my machinery. It will eat the plastic off the wires if you get it anywhere near electrical, and it's a very greasy, oily coating on the machine, which I hate...because it turns thicker grease as dirt gets in it, and does no good for the tools.

What I use is Boesheild T-9, developed by Boeing, it's great for rust prevention and you can spray this stuff on electrical with no ramifications.

It doesn't work as well for removing rust, but doesn't stink nearly as bad as WD-40, I loathe the smell of that garbage even. If I have a lot of bad rust, I use Top Saver, the stuff made for table saws and other machines. Works great for me.
 
I use Mineral Spirits too. But then I take Mother's Billet Cleaner from Auto Zone (Probably any auto parts store) and use my Festool sander/buffer and a Scotch Brite equivalent pad. Mother's Billet Cleaner takes out even the slightest blemish and shines the top like a new nickel. I use two applications of the Johnson's/Minwax and top it all off with one coat of Renaissance Wax. The Renaissance Wax is very tough. It even resists the oil from hand prints.
The Renaissance Wax is very expensive ($20 a can) but it lasts a VERY long time. One small can would last for years.

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?DSP=50000&PCR=30000:120000:123000:123200&IID=8282

http://www.hotzoneperformance.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HZ-05106

DT
 
I use kerosene, because someone told me that was best. I also read that cosmolene was invented to ship parts during WW II and diesel fuel (almost identical to kerosene) was readily available to remove it.

If you brush it on with an old paint brush, wipe it off with paper towels, there will be almost none left for the final wipe with a rag.

I bought a gallon of kerosene (the smallest amount available) and maybe have used 2 cups on some big equipment. If I were doing it again, I would pump a quart of diesel fuel at the gas station.
 
Diesel fuel works as good as kerosene and is very cheap by comparison.
You must use a lot of it. Yeah, I probably pay more for mineral spirits, which I can get locally for about $2 a quart at the BORG. I don't tend to think of it as a financial loss...:huh:
 
You must use a lot of it.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I have a nice wrag dedicated to it, as it stays impregnated and a little damp with it for a long time. When ever I want to wipe a metal part down, or a quick clean before rewaxing, hand tools, irons, blades of all sorts, including bandsaw and circular (keeps em nice between changings. Leaves behind some some protection and lubricatant for moving parts, isn't as volatile as a lot of other solvents (it won't spontaneously combust like mineral spirits), and not as nasty for the lungs. It goes a long way, too. Might take me two or three years to go through a gallon, unless, of course I buy too many new machines in a year. It's not so much the few bucks saved as it is the convenience, the safety and effectiveness of it. It's like windex for my big fat italian shop.:D When this gallon runs out, I'm guessing in 2009 sometime, I'm going to try bio-diesel, see if it works as well.
 
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