Myford Super 7 - paraffin to clean leadscrew question

I have a question about cleaning the Super 7 leadscrew instructions I was hoping someone would clarify for me.

Page 20 of the Super 7 manual states: "At regular intervals, the leadscrew should be thoroughly cleaned with a stiff brush and paraffin, and oiled freely along its entire length."

What kind of paraffin should I use? Will canning sealing wax work or is there something better? For a "stiff brush", I presume a stiff nylon brush would suffice? What is the purpose of the paraffin? Dirt and grime will stick to the paraffin and be removed from the leadscrew?

Being a Yank, I'm not sure if your paraffin is the same as what I'm familiar with.

Many thanks! -Jim

Paraffin is Limey-speak for kerosene -- not to be confused with paraffin wax. Spray can degreaser or brake and parts cleaner from the auto store is probably the modern equivalent. I suppose in Myford days they used hand-plucked pig bristle brushes but I imagine any common brush would do the job. I use a paint brush.

Edited By Hopper on 02/12/2019 07:00:46

Edited By Hopper on 02/12/2019 07:02:09

Washing up brush stolen from the kitchen even better.

Any degreaser will work, but in these health an safety days using petrol whilst smoking a woodbine is probably not a good option. I use white spirit as I have a few bottles kicking about and I prefer the smell to that of paraffin (kerosene).

Shaw said England and America were two countries separated by the same language, and this thread seems to prove he was right, so it might be worth adding that petrol = gasolene, white spirit = mineral spirit and woodbine = an unfiltered cigarette

Brian G

Thank you everyone!

Hopper: My wife uses a boar bristle hair brush. I wonder if that would work?

I'd steal a washing up brush from the kitchen, but I'm the one usually doing the dishes.

I'll try the 'paint thinner' - I don't know why they call it that, it doesn't thin my water-based acrylic paint a bit! I'll try a nylon bristle brush. See if that dissolves onto the leadscrew.

Thanks for all your help!

Cheers -Jim

Brian G: Thanks for the translation! I spent way too much time on Wikipedia which uses most variants of English. I can no longer spell anything properly. My spell checker has been 'updated', so even it no longer helps. I lived in India for two years, and on Bougainville Island (TPNG at the time). Got into an argument with an Aussie whether to build something out of "Aluminum" or "Aluminium". (Which one is the American variant again?) I had to hide for a week when I asked a bunch of Aussies who were in a very serious discussion - "What's America's Cup?"

Cheers -Jim

Old toothbrush is ideal, also for cleaning the spindle nose threads with lathe running in reverse.

It's the 'clean' bit of the instruction that's important.

Exposed lead-screws tend to collect swarf and greasy dirt which gum up the half-nut and cause avoidable wear. Any light oil solvent and brush would shift it. Petrol/Gasoline is a good solvent, not recommended because it fumes and is a dangerous fire hazard. Diesel fuel is a shade too thick and sticky to do a good job, and Paraffin aka Kerosene is a good compromise.

When the Super 7 manual was written Paraffin was common as muck in the UK and cheap. It's a practical recommendation. There's nothing special about Paraffin, and WD40 might be preferred today because it also contains a water-repellent. (Otherwise WD-40 is mostly Kerosene.)

White spirit (for cleaning paint brushes) also works well, but make sure any exotic cleaner doesn't damage paintwork or plastics.

How often cleaning is necessary depends on what the lathe is used for. I brushed obvious swarf off my exposed lead-screw as necessary during each session and only cleaned it fully once or twice a year when bored. There are exceptions: I always clean carefully after turning cast-iron, or using abrasives. My preferred method is a stiff tooth-brush and aerosol WD40 because both can get into tight corners but anything that gets muck off the screw will do.

Dave

The America's Cup is a sore subject in Australia because naughty Americans deliberately changed the rules to stop Australians winning it! It's not the only example: the USA avoids national sporting embarrassments in World Series Baseball by making it a North America only competition, and by driving Nascar rather than Formula 1. From this side of the Atlantic it looks very like a very odd inferiority complex.

The strange thing about national foibles is locals believing their views are normal even though the rest of the world knows they're daft. Only in the UK do we manage well-balanced debate, top-quality decision making and slick well-planned delivery without becoming a global embarrassment. Visitors to the UK are recommended to prove the point by asking everyone they meet about Brexit. No one you talk to will get emotional, honest...

Dave

Just about everything has been said but as well as the paraffin etc what I do is use a narrow piece of cloth torn off or thick string [not man made fibre] passed around the lead screw then with the screw running let it run along and it removes grime etc from the bottom of the thread, then lube with a sticky oil.

John

Did anyone mention the use of a pipe cleaner bent into a U and hooked over the rotating leadscrew?

I am grateful to smokers for this possibility and, of course, for cigarette papers.

The Woodbine was intentionally small so as to be smoked during a tea break.

Just as an aside, the pipe-cleaners we so happily twisted into weird-looking animals at nursery school are now packaged as "fuzzy sticks"

.

Political Correctness gone mad [again]

Mustn’t lead the poor dears into temptation ... even though a pipe is not necessarily an accessory for smoking, and might be just an innocent tube.

Bah Humbug

MichaelG.

Ok boomer

SillyOldDuffer - As far as I am concerned Australia can keep the America's Cup. I admired the NSFW 1983 tee shirt with an eagle in front of a kangaroo with the caption "Australia's America's Cup". I wish I had bought one or two of those. Of course, the order was reversed when America won it back. I didn't find that unoriginal version nearly as amusing. I'd rather be machining.

Me too!!!