Restoring - Polishing levers, handwheels & slides etc

I'm in the process of starting to restore an old Myford ML7. I've stripped the tailstock and cleaned all the parts in paraffin, now I want to try and make the levers, handwheels etc look nice and shinny like new.

I also want to polish up the slides and other bits to look new.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Mike

I bought a tom senior mill a few weeks back , it had been lying up for about a year, had a fine coating of light rust on all exposed bare surfaces. I used coarse steel wool and jizer first , but found plastic pot scourers from tesco and the jizer to be far better at removing the rust and caked on dirt from the paint too.

these scourers are green come in packs of 5 or 6 and are cheap and effective.

Look in ME adverts there is 2 chaps ex myford who will come down and totally refurbish you lathe.

have only heard good about them think well worth the pennies.

Bob

I should hate to think what the cost would be for the two Myford guys to travel down, completely strip a lathe , refubish it, polish it and paint it, then put it back together.

John S.

I used a soft double stitched buffing wheel and ultra fine polishing compound (this comes as a bar of varying colours, I used the blue and finished with the white to give a highly polished finish) on the brightwork when I re-furbished my Studer Cylindrical Grinder, brought all the parts up a treat.

CB

Mike

I have used Garryflex blocks for cleaning/polishing metal. Available in 4 grades from 36 to 240 grit, I got mine from Squires Tools (No connection. Other suppliers are out there)

Regards,

Gordon.

By all means polish the handwheels etc., but slides should not be polished. A slight surface irregulaity is needed to retain lubricant. Two flat, polished surfaces will tend to stick together. I would just use wire wool with a bit of oil to remove the surface rust.

Russell.

Just be sure the brass wire won't pick up a magnet

The handwheels were of course chrome plated originally and the levers chemically blacked.

I use a variety of Scotch-brite products for this sort of thing, including their wheels that can go in either the pedestal drill, or the electric hand drill if you're desperate.

Just a thought but if you are going to the trouble to restore your machine to the level you sugest, then why not replate the hand wheels and associated parts. I bought a set of new hand wheels for my Bridgeport as they were damaged when I got the machine. When the new ones arrived they were untreated steel. With the moisture in the air and on your hands, I expected to all these parts to corrode in no time. So I had everything bright nickel plated. The result is lovely and here we are two years later and they are still good as new. It's not very expensive and most chrome platers will offer nickel as an option. The other plus with nickel over chrome is that the plating gets into all the corners which can be a problem sometime with chrome.

Well worth the effort.

Decent quality chrome plating on steel always started with copper plating, then nickel, then chrome. It will then last a lifetime.

Russell.

Agree with Russell, this plating is 40+ years old

K

Cheers everyone, I've got loads of options to consider now. My father did suggest going to get them chromed. I must admit, I would like to have a go at the polishing wheel and compound, if nothing more than to 'extend' my new skills. If I'm not happy with these, I can then consider the other options.

Mike

Cheers everyone for your advice, it certainly gives me a lot of options to consider. My father did suggest getting them chromed.

I must admit, I like the idea of the buffing wheel and compound, even if it's to broaden my 'skills'. If that doesn't work, I can always consider the other options.

Thanks again to everyone, Mike