How Do I Clean All This Brass Trash Off My Lathe?

[john hobdeclipe]

I just finished turning a 12 pound chunk of brass down into a 2 pound chunk of brass, and now I have a lathe covered in brass. How do I get rid of this stuff? I've tried a dry brush, but the swarf (is that the right word?) has oil in it, so the brush just gets oily and doesn't do anything. I've tried kerosene (well, actually diesel fuel) and all that does is move the stuff around.

So what have some of you more experienced guys found to be the best way to get this stuff off of and out of my lathe? I refuse to buy a new one just cause this one is dirty!

Thanks in advance.

[tattoomike68]

A shop vac works good. then a rag.

myself I lay cardboard or paper down on the machine and machine the brass dry, then you can save it for scrap.

brass and bronze both machine just fine dry.

In the real dirty work world I would blast it off with 150 psi air, wipe it down with a rag , oil the ways up again and be right back to making a new mess.

cast iron is way more messy that brass.

[Rich Carlstedt]

Quick way
When I have the same issue, I keep a box of saw dust next to the mill.
Make a generous covering of the oily chips with the wood and move it around with an old stick or short brush in my case.
Then about 20 minites later, I vacumn up the mess.
Then i take a piece of paper toweling and wipe it. the 'dust" left that did not go with the vacumn, is atracted to the towel and sticks.
Works great and leaves a nice dry and clean surface.
Don't forget to oil the ways after that
Rich
Ps works with Cast Iron fantastically

[JCHannum]

Brass & cast iron both machine well dry. I use a shop vac for cleanup.

Before starting, make sure the lathe is clean and wipe off excess lube and oil. Oil the carriage with way oil through the oilers and have at it.

From time to time if it is a long project, I might wipe or brush things down and with CI, I may keep the shop vac by the cutting tool to suck up dust and fines.

When done brush & vac off. Never use high pressure air to clean off, as this may get the trash out of sight by forcing it into areas where it can cause some real damage.

The wood shavings sound like a good approach, I have noticed after machining wood on the lathe or mill, how clean they were.

[Scishopguy]

As was said before, brass and cast iron machine just fine dry. I always keep a pan in the bed of the lathe to catch the swarf and chips. Even though the lathe bed is made to catch this, it is a lot easier to just pull the pan out and empty it than have to brush that stuff up and over the edge of the bed. I will make an exception to drilling brass though. If you drill deep holes into brass stock you will find that it grabs the drill due to thermal expansion. In that case I use Relton's A-9. Back to the original thread, I ALWAYS clean and reoil the machine after each project. If you do that it will never get to the point where it is a dissaster. If you are having to do a lot of turning on the same part just stop every once in a while and dump the pan. Every time I take a break or go to lunch I brush off the worst of the crud.

Just my 2 cents worth

Jim (KB4IVH)

[john hobdeclipe]

Thanks, guys, for the tips. The sawdust works perfectly. I dumped a dustpan full over everything and brushed it around, plus another in the chip tray, and a couple days later brushed everything off. I'll catch the rest with a vacuum, oil it up again, and be ready to make another mess.

And I'll remember to machine it dry from now on, and to rig up a cover over the carriage & bed to the extent that it's feasible.