Cleaning up an old Record 52 E Vice

[bacchanal]

Hi all,

I recently bought a great, fully working old Record 52 E Vice. I'm very pleased with it as all is working perfectly. However, it is very greasy and dirty - brown grease on my hands after picking it up!

Please could somebody advise which parts of this vice needs oiling/greasing - and what oil/grease is best to use? It is currently quite sticky, and I don't want sawdust to stick to it. Should I take it apart for cleaning and oiling it?

Also, what would be a good de-greasing solution to clean this vice up with?

Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks.

 

[Racers]

Put it in a washing up bowl (not that one in the sink) and use some white sprit and a paint brush to clean all grease off.
A coat of wax (Wood Silk furniture polish) will keep it from rusting.
I only oil lightly the screw where it goes they the front jaw and at the rear.

Pete

 

[bacchanal]

Great, thanks. What oil do you use?

 

[bacchanal]

ps. Any other good cleaning items to use besides white spirit - and would PTFE oil be good on the rollers when it's cleaned up?

 

[Racers]

White sprit is cheap and easily available, gunk etc will work but is costs more.
Any oil will do just don’t put too much on the rods shouldn’t need much if any, it will pickup sawdust and stick if you use too much.

Pete

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Old dishwashing and tooth brushes are useful for jobs like this. Undo the half nut and get the crud out of it while you're there.

 

[AndyT]

I agree with Pete but if you don't want to use solvents there are tough grease removing detergents sold in car or motorbike shops. I think Jizer and Jenolite make products similar to Gunk.
You could probably manage with washing up liquid or Swarfega - there are lots of answers - but only you know exactly what you are dealing with and how greasy it is.
Old credit cards are handy for scraping the bulk off without scratching.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you use Jizer, Gunk, or whatever carefully, you can reuse it so long as you don't water it. Let it settle out and pour it back in the tin and it then doesn't work out as expensive as it first seems.

 

[deema]

When I have anything to degrease I always start off by dunking it in diesel. It’s an amazing degreaser and remover of built up gunk and wood resin. Spray on white greese is my choice for lubricant as it dries, keeps rust away and does not attract Saw dust.

 

[Seiken]

I've just cleaned and fitted an old 52E I got on ebay, the old ones have a steel cover over the screw with a hole marked 'oil' a few drops of 3 in 1 occasionally keeps the screw lubricated the cover keeps sawdust off the screw and stops oil getting on workpieces. I used machine wax on the guide rails and screw cover itself.

 

[Jacob]

Seems to be a lot of thought going into a very low tech item! At least nobody has suggested Camellia oil or Honerite (most expensive fluid in the universe!).
If it works it doesn't need anything doing to it - just wipe off the messy bits of grease with a rag.
Drop of oil on the moving parts every now and then.
If saw dust sticks - wipe it off.

I know it's a bit low tech for some but oily rags are handy.

 

[ED65]

Also, what would be a good de-greasing solution to clean this vice up with?

Loads of viable options. Old-school is to use a suitable solvent. You can use soapy water. Oven cleaner is great for extremely filthy things where the oil or grease has oxidised, turning it sort of waxy, but it will attack paints and other finishes.

ps. Any other good cleaning items to use besides white spirit

All the simple hydrocarbons will dissolve oily dirt and degrease a surface about equally. So white spirit, petrol, diesel and kerosene will all get the job done. But if you want to get something the size of a vice spanking clean with a solvent it presents a problem (in addition to the stink!) as you have to use loads of it. Think bucket rather than jar. And if you're not in a position to recover and reuse the solvent it actually works out quite expensive.

Hot soapy water on the other hand is about as cheap as you can get. This is now my first port of call to clean up almost every old tool I get my hands on, and with the help of some wire brushes, a couple of old toothbrushes and a stainless pot scourer you can go a long part of the way towards getting even rusty things cleaned up.

would PTFE oil be good on the rollers when it's cleaned up?

Some prefer not to use that where it might allow transfer to get onto wood.

I like to use wax on the rods and while I'm at it I use it on the threads too and it seems to work well. Being less sticky than oils and greases it helps prevent sawdust sticking although TBH that isn't a major issue.

 

[bacchanal]

Thanks all.
I cleaned it out thoroughly with white spirit.
Is there a certain hole or section it is best to spray the PTFE into, or should I just spray it along the length of the thread?
Thanks.

 

[Seiken]

Has yours got a cover over the screw? If it has there is a hole about half way along marked "oil" personally I'd stick to using oil on the screw.

 

[nabs]

you want to use something that is not too sticky since sawdust and shavings that get carried into the half-nut can build up and eventually cause the screw to slip (I use teflon bike-chain spray on mine, others use wax)

as mentioned above, if you have an "A" model it will have a cover that runs the length of the screw that protects it from much of the debris that would otherwise fall on to it.