Cleaning tool holders

[JoshC]

not to get off topic but from my experience when it comes to cleaning Coolant off a CNC machine the best cleaner is more coolant. Like coolant streaks on walls of the machine etc., i was tasked with cleaning a bunch of machines when i was an apprentice and was using all sorts of cleaners and a journeyman in the shop just dipped a rag in some coolant and used the coolant soaked rag to clean the coolant marks off the machine and they would come off instantly like that whereas the stuff i was using was not working at all. Its amazing how well Coolant soaked rags clean coolant stains off a machine, who would have thought... Im not sure how many others have tried this but it really works!

[Aaron Eberhard]

10 minutes ago, Midwest said:

We got another rusty mold a customer had shipped back from China. The cavity was smeared in grease so it was OK. We tried the vinegar bath and here are a few pic's. A sandblaster would be quicker, but this does work. Make sure to spray the steel with WD40 afterwards to neutralize the acid of the vinegar. The pic's are the rails and back plate of the housing. The line on the rails is from the fluid line.

If this is a common problem, a few of us gearheads (of various realms) around the office here are big fans of electrolysis.  This is generally quite a bit faster than vinegar.  Check out threads like this one on grassrootsmotorsports.com to see an example.   You need to have an old-school battery charger that will put out current regardless to pull it off, though, the new "auto sensing" ones will often shut off voltage if they don't detect the battery.   

Don't do it to anything with chrome or stainless, though!  There's some nasty chemicals that can come off of it then.

[So not a Guru]

2 hours ago, JoshC said:

not to get off topic but from my experience when it comes to cleaning Coolant off a CNC machine the best cleaner is more coolant. Like coolant streaks on walls of the machine etc., i was tasked with cleaning a bunch of machines when i was an apprentice and was using all sorts of cleaners and a journeyman in the shop just dipped a rag in some coolant and used the coolant soaked rag to clean the coolant marks off the machine and they would come off instantly like that whereas the stuff i was using was not working at all. Its amazing how well Coolant soaked rags clean coolant stains off a machine, who would have thought... Im not sure how many others have tried this but it really works!

I've always found plain water to work best. The coolant is, essentially, sugar water and the water dilutes and cleans it off great.

[TROST]

Used to wipe down with ISO and lightly scotch bright if needed (white or light grey scotch bright, very little abrasive) then lightly oil. ACF-50 is awesome for corrosion and rust prevention. A friend who works on airplanes recommended this stuff and it works great.