What to Put on Rusting Way Covers

[goldenfab]

I have a new to me Fadal 4020 (1995). It was under power before I bought it but was in storage for a while before that. I've been giving the machine a deep clean. The back y-axis cover and z cover are stainless but the front y-axis cover and x-axis covers have some rust.

I wire wheeled the covers and scrubbed with a scotch bright pad with Evaporust. They look much better but if someone knows what would make them look better let me know. Some of the covers have a dull patina that my wire wheel doesn't easily get through. Most importantly what should I do to keep them from rusting again? I was going to wipe them down with way oil.

 

[Garwood]

I sand them with 80 grit on a DA sander then assemble with some grease on the sliders and seals. Coolant keeps them from rusting, but if you aren't running it then way oil sounds good.

If you have them apart replace the seals if they are crap. They usually are.

 

[Nerv]

Putting a maroon silicone carbide "scotch brite" pad on a palm sander, whether random orbit or not with WD-40 does an amazing job. I typically swap out seals to some that are designed for dry running as they are much tougher, if they are an option. To keep them from rusting; What Garwood says, coolant will do that for you but if not, use a lubricant that is already in use on your machine, whether that be the way oil it uses, or grease on a rag just so you aren't introducing something that will cause other issues with contamination in other areas.

 

[goldenfab]

Thanks for the suggestions.

What is the best way to make make the table look nice again? Is hand scrubbing with a scotchbright pad and rust remover too aggressive?

 

[???]

Put neat coolant on the exposed surfaces. That way you don't introduce contaminants into your coolant you just up the concentration when you flush it off with machine coolant.

 

[Garwood]

Thanks for the suggestions.

What is the best way to make make the table look nice again? Is hand scrubbing with a scotchbright pad and rust remover too aggressive?

Hard to make it look like new, but I will first use a razor blade to scrape off the rust, then some scotch brite and diesel fuel on any bad looking areas, then stone off any high spots with a fine flat stone and diesel fuel.