Ok, I finally bought me a benchtop mill. And without the help of my 14 year old football playing son it would have been a floor model :) . It is one of them taiwanize green machines that is packed it cosmoline or some type of heavy grease. It has set at the store on display for a long time so lots of the grease is gone.

I have wiped off all the other I can and have it pretty clean. But it looks like it is time to disassemble the table and screws and clean and lub them. They move but are not smooth.

So what do I need to use to clean this junk off with? It is already in my shop (garage) so it would be best to stay away from flamable smelly stuff if possible.

What type of grease or lubricant is recommended to use for reassemble after cleaning.

What other type of tune up tweaking etc. is recommended?

Any advise will be welcomed.

Thanks

Tony, I wouldn't take the table apart unless you had to.
Clean it up real good with degreaser or solvent, and lube it with "way oil", it is for sliding tables.
You can find it at MSC Direct. com in the lubrication section.

The wedges underneath the table are the adjustments to take the play out of the table.
If these screws are too tight, the table will not travel smoothly.
If they are too loose, the table will rock under a heavy load.
Hope it helps.

Thanks Gene

I didn't really want to disassemble it but it has obviously set on the display floor for a while with that thick gunkie grease on it. Some of it is so dried out and hard it "looks" like rust but it pops off. The table and spindle grab and are not smooth. I am relatively sure it is due to the grease so I need to get it oiled up and smoothed out some.

Is there anything besides "way oil" that will work well. Maybe 90 weight gear lube or something? I just didn't want to order the stuff if I could get something locally. I may need to contact the local farm equipment supplier too!.

Thanks

Tony,I think WD40 will loosen the stuff where you can wipe it off.
A Moly based grease would work OK, but keep it clean, Grease collects debree and that would get stuck in your rails.
Be sure to clean and lube the acme thread too.