This will take more than just a good buffing to fix...

[TimS124]

I was woken up way too early this morning with a call from the front gate of the place we have a vacation cabin at….they wanted to let me know the water company had turned off our water because it was flowing down the driveway.

Last weekend, a cold front came through and dumped 6-8 inches of snow…and we rarely get even a dusting. Temperatures have stayed in the 30's - 40's during the day and 20's-30's at night.

All of my exterior pipes are covered so I figured something like the hose to the washing machine in the garage had given out…nope, it was worse than that….the cap at the end of an air gap came loose and that created a high-pressure nozzle that blasted a hole in the drywall near the washing machine and sprayed water at least 15 feet across the garage.

And right there, 15 ft away, with its top almost 4 ft above the floor, was my Jet 1014VS…right in the line of fire (so to speak). I've attached a phone photo showing the headstock, part of the ways, top of the tool rest, lots of fresh rust everywhere I look.

It was unplugged which is probably a very good thing because there's water on top of the controller and no doubt water on the motor.

I have no idea how long the water sprayed before somebody noticed it flowing down the driveway and thought to call and get it turned off. I was out there last weekend and enough other people's pipes have frozen that folks are likely on guard for problems. That's not helping my lathe feel any better though.

Sure hope my insurance covers at least most of what got soaked. It's a great little lathe…or was.

 

[Ambidex]

New rust is way easier than old rust to clean up. If I had that lathe I'd let insurance pay for what it will and keep that lathe and restore. It shouldn't take more than a good rust cleaning product and some elbow grease. If not you can always send it to me (I'll pay shipping!:wink and I'll fix her up:biggrin:

 

[TimS124]

I've restored, tuned, and used plenty of antique woodworking tools. I'm not afraid of rust…but this lathe was still in great condition with lots of pens left in it. The heavy rust really hurts to see.

If I had to, I could set up an electrolysis bath and zap away the rust. Much easier than the elbow grease but it'll take more time to dismantle the lathe for dunking/zapping.

I suspect it's not horribly deep but I can't tackle it until the adjuster comes and does whatever adjusters do…which won't be until at least Monday.

Mostly I'm concerned about water in the electronics and/or motor.

I turned the headstock by hand briefly tonight and there's a squeak….never had that before…hopefully a bit of lube and a good workout will clear that up but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.

The lathe stand has a custom (though simple) tool rest that is all soggy. I'll have to remake that as part of the cleanup process.

Mostly it's the time lost during the holiday crunch that's really gnawing at me…all my pre-planned projects are on hold while I sort out this mess. D'oh!

 

[Ambidex]

Ah..wasn't trying to be unsympathetic...does suck to see our babies messed up and hopefully the adjuster will show and you can get started. I wonder if blowing the motor and controller out would help at all for now? I realize you don't want to clean the outers till he gets a look at the damage. Don't know if that would prevent worse damage on the insides or not? If I was closer you'd be more than welcome to use my shop till you get fixed up again. Good luck!

 

[Magicbob]

The motor and controller should be fine.
This is the proper application of WD-40, pour it on and into every crevice of both the motor and controller, (open or remove all covers) and let it run off, it will take water with it, then let it dry naturally before you power back up.
Check out a gun cleaning product called Clenxoil for cutting the rust fast.
Good luck with the adjuster.

 

[edstreet]

Worth noting is the PAINT that jet uses on their lathes which *SHOULD* be powder coating. So from that in your case you may have rust under the paint. Any treatment you do will damage the paint so just a heads up on that.

 

[TimS124]

Ah..wasn't trying to be unsympathetic...does suck to see our babies messed up and hopefully the adjuster will show and you can get started. I wonder if blowing the motor and controller out would help at all for now? I realize you don't want to clean the outers till he gets a look at the damage. Don't know if that would prevent worse damage on the insides or not? If I was closer you'd be more than welcome to use my shop till you get fixed up again. Good luck!

No worries - I didn't take it your original note as unsympathetic. I'm frustrated by the timing of this "event", not by anybody's response.

Thanks for the followup and for the offer…I have a larger lathe that didn't get touched but the Jet does a better job. I love the fast startup time on the Jet's spindle. I find I'm much more willing to turn it off and check my progress with the Jet than when using a much larger lathe. The big lathes start and stop very slowly since they're designed to handle bigger loads.

 

[TimS124]

The motor and controller should be fine.
This is the proper application of WD-40, pour it on and into every crevice of both the motor and controller, (open or remove all covers) and let it run off, it will take water with it, then let it dry naturally before you power back up.
Check out a gun cleaning product called Clenxoil for cutting the rust fast.
Good luck with the adjuster.

Thank you. I have WD-40 poised and ready once the adjuster is done.

Looks like Amazon carries Clenzoil and it's eligible for Prime shipping…so I should have it Tuesday!

 

[TimS124]

Worth noting is the PAINT that jet uses on their lathes which *SHOULD* be powder coating. So from that in your case you may have rust under the paint. Any treatment you do will damage the paint so just a heads up on that.

Thanks for the heads up! Hopefully, there's no major rust easting away at the border between the powder coating and the bare tops of the rails. I'm leaving it untouched though until the adjuster has said whatever they're going to say…never had to deal with something like this so I'm not sure what to expect from the insurance company.

Even worse…at the bottom of a large bin that filled with water…I found the photo album from my wedding. It was fully submerged for probably less than 48 hours but that was plenty long enough to make a mess. It's almost 30 years old so reprints might not be possible.