Cosmoline Cleaner/Gun Cleaner Question

[John Yogus]

I'm putting together my jointer and it's time to take off the cosmoline. I tried Hoppes #9 (gun cleaner) on a small section and was surprised at how easy it took it off. Before I go full bore on this, has anyone used this? Do you think I would run into finishing problems with it?
Thanks

[Karl Brogger]

Nooooo! It'll take paint off. Hoppes is harsh stuff. You aren't supposed to let it sit on blued gun surfaces what is it going to do to paint. Go get a can of contact cleaner from Napa. It disolves well, isn't to horrible to deal with, and leaves no residue when it dries. Carb cleaner works as well but is a bit more irritating to use, (eyes, lungs etc), plus its flamable.

[John Keeton]

Take a 4" putty knife and gently lift the bulk of it off and use mineral spirits for the rest of it. Just use some ventilation and it cleans up quickly.

[Jack Briggs]

Naphtha is what I use.

[Ben Rafael]

WD40 cleans off cosmoline easily.

[Dexter Hahn]

Ahh, Hoppes #9. Just the smell of that brings back good memories. :)
But I wouldn't use it on your jointer... naphtha or mineral spirits works fine, and evaporates quickly. Heck, I've even used boiling water or steam to get cosmoline off/out of gun parts.

[Howard Acheson]

The most often recommended remover is kerosene. It quickly cuts the cosmoline and leaves a slight protective oil film on the surface that protects the surface from rust.

You can also use mineral spirits which is one step removed from kerosene in the oil refining process. However, the mineral spirits will not leave the oil residue.

[Mike Spanbauer]

Another vote for WD-40. Easy on the air quality and effective.

mike

[James Suzda]

I'm putting together my jointer and it's time to take off the cosmoline. <SNIP>
Is it truly cosmoline? When we assembled my Son's Grizzly jointer just for giggles I just wiped the "protective film" with some handfuls of "wood dust". I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked and we used "wood dust" to remove all the protective coating.
But, when we used to remove the cosmoline back in my "Army days", we "cooked" the metal parts of the rifles in garbage cans of boiling water! That heavy glop came right off.

[Howard Acheson]

WD40 cleans off cosmoline easily.

It should. It's mostly a very close cousin to mineral spirits. Mineral spirits is cheaper though.

[Jason Roehl]

Carb cleaner works as well but is a bit more irritating to use, (eyes, lungs etc), plus its flamable.

Carb cleaner has some pretty nasty solvents in it as well--solvents that are very damaging to paint. We use it to clean dried paint out of stubbornly clogged airless sprayer tips.

My vote is with Kerosene or mineral spirits, as they are the most effective for the money.

[Walt Nicholson]

I used WD40 on advice from a neighbor on a Shop Fox (same as Grizzly-different color) TS and jointer and was amazed at how fast and easy it worked. It is flammable but not near as much as some of the other solvents and thinners and it smells a little better. :)

[Steven Wilson]

Cosmoline was designed to have kerosene used to disolve it. Diesel would be my second choice, and then on to more active solvents like mineral spirits. Just use a scraper to get off the bulk of the cosmoline then hit the rest with some kerosene and wipe off. If you don't like the kerosene film then a quick wipe with WD40 works well.

[John Yogus]

Thanks for the help.

[Ben Rafael]

It should. It's mostly a very close cousin to mineral spirits. Mineral spirits is cheaper though.

In my neck of the woods wd40 is cheaper and it comes in a handy spray can
12oz can for 99 cents.

[glenn bradley]

Unless the manufacturer went wild with the coating it is not that big of a job. Don't make a science experiment out of it. I just use a plastic putty knife to remove most of it, then I use mineral spirits and paper towels disposing of the towels as they get dirty. Don't try to save a nickle by using a towel too long, you're just spreading stuff around. If you go with WD-40 be sure to get it all wiped off, it turns gummy with age around here.