That thick “grease” that tools come covered with —
Cosmoline. A combination of grease, shellac and beeswax with copper sulfate added as a corrosion inhibitor. It is initially heated and thinned with alcohol during the mixing state, then is allowed to cool and set up.
A vapor barrier used to protect metal against corrosion for extended periods of time and/or in hot, humid climates.
Suggestions for removal: Heat with hair dryer and scrape. Wash with kerosene — or soak object in it. Final wash with alcohol.
Replies
Get a can of gasoline and soak the parts in it. The cosmoline will come right off.
I didn't know anyone still used the stuff. The gasoline trick is something I learned from a WWII Marine vet.
By the way, do this outside and NO SMOKING!! - lol
You can still afford gasoline?
I didn't know anyone still used the stuff.
I started this thread because cosmoline was mentioned in 17822.1 Thought that the info might be useful to someone other than that poster.
"A friend asked whether the machines were shipped with carmoline (sp?) - the Unisaw was not- he flet that furher indicated it came from within the U.S. whereas the planer and jointer were covered with the stuff."
A guy near here just died using gas as a cleaner. The fire dept thinks fumes ignited when his furnace went on or from some other source. Probably time to move on to something a little less explosive.
Pete
When I suggested gasoline, I was just passing along something I had heard from an old Marine vet. I sure didn't intend to start a major debate. - lol
As a former volunteer firefighter, I would have to emphatically denounce the use of gasoline for any solvent purpose.
I have a dear friend who will carry burn scars for the rest of her life due to a gasoline fire. She was filling her ultralight aircraft with mo-gas from a can when a static discharge ignited the vapors.
Another friend lost his airplane, a restored Piper J-3 Cub, while just draining gasoline from a wing tank into a plastic bucket. A static discharge from the flowing fuel ignited the conflagration and it burned on the taxiway between rows of hangers. Had he done this while still inside the hanger, the losses would have been much higher. A metal bucket and a grounding lead might have prevented this loss.
A resident of our small town died about 2 years ago by using gasoline to clean his lawnmower in his driveway.
Gasoline has a flash point of about -50°F (-65°C) and a fire point of -43°F (-45°C). The ignition temperature is about 495°F (257.2°C), a rather low figure.
To define the above, the flashpoint of a fuel is the lowest temperature at which it can form an ignitable mix with air. At this temperature the vapour may cease to burn when the source of ignition is removed. A slightly higher temperature, the fire point, is defined at which the vapour continues to burn after being ignited. Neither of these parameters is related to the temperatures of the ignition source or of the burning fuel, which are much higher.
What this means is that at any reasonable temperature, gasoline fumes need only an ignition source to become an inferno. Virtually ANY ignition source will do, a static spark, a hot soldering iron, that heat gun used to soften the cosmoline.
Please, PLEASE, don't use gasoline. Mineral spirits will do just fine and be a lot healthier to your lungs and skin as well.
--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon;
Gateway to the Oregon Caves
I read somewhere many years ago that boiling water and lots of rags is the regulation GI technique, but that wise old NCO's used gasoline.
Boiling water and rags was the 'approved' method. Gasoline worked!! - lol
Gasoline is formulated to burn in engines and contains a number of toxic chemicals that aren't needed to remove cosmoline type greases. Use ordinary paint thinner to remove the residue after first scraping off the grease with a plastic or wood scraper. WD-40 also works well to clean up new machines.
John W.
Amen, and a hell of a lot safer.
When I worked at a woodworking store we used WD-40 to get the cosmo off. Works like a charm and is a lot safer than gasoline.
Yes, A lot of solvents will cut cosmoline.
Yes, I'd heard of using gasoline -- even heard of burning off the gasoline when it has dissolved the cosmoline.
WD40 sounds like a very expensive solution, unless WD40 comes in 5 gal buckets or you're cleaning chisels and other small objects.
The purpose of my post was to detail its composition and suggest a fairly easy, somewhat environmentally friendly, cheap way to remove it, thinking that the information might be useful to someone.
My mistake.
Yep I agree with you. This thread went down the wrong road. Every place I've been and all the directions that accompanied a tool shipped with cosmoline recommends kerosene. Kerosene quickly cuts cosmoline and leaves a slight oily residue that protects cast iron from rusting. Alcohol removes the residue if that's the intent. A good alternate is mineral spirits but being one step up the refining scale, it does not leave the oily residue. Both kerosene and mineral spirits are not very flamable or dangerous to health.
WD40 will remove it but it is the high cost alternative. Being a petroleum dirivative somewhere between kerosene and mineral spirits it will do the job.
Using gasoline is just plain stupid IMO.Howie.........
WD-40 is available in gallon cans. You don't need gallons to do the job. You SCRAPE the excess cosmoline, use a few paper towels next, and then use the solvent to get the last little bit.
Kerosene film on woodworking equipment? No thanks.
You can easily clean the cosmoline from say a tablesaw or jointer with no more WD-40 than that found in a spray can of the stuff. Not true if you want to bathe the equipment in solvent and do no scraping or work with a roll of paper towels.
I'm hard-pressed to imagine a guy taking delivery of a new tablesaw and dousing it with kerosene or gas while it sits on his shop floor. I suppose you could do it out in the yard or driveway but that's not much more palatable.
FWIW, I have found that denatured alcohol works as well as anything and you actually can douse the equipment in those spots that are hard to get to. It obviously evaporates quickly.
I didn't suggest dousing any piece of equipment with either gasoline or kerosene.
And I wouldn't suggest leaving the kerosene film on a piece of equipment that was to be immediately put to use. That's why I suggested alcohol.
But WD40 leaves a film of its own, and it attracts dirt, too.
I generally use Mill-Rose Rust Buster to loosen stuff. The WD40 can just sits there.
>>I'm hard-pressed to imagine a guy taking delivery of a new tablesaw and dousing it with kerosene or gas while it sits on his shop floor. I suppose you could do it out in the yard or driveway but that's not much more palatable.
I don't think anyone recommended "dousing" the tool in kerosene. Why would you do anything more than wet a rag with kerosene and wipe the cosmoline off. Throw out the rag when you are done.
Seems to me that you would actually have a messier job spraying WD40 on the tool. WD40 is just as flammable as kerosene or mineral spirits and has the same health issues if you breath much of the mist.Howie.........
mineral spirits worked good for me on genuine UG government issue cosmoline when I got my Springfield 1903 from the Civilian markmanship program. The barrel was absolutely packed with it, and it was all over the wooden stock. It didn't take much either to clean it up.
Been lurking here and find this raging debate interesting. In lieu of the fact I did not make the debate team, I will just add a few comments and let it go at that. Sometimes something simple gets complicated if we let it.
I have used kerosene, (suggested by some manufacturers as it has less tendency to soften the paint), mineral spirits (odorless with draw less complaints from the spouse), WD-40 and gasoline to clean commoline. My first experience with cosmoline was in 1959 when I would buy British .303 rifles from the Sears catalog for $12.95 and sporterize them for re-sale. I was 12 and cosmoline has been around a lot longer.
Since (including the military) I have used all mentioned here. They all work. They all have fumes (kerosene the most lingering) and certain safety issues (flamable, etc.). They all require breaking a sweat as the cosmoline doesn't just magically dis-appear without some muscle.
Some suggestions are to take the machine outside if possible and do it there. If not possible, have plenty of ventilation and eliminate any source of possible spark. A shop fan staged behind you facing the machine and toward and open door helps a lot. If it's cold, wear additional clothes as they are less volatable than fumes. Spring and summer are better times to make large machine purchases for cosmoline cleaning.
If you don't have rags around, buy a box of painters rags at the Box's. $8.00 seems trite compared to the price of your machine. Use them with which-ever solvent you chose and dispose of them properly. A cheap plastic tarp around the base of the machine will avoid stains on the shop floor or drive-way. If you leave the machine outside until the odor evaporates, cover it at night with the tarp. Dry with clean rags in the morning.
Sorry I couldn't make it sound more complicated and as if we are on the horizon of new thresholds. But, ..... well, ...... it's all really kinda...... well, ...... simple. ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
Ya'll have a good day...
sarge..jtProud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
No! No! No!
You should use only recycled spring water and 100% post-consumer recycled towels to get the cosmoline off. The towels must then be strained to remove any of the hazardous chemicals, the chemicals and the towels must then be taken to a EPA approved hazardous waste site( NOT in my city or state) and disposed of properly.
Unbleached 100% post-consumer recycled towels.
Ah, the .303..Lee Enfield markIV..jungle carbine ,sportsterized..my very first deer rifle. The deer were safe, it couldn't hit a barn from inside..my GDAD used it in WWII in Africa..too many tracers,FMJ's and cordite..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
SPHERE
These were not the "jungle carbines" I was purchasing. The jungle version could be had for $29.95 surplus as there were not as readily available as the standard lenght infantry issue Mark III's and IV's. They did not have the muzzle suppressor as the jungle and the fore stock ran all the way to the front sights.
The carbines were not as accurate as the long barreled version and packed a wallop on the shoulder because of the lighter weight. And yep, all the .303 surplus Enfields were terribly in-accurate as they had a million rounds fired through them. OK for short range deer hunting, but junk for any long range activity.
The good point was the bolt action on the Enfields was one of the fastest and smoothest ever made. The Swedish Mauser surplus military rifles (cavalry version with turned down bolt) was an excellent choice to sporterize. Un-like the burned out rifling in the Enfields from over-use, they had near perfect rifling as the Swedish military and police hardly ever used them.
The Italian military rifles were junk along with the French. I had rather swing a en-trenching tool than try to defend with either. The Warren Commision said President Kennedy was shot with an Italian Cacarno with 3 accurate shots fired in a short period. Anyone that has ever used an Italian Cacarno with a scope mounted would dispute that. Heavy, sticky bolting and the rifle is in-accurate. The first round could be effective from that range, but to re-bolt-locate target and lock cross-hairs and squeeze off two more rounds in that short of time is im-possible with that rifle. Rifle is using the term very loosely.
With either the French or Italian military rifles, better just to surrender early, very early. Hmmm..... we may be on to something here!! ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
Regards...
sarge..jtProud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
yup, the hard black rubber butt plate..left many a mark on the shoulder..I also had the bayonet clip on mine.
The bolt was incredible, when empty it was spring loaded..snap back so fast...I could chamber a round with my thumb, and not leave the trigger guard with the rest of my hand..
If I was snipen a Pres..I'd take a 7mm Mauser..but I don't practice that kind of shooting, a .308 is good too.
Right now my main target knocker is a Ruger .223..been consistantly getting five hole in an area the size of a dime..at 100 yrds. Close enuf for me. 40x scope helps.
Been loading my own, chrono'd at 2570 FPS..that's a heck of a lot faster than ol .303..no wonder I hit what I'm aimed at, nothin else can move at that speed, 'cept light.
Be good Sarge, Happy Mem. Day..(2nd Lt. here)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled