Mildly abrasive material mounted on bench grinder or similar?

Wire wool?

Brass wire wheels?

Paint stripping flapwheels?

Elbow grease with sheet materials?

Edited By not done it yet on 05/05/2021 06:22:55

Oil and Scotchbrite or wire wool, don’t use anything that will remove metal as you risk changing taper shape. Old machine shops often have rusty looking tapers around, at least they did in my days.

Well I use a fairly worn smooth file by holding the drill in one hand and lightly brushing the taper lengthwise in a draw file fashion, but I do go all the way round regardless, which takes the worst off and any dings and then finish off with Scotchbrite, although I don't make them all shiny polished. Never had any problems with any not running true with this method and they always hold in just like a brand new one.

Regards Nick.

Just assumed that you were American .

There is an edit button shown to the poster in the green bar above the post, but the opportunity goes away after a while.

(Edited because I forgot where the button was)

Edited By Mark Rand on 05/05/2021 11:44:07

Is Chestnut Product's "Nyweb" the same as Scotchbrite?

This appears to be a similar product to Scotchbrite – the red (600 grit) or orange (1000 grit) pads should work fine.

Using WD40 or similar as a lubricant works well – my "go to" solution for cleaning up tarnished / rusty ground surfaces.

Nigel B.

I would prefer soaking in Evaporust over application of abrasives.

I've had some fantastic results with an ultrasonic cleaner on some old taps and dies.

Evaporust is also very effective.

Jim

What's wrong about being American?

I have some with 6 flutes on MT3 tanged shanks, use them occasionally on the lathe from the tailstock to bottom out drilled holes before boring. Never tried to use them as milling cutters in a spindle but I guess that was one of their uses when new.

Emgee

I would also avoid using any tanged cutter sideways, it is looking for trouble. That is why mills use drawbars.