Centec 2b mill rebuild

[Graham Horne 2Participant @grahamhorne2]

I am rebuilding a late model Centec 2b mill. I stripped the machine back to small parts, removed the existing paint, cleaning up the castings with files, right angle grinder with flap disks and wire wheels and rotary burr grinder. I was surprised how messy and time consuming the casting preparation became. I then used brushed on 2 pack epoxy filler primer and filler to get the surface ready for spray paint. Next I sprayed 2 x coats 2K epoxy filler primer, and final sanded. Tomorrow I will warm up the shop to 20C and final coat with 2K epoxy gloss paint so it’s a day in full cover, air masks and the noise of paint booth fans. Hopefully only about 2 hours then I will get out of there and let it cure overnight. It’s a time consuming process but hopefully worth it.

Pete Rimmer kindly lent me a camel back straight edge and I now have my carbide scraper, surface plate and everything ready for scrapping the ways and surfaces on the mill. This is new to me but Pete kindly spent some time with me so I can get started. So now I will attempt to bring back the ways on the column, knee, cross slide and table back to as good as I can get. I’ll do my best. Once the paint is cured and I get the scraping done I will post some photos of the reassembly and the accuracy I achieve.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Check the weather forecast and whether the paint is happy in the very high humidity that will be around. It might be an idea to put light bulbs in the castings to warm them up before putting on the workshop heating else they will be condensation magnets.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Since heat is needed it will be no good using LED bulbs, incandescent bulbs will be needed ! Noel.

[Graham Horne 2Participant @grahamhorne2]

Thanks for the advice on heat. I have a wood stove which I will put on early in the morning and the fire will be out before I start painting. I stack the paint a parts around the stove so they are warm. There will be no flame when I start to paint but it will be warm.

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