Cleaning morse taper sockets

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I have 2 spindles with mt3 holes that have never been used but have a coating of rust ( not thick just a coating)

i have reamers but i was wondering about the rust damaging my expensive reamers.

have i seen a wooden mt male with a slot cut along its length for a strip of emery to clean up mt sockets?

or any other ideas

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

A piece of dowel rod and cut a family wide slot say 1 1/2" long then insert some very fine emery or wet & dry plus some sponge rubber, this takes care of the taper etc and applies pressure to the emery. run in the spindle. add a little lube if you wish. Thoroughly clean the taper and Bob's your Uncle

John

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Ian, plenty of tube wire brushes around, e.g. Wire brushes drilling

Regards Nick.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I wouldn't use reamers to clean out rust, if the spindles are hard they may damage the reamer if soft the reamer might 'knacker' the spindle, I always prefer to use the wet and dry method as per JohnF.

Tony

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

I've found specific morse taper cleaners on various sites consisting of a tapered tool with segments of felt glued on, but they seemed quite expensive for what they were. However, I don't think they'd be any good for removing rust.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Bo'sun, I have used the felt covered tapered tools for cleaning tapers but as you say they will not remove rust.

Tony

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

You can get wire brushes for cleaning shotgun barrels from any gunsmith. There are brass ones and steel ones. There is a screw thread on them but I can't remember what it is

Roy

Edited By roy entwistle on 06/04/2023 10:19:11

[DC31kParticipant @dc31k]

How about one of the rust removal products (e.g. Evaporust)? It is easier if you can arrange the small end of the taper downwards. Block up any hole in the spindle with a rubber bung (or a glob of silicone with a screw embedded in it for later ease of removal). Fill with the magic liquid. If they cannot be inverted, soak rags in the juice and stuff into the hole. Clingfilm the end to stop evaporation.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Don't use the chemical first as it will leave converted rust stuck on. First use brass wire brush, then scotchbrite, then phosphoric acid (no point in paying for special brands) followed by the scotchbrite again to remove the converted rust.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I have ordered some of the cylindrical wire brushes that Nicholas linked to for now …not seen them before I’m sure they will get most of the rust off

[DC31kParticipant @dc31k]

Posted by Bazyle on 06/04/2023 10:50:47:

Don't use the chemical first as it will leave converted rust stuck on.

then phosphoric acid (no point in paying for special brands)

No.

And no.

Please educate yourself on chelating agents and how they operate.

Also discuss the holding properties of an iron-phosphate-plated Morse taper.

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

When you have the lathe set up to cut a morse taper, run off a few bits of dowel to make cleaning tools. Glue on some chammy leather for a deluxe version. It really isn't difficult if you think ahead.

Martin

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Posted by Martin Johnson 1 on 06/04/2023 13:00:46:

When you have the lathe set up to cut a morse taper, run off a few bits of dowel to make cleaning tools. Glue on some chammy leather for a deluxe version. It really isn't difficult if you think ahead.

Martin

Maybe a small business opportunity for some enterprising individual.

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

If you have (or have access to) a 3D printer, there are a couple of morse taper cleaners on Thingiverse – I have made one of these and it works OK. Glueing on thin strips of fine (grey 600 grit) Scotchebrite should get rust off gently.

Nigel B.

[David Davies 8Participant @daviddavies8]

Roy Entwistle wrote:-

You can get wire brushes for cleaning shotgun barrels from any gunsmith. There are brass ones and steel ones. There is a screw thread on them but I can't remember what it is

I use Bisley 12 bore shotgun brushes to clean MT sockets. They are threaded 9/32 BSF (just to be awkward)

Mike Poole (moderator) suggested them many moons ago.

HTH

Dave

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I've been using bronze gun wire brushes myself, originally bought from Anchor Supplies in Nottingham/Ripley; though they may no longer have any after the fire.
https://www.anchorsupplies.com/.

I could do with some more now;
The nearest for Ian might be Lock Stock and Barrel
https://www.hardybrownslockstockandbarrelltd.com/

or maybe NM Products
https://nmproducts.ltd.uk/shooting/shotguns-and-accessories/shotgun-maintainance

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 06/04/2023 18:15:32

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Scotchbrite trapped in a twisted wire loop (I use 3.2mm aluminium tig rod), whizzed up in a battery drill will bring them up a treat.

[JellyParticipant @jelly]

Posted by Bazyle on 06/04/2023 10:50:47:

Don't use the chemical first as it will leave converted rust stuck on. First use brass wire brush, then scotchbrite, then phosphoric acid (no point in paying for special brands) followed by the scotchbrite again to remove the converted rust.

I like phosphoric acid as a rust remover, but it is fundamentally different to evaporust which is non-corrosive to steel/iron but breaks down rust via a redox reaction.

It's some very clever chemistry which being proprietary isn't well characterised, although I have a couple of theories about how they've accomplished it after playing about with trying to formulate something which would do the same thing, albeit with not as much success as the evaporust developer (removing rust is easy, the not corroding iron in an aqueous media no matter how long it's left is hard).

[Dave WoottonParticipant @davewootton]

Agree with Pete Rimmer above, I used to work for a machine tool importer / supplier when the Taiwanese machines were first starting to be imported and there was often light rust on surfaces including the spindle tapers. I don't think their anti corrosion oil was up to much. We used a fine brown/red Scotchbrite to remove it and it cleans off light rusting with no damage. Strangely new Colchesters and Harrisons also suffered from light surface rust and they hadn't come across the sea!

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

Posted by Martin Johnson 1 on 06/04/2023 13:00:46:

When you have the lathe set up to cut a morse taper, run off a few bits of dowel to make cleaning tools. Glue on some chammy leather for a deluxe version. It really isn't difficult if you think ahead.

Martin

And while you're at it, turn a morse taper plug to put in the tailstock, to keep the muck out when there's no actual tooling in it.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Unused spindles? With very mild surface rust? Me? I would use an (old, but good) morse taper and coat it with fine grinding/lapping paste. Do the job (only needing a very light touch to avoid the parts gripping) and clean up the two parts, ready for use elsewhere. Can’t think of anything much simpler.

I would probably use a blacksmith drill so there is plenty of ‘stick-out’ to hold securely and twist gently.

A wooden former with fine ‘wet and dry’ stuck to it should be easy enough?

[John Hall 7Participant @johnhall7]

The cheap spiral brush sets on EBay are good value…stainless, brass and nylon in various sizes…

similar to the one’s previously mentioned, but much cheaper

Edited By John Hall 7 on 10/04/2023 15:56:01

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by roy entwistle on 06/04/2023 10:18:44:

You can get wire brushes for cleaning shotgun barrels from any gunsmith. There are brass ones and steel ones. There is a screw thread on them but I can't remember what it is

Roy

Edited By roy entwistle on 06/04/2023 10:19:11

1/4" BSW?

Edited By Bill Phinn on 10/04/2023 16:29:21

[John Hall 7Participant @johnhall7]

The brass ones are ok for guns, but not so good for removing rust

[Author]

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