Cleaning a Forster Co-ax

cslater

cslater

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Bow Valley, Alberta
Just picked up a used co-ax and before mounting I wanted to give it a thorough cleaning to get all the dust, grime and other bits out of it. Was thinking of washing under warm water with soap and a toothbrush to scrub, then thoroughly dry to avoid any rust. Does anyone have any thought or expertise to share?

Thanks
Chris
 
I would never clean mine that way (wash under water).

I regularly give mine a wipe with Isopropyl alcohol.
If I've skipped a few cleanings and its really grimey, then I may use some Acetone.
I finish each cleaning with a drop of 3-in-1 oil on the rods and pivot points.
 
Throw it in the dish washer pots and pans setting. Dude ! It's a piece of steel as long as you don't leave it submerged for an extended time, scrub it up, wipe it down with oil and store it in a dry place. Sharpen it so it will be ready for usage. Un less it's a family heirloom or something extra special , it's a tool! Usage scars just add character ,( mushroom heads not so much ) . If your real picky clean it good and then clear coat it( spray lacquer)
 
I just use the Hornady 1-shot gun cleaner and lube (not the case lube) on all my firearms and presses. Does a good job cleaning up gunk and lubes at the same time. Only presses I use anything else on are the ones with zerk (grease) fittings.
 
I don't think my Co-Ax or any other one is fragile. But the last thing I'd do is put any press under running hot water - even if because of the question: "But why do that?". There's never water near the press during the reloading process - so why would I introduce water into the game just to clean it? Isn't that a fair question?

I probably don't have the bestest of the cleaning regimes, but what I do has worked for my Co-Ax since I bought it back in the 1970's.

I take a small stiff brush to all the residue that builds up on non-machined surfaces with a vacuum nozzle beside where I'm working to suck it all up, rather than move the residue somewhere else on my bench or the floor.

Then a plain old shop paper towel to wipe up as much oil and grease as I can get at on the moving parts as I cycle the press back and forth. That gets the majority of the oil/grease/lub that has picked up crap during operation.

Finally, I use Kroil directed into the internal bearing surfaces where the rods run, machine joints, etc to wash out what wasn't carried out to be wiped away before that. I have used Kleen-Flo at times when I couldn't find any Kroil handy.

All that done, I use Ponsness-Warren's STOS to lubricate all mating machined surfaces that move, and a very, very fine wipe of whatever gun oil is handy to protect exposed machined surfaces that don't move.

There may well be better ways to do it, and maybe better cleaners and lubricants to use instead, but it's worked just fine for me for almost 50 years now. I will go out on a limb and say it's a lot better than introducing soap and water into the press moving machined parts and linkages as the method of cleaning. Rather not deal with water when there's no need for it to be there in the first place.
 
Re-read Rick's post #6 and consider why that makes sense. Is one thing to have a single piece of metal that you want to clean - a saw blade, for example - very hot water to make the piece warm/hot and immediately go dry after the wash/scrub/rinse makes sense. But not if there are channels, journals, bearings, etc. - How are you going to get the water and soap out? Many dish washer soaps like Dawn turn out to be very good degreasers, also Simple Green, so if you go that route, need to replace oil or whatever that you removed or you get flash rusting. Very much not a good thing on machined surfaces or bearings. Any residue of those soaps will likely degrade any lubricant that you apply.

If you have been on CGN a while, might have seen the thread on the guy who thought to clean cosmoline from his SKS(?) or some milsurp with a dishwasher cycle - might be what some are prodding you to try??

However, in the end, it is your machine to do with as you see fit - fill yer boots!!!!
 
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Had mine for over 5 years now - never cleaned it that way - just spray oil and wipe it down with a micro-fiber cloth

I would remove all the screws and make sure nothing is seized remove the shell holder thing and make sure that is clean and lubed - they are A1 presses
 
IvoB said:
Had mine for over 5 years now - never cleaned it that way - just spray oil and wipe it down with a micro-fiber cloth

I would remove all the screws and make sure nothing is seized remove the shell holder thing and make sure that is clean and lubed - they are A1 presses
Click to expand...

This, there's no need to overthink it.
 
May as well start clean, rather than work in someone else's old filth. It's a 15 minute job. Buy a liter of varsol and use that with a brush in a pan. Wipe dry Lube lightly and sparingly, over lubing just attracts more dust and increases wear.
 
Hi All, ended up giving it a scrub with mineral spirits and it is looking pretty darn good. Wanted to start fresh without the previous owners grime etc. I decap on a separate Lyman press so this one will be restarting its life spic’n’span!

Thanks for all the advice,
Chris
 
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