cleaning and repainting 1954 windmill

hello there, hope to find everybody well.

faced with the impossibility of dismantling my windmill, i’m considering cleaning it and repainting it.
as i’m completely off on both methods and ways to do this, i hope you can give me some hints and advisory.

thank you!

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Thats how i got all the spare windmill parts i have, someone stripped windmill to move it and couldn’t get it back together again, they don’t want to come apart very easily.

ahah, that’s what i think!.. saw some photos on flickr of someone that adventured on dismantling one. that’s why i just want to wipe and paint it…

After my Windmill purchase 6 years ago the press needed deep cleaning. I asked another Windmill owner about procedures of cleaning, painting, removing parts, ect.. He said wipe it down, oil it up and learn how to print on the press.

well, actually i’ve done that for the past years, but now i just want to do cosmetics on the press…

Don’t even think about taking it apart. Taper pins everywhere that are impossible to get out, even if you can tell which direction they are going. Clean it up and keep printing!

well, i was not thinking in taking it apart… i just wanted an opinion, and it seems that the common opinion is “f*ck cosmetics, print!”.

but i want the press too look good you know?..

:D

bling is good, why not add some pinstripping and a little touch up paint? As to cosmetics… I think most would agree that they would find a girl or even a press with cosmetics applied, more desirable than a plain jane (wink)

The biggest problem with painting any press is resisting the chemistry you clean up with , the original paint is hardened and mostly resists the cleaners used ,except trichlorylls and methylated ethylene or other aromatic hydrocarbon cleaning agents ,mostly not available to the average hobbyist but theyare available by trade names .
i dont suppose touching up the chips is a bad idea , i use ammonia based metal polish to remove ink spatters with a good bit of rubbing most of the old ink come off.