This lathe still has the red grease on the Gears and parts of the lathe lol
I'm surprised no one has picked up on this yet...
Jake, The red packing grease, or 'chicken fat' as the people in the factory that make the mini lathes nickname it, really is *packing* grease. The lathe must not be run for any period of time with the grease still in place. It's main purpose is just to stop the parts going rusty when in storage / transport.
It's always best practice for ANY new machine, albeit a hobby pillar drill, a full on lathe or mill should be torn down, all parts stripped, cleaned, tuned and adjusted then finally re-greased with proper lubricant before being used.
A bath of kerosene or even an industrial sized few litres of WD-40 would be enough. Then you would need a few paint brushes (new or very clean) and douse EACH part in turn.
Re-assemble, check the gibs and the ways are tuned, and backlash is minimsed as well as can be expected; then you are ready to go.
Apologies if this seems a 'rain on your parade' moment, it's not supposed to be; take it more as some tips that the next owner would need to follow before they plug it in.
All the best, and I wish you well on the medical side of things.
If you ever need any machining help, drop me a line.
Cheers,
Dan