Drafting Machines

After being reminded of these things via a video on Inheritance Machining's YouTube channel, I bought one. Then I found another one I liked (with the spyglass), and bought that, too. And then a pair of scales. And then a new vinyl mat for my table. And then a scale key. And then a circle template. And then some drafting dots. And then new triangles. It quickly got out of control...

The head of the fancier machine, before cleaning. On the drafting table, before its own cleaning.

Nicotene, grease, and dust. Not sure either machine had ever been cleaned.

A dim view.

Dirty.

Looks like rust, but it's actually a naugahyde-like boot over the upper foot of the bracket, giving the head a non-marring surface on which to be parked.

Half-cleaned shoulder joint.

Half-cleaned head. I ended up taking the brown knob off to get the whole thing cleaned.

Aping Baumgartner Restoration's videos, I made a pile of the cotton swabs, cotton balls, and toothpicks it took to get the two machines cleaned. Not kidding when I say that most of the filth was nicotene. That's what the brown is. The green is from a microscopically-thin layer of degraded surface paint/plastic that wiped off the green areas (with no apparent harm).