The clamping claw for the lathe is in need of a bit of love. the combination of a long time being exposed to water and oils from the wood and it not receiving maintenance all the while and lacking an regular oil coat left it crusty. Trying to open and close the claw is near to impossible as the parts don't like to rotate. After investigating the mechanism, it's clear what the trouble is. the grease that was inside has hardened into a grey goop that clogs up everything. Taking it apart was a real challenge, but luckily the grease did prevent the gears from rusting.
The parts need some cleaning and getting rid of the rust. All of the rust is surface rust luckily meaning getting rid of it is an easy process. To get rid of the rust I will use an ultrasonic cleaner with cleaning vinegar to get rid of the rust.
So after cleaning and giving it a small coat of WD40 against rust formation, the parts come out nice and clean. It's time to assemble the parts. For the gears, I will be using a thick machine grease that is anti corrosive to protect the gears. Grease is great for the application due to lower rotation speed that the mechanism uses.
The other parts such as the bolts get a small drip of mineral oil to make sure the parts don't rust together in the future, the outside of the claw will also get a small coat of oil to protect against rust.