Lathe bed cleaning

[KevinMc]

Hi

I am standing by for a range of answers !

What do you recommend for cleaning and making it easy to slide the banjo and tail stock on the lathe bed?

Kevin

 

[Ray7756]

Hi Kevin think the guys must still be partying lol
Ray

 

[21William]

It depends how dirty the lathe bed is but I’ve used white spirit and wire wool on cast iron to good effect.

I use Microcrystalline Wax on my lathe and the Banjo and tailstock slide nicely but still lock. Lathe beds aren’t all ground or finished the same way though so wax may not suit all Lathes? It’s easy to remove though so give it a try though and see how you get on.

 

[Bill Mooney]

I use a dry lubricant spray Kevin. PTFE or something similar.

 

[21William]

I forgot to add, you can also wax the paintwork of your Lathe with Microcrystalline Wax as well to help prevent finishing products sticking to it.

 

[Dalboy]

I keep the bars on mine clean after each days work and every so often apply wax to the moving parts for ease of moving things along them. had no problems so far with any parts slipping when locked down. I also use the same on other tools as well with no ill effect to them or the wood picking any of the wax up which normally could spoil a finish

 

[Penpal]

Never used anything one lathe when I gave it away recently was thirty years plus old,like new on the bed et al. Same condition with the others. I did buy at sales the curtain lined material to form loose cover as I had a downpour with excessive hail a few times,to be sure. Otherwise a wipe over. Bear in mind we here where I live in a temperature (relatively) climate condensation is controllable.

I had friends who used WD 40 etc but as Bill says If I would use anything it would be a dry lubricant from choice. The idea of a slippery tail stock appalls.

Peter.

 

[Ray7756]

I know for certain when using a metal work lathe i use an air hose to clean off then a light coat of oil, and no probs with moving tailstocks , so would tend to use the same on woodturning but wipe the oil off to stop wood dust sticking to much, especially up here in sunny damp Scotland with lathe out in the shed, no heating most of the time so dampness and the demon Rust is a constamt problem, look forward to the responses to this
Cheers
Ray

 

[Penpal]

I keep my Metal Lathe bed with a layer of Lathe oil on the bed etc but the Tail Stock has a feature both sides much like a cow catcher on a train that keeps the bed free of swarf. The Metal Lathe is precision ground.My response is what an oxy moron in terms of what I do on my wood lathes and metal lathes. My larger metal lathe was made in 1966. I don,t polish the bed it is in great condition. Note the shaping of the bed also it helps the precision and the head and tail stock were hand lapped in at manufacture and stamped,no two lathes can share the same tailstock. My VL Vicmark Lathes (wood) come high on quality,the VL100 wavery on the bed using the tailstock ie but that was more than 20 yrs ago making,early days for VicMarc the VL150 in the last couple of yrs is firm and accurate.Pic of the VL1250 being installed in 2015.
Peter.

 

[Penpal]

My VL100 being reinstalled at the back of the VL150 look at the bed well over 20 yrs of use.

Peter.

 

[Terry Q]

For minor dirty I use a cleaner wax applied with a piece of nylon scratch pad. For very dirty/rusty I use WD40 and 320 sandpaper, wipe clean and apply wax.

After I get things cleaned up and spending time turning when things start to get a little draggy I will "scrub" common kitchen wax paper over the ways. Slicks things right up. I rub wax paper over the tool rest to. It's quick and works quite well.

 

[bigbob]

I had a problem with the cast table on my Record BS350 Bandsaw the other day it started to rust which tells me there is moisture getting in somewhere to the workshop so need to coat roof with some black jack and use the rest of the cuprinol when the weather gets better. Had a search on the net and ended up giving it a scrub with a green kitchen scourer using braso then polished it off then wiped with white spirit and finally put some paste wax on. There seems to be a lot of folk that put car polish on there table/bandsaws so might give this a try. On my lathe just use white spirit and paste wax.

 

[21William]

Axminster Tools sell machine wax for band saws and table saws etc.

Axminster Machine Wax - Lubricants - Maintenance & Lubrication - General Machinery Accessories - Machinery Accessories - Accessories | Axminster Tools & Machinery

 

[wm460]

If I am going away for a while I wipe the bed down with WD40.

 

[silver]

Cleaned down after every use and Liquid Beeswaxfrom time to time. Usually on anything that stands still on the workshop.

And I use bicycle covers that cover my lathes when not in use. (Which seems to often lately)

 

[Penpal]

I use Camellia Oil,my table saw top looked like new when I gave it away it had a double cast iron polished top. The secret with this oil and other is to apply a thin coat almost dry rubbed. If you apply liberally it attracts moisture under that wrecks the surface unseen.

Peter.

 

[21William]

If I am going away for a while I wipe the bed down with WD40.

Some years ago I had a milling machine in our garage at our old house. I sprayed the entire table with WD40 to stop it going rusty. I went into the garage about a week later and to my horror the entire table was covered in rust! I’ve never used WD for anything other than a lubricant ever since.