Lathe Care

[PaulDoug]

I am really trying hard to take good care of my lathe. Probably the last one I will ever have. Other than keeping it clean, what else can a person do. I live in dry country so the only rust I have to worry about is from wet sanding. I cover the rails with plastic when I do that and I wax them about every 2 weeks. I've been using Johnson's wax for that. One of the best for table saw tops. Any thing else I should be doing on a regular bases and not so regular also?

 

[BigShed]

I think you are doing all the obvious things.

The best way to look after your lathe is to use it regularly!

 

[TellicoTurning]

A couple of other things is to watch your bearings and belts... they should last quite a while, but keeping an eye on the won't hurt. And if you are like me and use your tail stock a lot for drilling, watch the spindle bolt and the way it runs in and out... on my little lathe I've managed to "machine" the threads off the bolt a couple of times because I was actually misusing the tail stock... on my larger lathe the bolt is much heavier and not as prone to the "machining" problem. I do some pretty heavy drilling when I do lots of peppermills.

 

[nava1uni]

Make sure that you also clean out the headstock and tailstock where the mandrel mounts and the center mounts. They can get gummy. CraftUSA carries a tool called a taper mate. I bought one and the first time I used it I was amazed by the amount of debris that came out of both areas. I now also run a rag with some denatured alcohol on it and the area stays clean and tools mount much better and stay in round.

 

[Rifleman1776]

You are to be complimented for being so proactive with lathe care. My shop is in a high humidity environment. I wax the rails only about two times a year and that has proven sufficient. Ditto what others have said. But, I'll add: don't pound on head/tail stocks. Anything more than gentle tapping is abusive to the bearings.