Lathe upkeep

[Carl Fisher]

So how about a little Lathe upkeep 101 thread.

I'm curious with all that we put our lathes through during the finishing process, how do you go about cleaning and tuning up your lathe and how often?

Removing build up of CA on the centers, over spray from accelerator, cleaning out the tapers, tuning up your bed rails and tool rest, etc...

Just looking for some general conversation on the matter.

 

[Russell Eaton]

Carl if you go to CSUSA they have a decent video of just what you are asking for.

 

[nava1uni]

I clean my lathe every time that I use it. I clean the bed with acetone if there is any CA. When using CA I put a piece of old shower curtain over the bed to try to keep the surace clean. I also do this when I wet sand. I clean out the tapers on both the head and tail stock, vacuum all of the saw dust off it and the stand. Every couple of weeks I do the bed with steel wool and wipe it down and then I wax the bed and other moving parts so that there is less chance of anything sticking and it makes clean up easier. I do this same thing to my drill press, table saw and band saw. They all look almost new, with no rust and everything slides and works great. I do the same type of cleaning with all of my tools, even hand tools. I learned from my grandfather that if you care for your tools they will serve you well and last forever. I use tools that were his and they look and work great. A clean tool if also a safe tool.