Mini lathe carriage.

[Stilldrillin]

The carriage of my mini lathe has always been free running, but with no apparent play......

The other day I was a little vigorous when tightening the toolpost handle, & rammed the tool into the rotating chuck jaws! 

Time for a little tighten up....... And a carriage lock.... 


Milled a T nut.





Counterboring the 6mm screw head into the saddle casting will allow the plain portion of shank to locate both in the casting & the nut.
Hopefully, giving more rigidity. 




Hmmmm......... Very dry under here. It seems oil has never penetrated the silly ball oilers! 
So I removed `em.





The bed wipers are a bit pifflin too.....

Drilled the screw hole & assembled dry onto the slideways.

There was very little unwanted movement, so I just tweaked the 6 caphead screws slightly to take up play.





Plugs for the oil holes & new full width wiper rubbers.




It`s now running quite sweetly, on a film of Mr. Duckham`s green 20 – 50 oil.

Another successful tweak! 

That`s 2 machines sorted, over the last few weeks..... Time to do some hobby work, now..... 

David D.

[bogstandard]

Wonderful fix David.

You have got around the long bolt problem.

Well done.

John

[sbwhart]

Good Fix david 

Stew

[jemglen]

My oilers seem to work quite well but I love those little plugs you've turned 

Jerry

[Twinsquirrel]

Nice work David

[ja2on]

going slightly  but staying with oilers is there a proper can/nozzle to use with those button/ball oilers ?
as my c4 has them everywhere

[Darren]

Very tidy job there David, looks factory 

[shoey51]

great Job David lovin this forum more and more

[Stilldrillin]

going slightly  but staying with oilers is there a proper can/nozzle to use with those button/ball oilers ?
as my c4 has them everywhere

I never found one!

Though it has survived 4 years use, with no wear. Only a spray of WD 40 after each using......

I like WD 40! 


Thanks chaps, for all your positive comments...... 

David D.

[bogstandard]

Jason,

Maybe this will help for the ball oilers.

Look at the attached pics.

I have been using this one for a few years, and even though the nozzle is now getting worn, it still pumps it in like a gud 'un.

The hole in the end is about 1.5mm (1/16") and the angle looks to be about 60 degrees, so you should be able to make one to fit your gun.

With regards to lubricants, even though I don't like dealing with these people, they do sell small quantities of lubricants for very reasonable prices, just right for model engineering.

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/Chronos_Catalogue_Oils__Lubricants___Adhesives_etc_124.html

The larger oilcan at the very bottom of the list looks just like the one I use.



David,

Mmmmm, well.

WD40 is ok for door hinges, but I think not for lathe slideways. It cannot produce a thick enough oil film for the lathe parts to 'float' on, so allowing metal to metal contact.

I always now use an ISO 68 slideway oil, that ensures the film is always there, as it is slightly 'sticky' and stays put.
You might also find that very fine finishes should be more easily obtained, because the slides are running on a bed of fluid rather than metal to metal.

The 1ltr botlle of slideway oil in the above suppliers list will outlast expensive WD40 cans many many times over. Plus you will be getting the correct protection for your iron as well.

Your choice, just a suggestion.

John

[ja2on]

Thanks for the tips John 

[Stilldrillin]

John,

Sorry, just another of my poor attempts at irony! 

I haven`t purposely lubed with WD 40!

A bottle of slide oil followed me home one day...... I found it much too sticky for my little machine. 

I do remember using it on my Lee ammo loading press, instead of the STP they recommended.

It`s probably still hiding somewhere in the workshop. 

Somehow, after several tries, slideway lube got forgotten about....... 


With the new oiler access, this will no longer be a problem.

I always wipe clean the slideways etc & mist all parts with WD 40 after every shift. The routine seems to have served me well!   

David D.

[bogstandard]

David,

Please, no excuses needed. I can only advise you, not tell you to do something.

John

[Darren]

Stretching this thread sideways a little......

You're gonna shoot me for this, but, I've been using white spirit for tapping recently and I have to say you can feel the difference. Better than WD40 anyways and certainly better than dry.

I also use it for cleaning machines down, and benches, and tools and oh well you get the picture. I put it in a used kitchen cleaner hand squeezey pump thing and use it almost daily.

 

[John Hill]

Another one guilty of "WD40itis"

My drill is at the end of the shift (a shift is one hour between dinner and TV time!) is:

1.Use plastic washing up brush to brush all chips and bits off the lathe over the back towards the splash shield. Also brush feed screw.
2. Wipe slides and ways etc with old towel, wipe coolant off all the places it persists.
3.Grab oil can of 90 gear oil and lay a dencent gob on slides and ways etc. Give ball oilers a pump or two each.
4. Run carriage and slides to spread the oil.
5. Grab WD40 and spray all shiney bits.
6. Take off 'garage shoes' and turn off lights.

Weekly, or so, use my special, ex-woodburner stove, rake and little shovel to drag all swarf, chips and crud from under machine and deposit in bin.

[John Hill]

Darren, white spirit is the major constituent of WD40!  Just add a little light mineral oil and you have it!

[Darren]

Is it really, oh didn't know that.

I still think it taps smoother than WD, been using it again tonight on the die thing I've been banging on about. I tried WD40 and broke a tap (another story)
On the other two holes of the three, I used plain white spirit and it felt a lot smoother and no sticking tap, well not much. With the WD40 it kept sticking hard till it broke.

Please bear in mind, I was tapping really tough material that was without a doubt harder than the tap itself. I know this after removing the broken tap. I literally smashed it out, took quite a bit of effort mind you. The tap was shattered bit by bit, but my work piece nor the threads were damaged at all. Even the punch I used needs regrinding now as it's well battered.

Sorry I'm cross threading now (better than cross dressing I suppose) and leading this thread off on another tangent