Way oil?

[N.R. Davis]

Something that has puzzled me for years. I have a S.B.10K and the smartest thing I did is have a full length oil/chip pan made up for it. Old pump , and I have LOTS of Black Pipe Threading Oil for Coolant and Cutting. So what happens to the Way Oil on the bed when I am running oil every where?
Had a good bit of advice on my 141/2" Post (thanks) and in reading some of the post you guys know more than I do.
Thanks,
David

[GlennW]

I use flood cutting oil on my lathe and the way oil gets washed off by the cutting oil.

Cutting oil is not a lubricant, so on my lathe, when the way oil gets washed off, the carriage has a noticeably different feel, as it no longer glides along the ways.

I re-apply the way oil and it glides again for a while.

[SteveM]

I use flood cutting oil on my lathe and the way oil gets washed off by the cutting oil.

So the question that raises in my mind is how do they do it with industrial CNC machines where the flood coolant is coming out of a garden hose.

Steve

[spro]

Power lube for carriage and other slides. ?

[GlennW]

I use flood cutting oil on my lathe and the way oil gets washed off by the cutting oil.

So the question that raises in my mind is how do they do it with industrial CNC machines where the flood coolant is coming out of a garden hose.

Steve

Automatic lube systems that pump the way oil

[pete]

And then a tramp oil skimmer to remove the washed off way oil from the top of the coolant in the tank or the coolant usually turns to a stinking H2S producing bacteria farm. But the newer high end machines do get some design help and/or guarding to help to try and keep the coolant off the way surfaces as best they can. They make various sizes of acordian type rubberized way guards that could be used on most lathes. There expensive enough I haven't tried them so can't say how well they work. For a high dollar production machine anything like that would be considered cheap if it increases the tools life span.

My lathe came with coiled plastic telescoping leadscrew covers and I've seen the same on some older lathes that use thin spring steel to do the same. They would help keep a lot of coolant/swarf off that area. For my lathe the idea looks a lot better on paper than in use though. I lose over 4" in travel in either direction, and at the head stock end it's pretty tough to reach a lot of parts if your mounting them on a face plate without excessive tool over hang. Mine has the seperate feed rod so I think Harold has the better idea of just cleaning the lead screw and re oil before using it for threading.