The best thing you can do to make the ways look good as new is keep them wiped down and apply a good grade of machine oil to the ways. And continuous wiping them down and oiling daily will keep them nice shiney. My preference for oil on small lathes is a ISO 46 hydraulic oil, can be bought at any tractor supply in one gallon containers or many tool distributors offer Mobil brand of oils, too. I do not recommend way oils for small lathes, they can and will cause more wear than if using good old grade of hydraulic oil. This should apply to all lathes with harden beds and non-harden beds. Exception, the way oil. And I leave that for another discussion later. Ken
I think the light oils, kerosene (paraffin), mineral spirits (paint thinner), or hydraulic fluid would be a first step process in cleaning up the lathe. It's easier to remove after it's suspended as much gunk as possible and most are less expensive than way oil. Otherwise, I'm interested also in the reasoning behind way oils being detrimental to the care for a lathe or any machine tool with ways.The first time I ran a lathe was 51 years ago, never in all this time have I heard of anyone suggest that way oil was bad for a machine. I for one would be interested to hear about why WAY oil is bad for a lathe. Everyone from Monarch to Grizzly recommends way oil for use on their lathes, what exactly is it that they do not understand?
Go back and re-read my post. I did not say way oil is bad to use. I said, I don't like to use it on smaller lathes, like 9-10" and smaller, period. True, they have tackifiers that allow the oil to cling to the surface, but lack some of the additives that help fight corrosion and wear. Yes, wear. Why do they use hydraulic oils in hydraulic systems, they have the additives that help condition seals, reduce wear in cylinder components, valves, etc. Maybe I'm not using the right brand of way oil? But I can notice there is a difference in the use of the two oils in my shop. And I've been doing this for over forty years, too.The first time I ran a lathe was 51 years ago, never in all this time have I heard of anyone suggest that way oil was bad for a machine. I for one would be interested to hear about why WAY oil is bad for a lathe. Everyone from Monarch to Grizzly recommends way oil for use on their lathes, what exactly is it that they do not understand?
I do not recommend way oils for small lathes, they can and will cause more wear than if using good old grade of hydraulic oil.