# Turn Wright Machine Works Way Wiper Kit for 12x36 Import Lathes by Keith Fenner



## darkzero (Apr 2, 2017)

Not really a project made by me but it was a project I wanted to get done....

Keith has created a way wiper kit that uses felt wipers for his Rutland lathe using his X-Carve. If you watch his videos you'll know what I'm talking about. He now has them available for purchase on his website. Many of these style import lathes are similar so I decided to try a set on my PM1236.

I'm aware of the disadvantages & advantages of felt wipers vs rubber wipers so no need to debate over it but if you want to in this thread I don't mind. My PM1236 has rubber wipers. They worked perfectly fine & I've never had a problem with them but it seems like the way oil gets wiped away too quick. No problem, just re-oil. Well I've wanted to try some felt wipers & when I saw that Keith made these available I had to try them (and show him some support).

In a recent video, Keith mentioned where I had stated in an email that his kit would be a perfect fit for the PM1236. Well due to a mistake on my part I was only 50% correct so part of this thread is to clarify what he mentioned in that video. Not Keith's fault, totally my mistake & I will show what can be done to make them fit. The L shaped wipers for the far side of the carriage are the ones that don't fit 100% percent.


Here's what you get from Keith, delrin retainers & enough felt to cover all 4 wipers. As you can see the mounting holes are not pre drilled which is good. The mounting holes will probably vary from lathe to lathe so best to make the holes yourself for proper fitment like he mentions in his videos.




My stock rubber wipers.








The L shaped retainers are the ones I had issues with. They are a bit on the short side & don't cover the flat way completely.




Well we're machinists right, at least in some way or another. Don't panic like I sort of did, have mill, easy fix. I milled about .12" off the vertical end to allow the wiper to cover more of the way. I used a endmill with a corner radius.




Next drill out all the mounting holes. I used a 15/64" drill bit to match the oversized holes on my stock wiper retainers. You can see how close the mounting hole gets to the edge after making the modification of shortening one side of the L shaped retainers.






Cut the felt to shape & soak them with way oil.






Then slap em' on. My mounting screws are M5. You'll need M5 x 18mm to mount the new wipers. I was only able to get M5 x 20mm locally for the button heads I wanted to use, they worked fine for me. YMMV.








Here you can see how the modification allows more coverage on the way. But even my stock wipers did not fully cover the flat way.




I'm pretty happy with how they perform. With my stock rubber wipers, it seemed like my ways started drying up after about an hr or so. With the felt wipers, it's like the oil just keeps leaking out! I'm liking that. I'll check up on them after some time to see how quick they get dirty & what kind of chips might get in them. I avoid machining CI when I can so I'm not worried about that, plus I cover my ways anyway. The felt wipers will require more servicing than the rupper wipers but I think the trade off is much better with the felt. I can always add in a rubber prewiper if I feel the need to.

Replacement felt is grade F5, can be purchased at lots of places like Mcmaster, Zoro, or MSC. It's 1/4" thick.

Link to Keith's purchase page & related videos. Keith also has dimensions posted so you can verify fitment for your lathe: http://turnwrightmachineworks.com/the-wright-store/rutland-12-x-36-way-wiper-kits/

Since many of these lathes are similar, they may also fit the Grizzly 12x36 lathes but please check the dimensions first. Perhaps they might even fit the 14x lathes?

I am in no way related to Turn Wright Machine works or gets paid to advertise for him, I'm just a big fan of Keith & wanted to show him some support.


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## Stanshire (Apr 3, 2017)

The Rutland looks to be a precursor to my G4003G. After I watched Keith's series, I made up a two sets of wipers on the CNC mini mill. My friend and I have the same lathes.  I took my wipers off and did the drawings from them. Not realizing that Keith had posted the measurements, I could have saved some time by using his. Perfect fit. F5 felt from McMaster. All in all, a major improvement.


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## roadie33 (Apr 3, 2017)

I remember watching that series of his on making those and plan on trying to make a set for the Atlas/Craftsman 12". Shouldn't be too hard since they are flat ways. I plan on making them longer to cover more of the flat way. 
Just getting the time to do them is the chore.


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## 4GSR (Apr 3, 2017)

Hum..... I need to make some for my 15" Sheldon.  This may be the route to go.


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## Stonebriar (Apr 3, 2017)

Thanks for the write up. I saw Keith's video (big fan) and I have been hoping for a review.


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## Norseman C.B. (Apr 8, 2017)

My Central Machinery 12x36 Is nearly an exact twin to Kieth's Rutland I have watched his vid on the revamp closely
( Good stuff !! )


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## NortonDommi (Apr 9, 2017)

Good one.
                  When the wipers gave up on my lathe I fabricated some from a UHWMPE cutting board from the local clearance shed. I'v used these in the past to make runners for boat & jet ski trailers, carriers for mitre gauges ect. At NZ$5.50 each I buy a few and have on hand.
To make as wipers I cut out the shape I wanted plus a tiny bit extra where contact would be made with the ways.
  I have a hot air welder for plastics and softened the edges that would contact the ways and then held them in p,lace close until the bits had conformed to the way. Softening could be done with a Bic Flick lighter or something else.
  Then a bit of fettling to allow the screws to align and downward pressure to be applied and the world is right again.
  I have found the close,(formed), fit even scrapes off excess way oil, the little shelf formed by pressure forming seems to act as a scraper. 
after three years no adjustment has been necessary  so I think it is better than original.


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## darkzero (Sep 18, 2017)

So after machining some cast iron, I didn't cover anything as a test, it was time to take the wipers off & inspect them. They did pretty damn good IMO. The delrin housings did a good job as pre-wipers.


To give you an idea, here's the mess I made.












The felt after all that filthyness. Nothing really passed through, just dirty from use, they pretty much looked like this before all the cast iron.









All clean now & I feel much better now. And good to know that these wipers are working well & that I don't have to worry about them as much as I thought.






After cleaning the lathe, while I was replacing the felt I decided to clean up the delring housings. Not sure what the marks are that were on them but it looks like pins used to hold them on the X-carve. It bothered me so I took care of that now. You can see a line about half way through the housings. Weird, not my tooling marks, it's in the material, kind of like 2 pieces were fused together. Sorry for the not so great pics.












To end, I'm happy with this setup. I don't use flood coolant so the felt is ok for me. Next time I'll just make my own housings. But at least buying these let me test them _now_, otherwise it probably would have taken me a year or years to make my own.


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## Ulma Doctor (Sep 18, 2017)

very nice DZ!


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## Livnpaintball (Oct 2, 2017)

I might do this neat little mod!


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