Atlas Craftsman 12” Oiler felt wick hack

D

DaveInHouston

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Many of you have probably discovered this, but it was new to me. I acquired my 101-07403 lathe several weeks ago and, among other minor issues, it had no felt wicks in the oilers. I know you can order them from Clausing but I’m sure you’ll pay more in postage than the purchase price. At any rate while using my Dremel the other day I noticed the smallest size felt buffing wheel in the Dremel tool kit looked suspiciously similar to an oiler wick. Turns out they’re the exact diameter. They’re a little thick so I split one in half and made two wicks. It has a tiny little hole in the center but you can scruff up the felt a bit and it disappears. Seems to work great. A redneck farmer solution! Photo attached.
P.S. After doing a little more reading it appears the felt is supposed to completely fill the cup, which the buffing wheels as-is do. So splitting them isn’t necessary.

DB6E8573-23CF-48FD-8D88-EB46F18940B8.jpeg
 
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OK, that's pretty clever. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip, Dave.
 
Thanks Dave.

It would be great if someone who has the Atlas/Clausing supplied felts could compare them to the Dremel tool felts..... density, oil weep rate, etc.
 
JPMacG said:
Thanks Dave.

It would be great if someone who has the Atlas/Clausing supplied felts could compare them to the Dremel tool felts..... density, oil weep rate, etc.
Click to expand...
I wondered about that. I watched mine for a few moments after putting oil in the cups and I don’t think they are too dense. The oil seemead to wick through the felt at a decent rate. I’ll keep an eye on them though. If they work out I’ve got tons of them laying around!
 
I happened to have one unused factory felt and several Dremel ones. The factory one I think I would call 0.540" diameter. The Dremel ones are about 0,500". The factory one is a little softer than the Dremel ones. If I were ordering something else from Clausing anyway, I'd go ahead and order felts from them. If not and I either had some of the Dremel ones or I could pick them up at the nearest Ace Hardware, I'd use them.
 
Ahhh… you beat me to it ! I was in the midst of replacing my wicks and after I had purchased felt through Hobby Lobby, I to noticed the buff from my Dremel. So, the two shall meet. Right now I have the original wicks, the buff and 1mm felt, that I will layer within the cup and 'see' how the oil is dispersed. I think I will take the old wicks and clean them, as I am sure their the original 1936 issue and various oils have been applied to them during this time and dried out at times. Then go from there.
Mike
 
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