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Felt wipers
- Thread starter Scruffy
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2010
- Messages
- 1,172
I was looking for way wiper felts for my old lathe a few yrs back. I ended up finding the felt material in home depot. It came as a sheet with a sticky backing that had paper you just peeled off. They had a few different thickness of the felts, and just used the originals as a template for the new ones.
Ive been changing mine once a yr since I bought enough material to do that. It probably isn't the correct stuff, but it holds oil well, and wipes the ways as intended.
Ive been changing mine once a yr since I bought enough material to do that. It probably isn't the correct stuff, but it holds oil well, and wipes the ways as intended.
Thanks Paul. I would never have thought to look at hd. . There all. The time.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
- Messages
- 786
I bought some thick felt sheet from McMaster to make a replacement felt seal for my bandsaw's gearbox. It comes in various thickness and hardness.
That said, and I don't mean to hijack the thread, but is felt a better material for a wiper than rubber? My lathe (now ten years old) has rubber wipers. I've taken them off periodically and cleaned them. They're still in good shape. It would be a simple matter to use the felt to make replacements. Is felt better than rubber?
John
That said, and I don't mean to hijack the thread, but is felt a better material for a wiper than rubber? My lathe (now ten years old) has rubber wipers. I've taken them off periodically and cleaned them. They're still in good shape. It would be a simple matter to use the felt to make replacements. Is felt better than rubber?
John
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2010
- Messages
- 1,172
Rubber, or felt?
John that is worth a mention. My old 80s import lathe had rubber. I allways thought it did a better job of scooping the swarf off the ways. On the saddle behind each wiper there was a oiler. It seemed to work well but you had to keep after it with oil, not a problem at all, but the rubber wipers worked well enough to scoop the oil away too.
They would probably be as good , or better than felt. Every time I take the covers off my wipers to clean them, I allways wonder how much wear I get because the felt holds the grit. It would be nice if you could have a setup with both. Rubber on the outside, and felt inners to hold oil. The rubber wipers on my old machine where a formed looking thing, but never did have any issues with them. The felt wipers seem to need cleaning fairly regularly.
My current lathe is 1941, with felt wiper. Now I wonder, what is the newer machines use as standard issue?
John that is worth a mention. My old 80s import lathe had rubber. I allways thought it did a better job of scooping the swarf off the ways. On the saddle behind each wiper there was a oiler. It seemed to work well but you had to keep after it with oil, not a problem at all, but the rubber wipers worked well enough to scoop the oil away too.
They would probably be as good , or better than felt. Every time I take the covers off my wipers to clean them, I allways wonder how much wear I get because the felt holds the grit. It would be nice if you could have a setup with both. Rubber on the outside, and felt inners to hold oil. The rubber wipers on my old machine where a formed looking thing, but never did have any issues with them. The felt wipers seem to need cleaning fairly regularly.
My current lathe is 1941, with felt wiper. Now I wonder, what is the newer machines use as standard issue?
Wipers are one of my "things" that i lik eot take off, clean and inspect fairly often. I have seen too many ways get boogered up from neglect.
I have been using a layer of felt with a layer of rubber to the outside. I figure the rubber will keep the small fine chips from embedding into the felt. It seams to work well.
I have been using a layer of felt with a layer of rubber to the outside. I figure the rubber will keep the small fine chips from embedding into the felt. It seams to work well.
Scott Logan at Logan Actuator. This following URL takes you to a page with felts for the carriage.
http://store.lathe.com/lp-1692.html
There are many other Logan parts for sale.
Yep, you can hack them out of some (non-wool felt, aka plastic) felt from old boots, but the correct felt is a special hard grade wool felt (anti-intuitive, huh?). Wool absorbs "x" times its volume in the amount of oil and releases the oil as needed while plastic felt does not absorb oil.
Believe me, I learned the hard way (no pun) with scratches in the ways of my lathe from the wrong felt.
BTW, the felt I originally found at Home Depot was not wool felt, it was immitation felt and made of plastic. Try this: take a small sample, dry, light it with an odorless flame and see if you smell burning plastic. Real wool when it burns also smells, but not like plastic.
Paul
"A smart person learns from his mistakes, while a wise person learns from the mistakes of others"
http://store.lathe.com/lp-1692.html
There are many other Logan parts for sale.
Yep, you can hack them out of some (non-wool felt, aka plastic) felt from old boots, but the correct felt is a special hard grade wool felt (anti-intuitive, huh?). Wool absorbs "x" times its volume in the amount of oil and releases the oil as needed while plastic felt does not absorb oil.
Believe me, I learned the hard way (no pun) with scratches in the ways of my lathe from the wrong felt.
BTW, the felt I originally found at Home Depot was not wool felt, it was immitation felt and made of plastic. Try this: take a small sample, dry, light it with an odorless flame and see if you smell burning plastic. Real wool when it burns also smells, but not like plastic.
Paul
"A smart person learns from his mistakes, while a wise person learns from the mistakes of others"
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2013
- Messages
- 45
Why not try felt insoles sold for work boots. Wherever footwear is sold they should have felt insoles. For a couple of dollars you will have enough for 10 years.
The (OEM) felt spec for way wipers is "F2". The characteristics of F2 felt are as follows:
Density: 16# / sq yd
90% wool content
500 tensile
SHORE HARDNESS: 30-40 (Note this spec - would you believe it should be this hard?)
Compression for 10% deflection: 21
Western Rubber and Aetna Felt are two common sources. An advertiser in HSM offers felts to fit SouthBend lathes.
When I compared the felt used in work boot insoles, it was pretty soft.
The OEM felt from my Clausing 8520 mill is pretty darn hard (after being cleaned in Acetone and dried).
Has anyone contacted any of the (reliable/responsible manufacturers or their local reps - if any still exist) of HSM type lathes that used felt wipers ?
Paul