Keeping My Lathe And Mill Clean.

[Joncooey]

Hey,

just wondering if there was any advice out there on keeping my Chuck, Ways, etc. clean. I an told compressed air is a no-no as it forces debris in further. I'm just using a whisk brush right now. Anyone have attachments for their shop vacs that they find effective?
Thanks for your input.

Jon.

 

[Randall Marx]

Hi Jon
I don't have a shop vac but use brushes to keep swarf cleaned off of my lathes. Once the big stuff is brushed from the ways, I wipe them down with a paper towel, then re-oil them. I like paper towel because it shows very clearly when the surface is wiped clean and they are cheap enough that I don't feel like I have to keep them. That keeps me from wiping additional crud ONTO my surfaces.

 

[Uglydog]

I use handled camel hair chip brushes both 1" and 2" (example below).

What has been even more handy/efficient has been wall paper brush sweeping the entire bed with one pass (example below).


Daryl
MN

 

[JPMacG]

Chip brush and shop vac, used at the same time.

 

[Cobra]

Chip brush to do the rough clean. Paper shop towels to wipe down any oil in the chip tray of the lathe or table of the mill then shop vac to remove any metal not coated in oil. This keeps the majority of the oil out of the shop vac..
Then another wipe with the paper shop towels and re-oil all oil points and ways. Getting better at just enough oil so it doesn't leak all over the machines. Not doing any good in the chip trays.
Probably takes 20-30 minutes per machine to do the full job. Shorter versions when I am in the middle of a project.

 

[12bolts]

Way wipers, (small felt/leather pads supported by a metal case) will go a long way in helping to keep crud out from under/between the sliding surfaces of your machines, and make them easier to keep clean. They also help keep the lubrication spread over the sliding surfaces.

Cheers Phil

 

[British Steel]

12bolts Phil makes a good suggestion, if you can't find felt easily the felt squeegees used for vinyl signs and wraps on cars are a good hard felt, not easy to cut neatly though (I use a razor blade and swear a lot!). A few Local Currency Units on EvilBay.

For a Big machine it can be worth using compressed air in the opposite direction - e.g. an air fitting and air drillings to the mating, sliding surfaces - your 200-pound tailstock will float on air and blow the chips out from under it Some of the larger Serious Machines have a system with a one-shot pump and flexible lines to deliver oil to the ways (and flush the crud out), no reason you shouldn't put something similar together?

For the chuck(s), a dry PTFE or graphite lubricant won't pick up swarf and chips like oil or grease would, so will help keep the scroll/screws free, always a good idea to dismantle and clean them regularly too.

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[Joncooey]

Good input fella's. Thanks!

 

[Metal]

One more, I used plain old hard drive magnets to hold chunks of pleather over the ways and to direct chips away from areas I dont' want to have to keep cleaning, as a bonus its angled slightly to deposit the chips (eventually) into the vicinity of a bucket
around this time of year when it is getting colder I'm being extra vigilant in oiling to make sure no condensation turns into rust

 

[martik777]

I have dedicated vacuum outlets or a shop vac for each machine so there is no excuse not to use frequently, sometimes even during a cut.

Use a brush for applying cutting fluids rather than dripping them over the part, of which 90% goes into the chip pan.