In your use of the bar & chain oil what amount have you found to be sufficent ?? How often should it be reapplied ?? There's a better than average chance that have been using way too much as I oil the gear train and all oil points with every use of the lathe. The reasons are twofold... 1.) The lathe is in a non-climate controlled garage & I live in a high humidity area. 2.) I'm OCD about making sure it's properly lubed to both prevent wear & rust.
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Less messy change gear lubricant ??...
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In your use of the bar & chain oil what amount have you found to be sufficent ?? How often should it be reapplied ?? There's a better than average chance that have been using way too much as I oil the gear train and all oil points with every use of the lathe. The reasons are twofold... 1.) The lathe is in a non-climate controlled garage & I live in a high humidity area. 2.) I'm OCD about making sure it's properly lubed to both prevent wear & rust.
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The scary part is running it dry
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I mix the B&C oil 50 - 50 with turpentine to thin it. I imaging most any solvent that will thin oil and evaporate out will work just as well. I then can use a trigger sprayer to apply, the turp will evaporate in a couple days leaving a nice even thin film. I do not lube right before use, I lube right after use so that it is ready to go at a moments notice for next time.
My machines are in my basement where I have excellent humidity control so rust is not an issue, even raw cuts on the ends of stock in my rack do not rust after years of exposure to my shop air. I keep the humidity at less than 40%, only because that is the lowest setting on my dehumidifier. The dehumidifier runs year round and it is big enough for a basement 3 times the size of mine.
As for how often I lube the gears,abouot every 100 hours of run time, I added a hobbs meter to each of my machines. this equates to about every 6 months with the amount of shop time I get.
My machines are in my basement where I have excellent humidity control so rust is not an issue, even raw cuts on the ends of stock in my rack do not rust after years of exposure to my shop air. I keep the humidity at less than 40%, only because that is the lowest setting on my dehumidifier. The dehumidifier runs year round and it is big enough for a basement 3 times the size of mine.
As for how often I lube the gears,abouot every 100 hours of run time, I added a hobbs meter to each of my machines. this equates to about every 6 months with the amount of shop time I get.
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Another option is to use something similar to what Atlas always recommended. Which is a high-temperature rated Graphite bearing grease. The reason for specifying a high temperature rated grease is that most stuff that you can buy off the shelf in an auto parts store melts at a little above room temperature and slings off. This includes almost everything sold in a grease-gun tube.
The reason that the tale about not using grease because it accumulates shavings (swarf) is probably due to the fact that so many of the Atlas machines are missing things like the change gear cover and the gear guards. When you habitually run the lathes with most or all of the guards and covers missing of course shavings are going to accumulate all over the carriage and headstock. But if operated with all of the guards and covers in place, very little of this happens.
Shavings do tend to get into the hollow spindle and will migrate out the left end. But on a properly assembled machine they will fall onto the outside of the change gear cover and into the drip pan.
The practice of spraying down the machine using a fast evaporating carrier solvent is a good one, but only if you can always wait for the carrier to evaporate before using.
The reason that the tale about not using grease because it accumulates shavings (swarf) is probably due to the fact that so many of the Atlas machines are missing things like the change gear cover and the gear guards. When you habitually run the lathes with most or all of the guards and covers missing of course shavings are going to accumulate all over the carriage and headstock. But if operated with all of the guards and covers in place, very little of this happens.
Shavings do tend to get into the hollow spindle and will migrate out the left end. But on a properly assembled machine they will fall onto the outside of the change gear cover and into the drip pan.
The practice of spraying down the machine using a fast evaporating carrier solvent is a good one, but only if you can always wait for the carrier to evaporate before using.