What's your favorite lube for your lathe bed?

All in all it's close to butcher or johnsons paste wax, just a little more mineral spirits than they have.I tried making my own and realized that butchers was close enough.

Reply to
woodchucker
Loading thread data ...

I use way oil on my metal lathe, but would not use it on the wood lathe. it will collect the dust and make a nice paste.

wax, or teflon for the wood lathe.. I use wax mostly. I use teflon on my table saws's arbor ways.

Reply to
woodchucker

I've never used anything on mine. In fact I find that I need to clean mine off with Stoddard solvent every now and then to remove the crud. Most likely it is a matter of the materials involved, the geometry of the surfaces, and the adjustments. The ways on my old lathe are heavy 2" chrome-plated DOM steel tubes and the tailstock and banjo move on it pretty well. If my lathe had flat machined ways I'd probably give Drislide a try since it is not terribly messy and seems to stay where it is put.

Reply to
BenignBodger

Well, Mineral Oil and WD40 are among the worst things, they attract dust and bind to it, not a good thing. I would never use either. I use BoeShield, it provides a slight bit of lube, and protects the bed from corrosion.

I agree that lubing your ways is not the issue, the issue is binding of some sort that a lube job will not fix

Reply to
Ralph E Lindberg

Try tightening the washer so it doesn't drop as far away from the ways. The it won't tilt on the bolt, which is likely what's causing the binding.

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

I find that the BoeShield on my saw is more gummy than lubricating. I haven't had time to strip it off my saw top and try Topkote but it should work well on the way, too. No?

Reply to
krw

I think of BoeShield as being "waxy". I haven't regarded as a lubricant, but as a protector (from rust).

Reply to
Bill

Exactly. "Waxy" - good word.

Reply to
krw

That's the most accurate description for it considering it's, um..... WAX. :-D Paraffin to be precise.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Okay, if you want to be precise, I guess a Piranha is Paraffiny too.. ; )

Reply to
Bill

You need to polish the Boeshield in -wipe off the excess.

Reply to
clare

The msds only lists odorless mineral spirits and white mineral oil

Reply to
clare

From their website: "T-9?s unique formulation of solvent carrier and paraffin wax..."

I believe MSDS info only has to list potentially hazardous material and manufactures aren't necessarily compelled to list proprietary ingredients that would reveal patented secrets, etc. Or something like that.

In any case, one MSDS (which you probably read) lists odorless mineral spirits and white mineral oil. You will notice the percentages of those only add up to 71, however.

Another MSDS also lists propane, butane and other petroleum distillates as well as mineral spirits and white mineral oil. These things all only add up to 76% of ingredients and are likely the carriers and propellents. This MSDS also lists Non-Hazardous Components as the remaining 24% ingredients, which we can assume to be the paraffin wax Boeshield claims to be business end of the product.

Reply to
-MIKE-

One MSDS is for "bulk" and the other is for "aerosol". The "bulk" has no propellants.

So up to 24% is Paraffin wax and proprietary non-hazardous materials not listed.

Reply to
clare

Makes sense to me.

Reply to
-MIKE-

I use a product called "Slipit" which is referred to as a sliding compound. It comes in both spray and wipe on. I use the wipe on that you apply wi th a brush or a wet rag and then wipe it off. Not only does it help things slide easier it provides pretty good rust protection for the lathe bed, sa w tables, drill press, etc. The wipe process is a little messy but does no t take long. I also use it for the sliding mechanisms on our camper slide out rooms.

It is silicon-free and doesn't leave residue. I get mine from Grizzly but I think I have seen it at Woodcraft and other places. A quart can will las t a long time - Loooong time.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.