Rexvalter VF-118 lathe (was: old Myford Ml7)

[DennisCA]

So what are your thoughts on installing covers for the bed ways? And the lead screw for that matter. I think it's worth doing myself. I don't like the baffle designs though. Stefan Gotteswinter had a nice solution with a leather cover.

I liked this solution for a cover for a lead screw
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/silkstone/minilathe/minilathe01.htm

Though perhaps those round telescoping covers that completely cover the screw are better since it also protects from dust in the air. Despite my dust cover in the door between my lathe and the woodworking section, some dust can still migrate there and I understand wood dust can be hard on machinery.

 

[Dieselman 63]

So what are your thoughts on installing covers for the bed ways? And the lead screw for that matter. I think it's worth doing myself. I don't like the baffle designs though. Stefan Gotteswinter had a nice solution with a leather cover.

I liked this solution for a cover for a lead screw
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/silkstone/minilathe/minilathe01.htm

Though perhaps those round telescoping covers that completely cover the screw are better since it also protects from dust in the air. Despite my dust cover in the door between my lathe and the woodworking section, some dust can still migrate there and I understand wood dust can be hard on machinery.

Some Boxford training lathes had metal telescopic covers which were made of a sort of spring steel. Some Harrisons had a deflection plate above the lead screw to direct chips and dust over it.

My Bantam had lived behind a thicknesser before I bought it for over a decade. Sawdust and oil and machine parts do not mix!

 

[Hood]

....Though perhaps those round telescoping covers that completely cover the screw are better since it also protects from dust in the air. Despite my dust cover in the door between my lathe and the woodworking section, some dust can still migrate there and I understand wood dust can be hard on machinery.

What length is your leadscrew? I may have some covers from a CNC ballscrew that would fit but they are not that long.

 

[DennisCA]

I've been busy fighting the power (getting the lathe worklamp to work) so I have forgotten to check but I don't think it's more than a meter.

 

[DennisCA]

Did a little rearranging and got the cabinet moved next to the lathe. I did not think I'd have room for it but I moved the lathe little by little using a crowbar. Much better setup now, getting some desperately needed storage space near the lathe. Also leveling it but it's not easy. I think the frame and lathe is too light to properly weight all four sides down. Adjust one corner and the other goes out of adjustment. Some people have said to leave the lathe a week between adjustments. That's gonna take a long time.

Got some oilers last friday so soon I will take off the saddle and drill it so I can oil the ways inside the wipers of the saddle.

 

[DennisCA]

Finally got done leveling my lathe. Been a frustrating few weeks. In the end I removed the feet entirely and investigated them closer. Turns out there were two shims on each feet of some kind of particle board material, maybe hardboard or masonite. I suspect these were the cause of my troubles as they expand and contract with moisture level changes in the air and also compress over time and the amount of torque on the screws holding the feet on would also affect the lathe.

Got rid of them and put the lathe on the floor using only the metal portion of the feet and everything was level without needing to do anything else. Put the machinist level straight on the ways at both extremes and if there was any difference it's notthing I can detect. I never expected to get the lathe leveled this well, was ready to give it up. I guess I really need to give lots of kudos to the people who cast my floor slab, that's one helluva level floor!

 

[DennisCA]

Hey a question. I am considering what I should do with the flood coolant system. Is it worth putting into use? A lot of people don't seem to think it is. I am wondering what the pump is rated for, if it could possibly work as a TIG cooler.

 

[Pete.]

No it couldn't work as a tig cooler. Flood coolant is good for tool life, finishes on the part and keeping the temperature more stable as you machine. Up to you if you think it's worthwhile.

 

[addjunkie]

Hey a question. I am considering what I should do with the flood coolant system. Is it worth putting into use? A lot of people don't seem to think it is. I am wondering what the pump is rated for, if it could possibly work as a TIG cooler.

Might work, but many tig coolers are positive displacment pumps, (not happy to have the flow path shut off) coolant pumps are centfrigual, ie ok to run with no flow, and often start up with a closed valve for example NRV, impart velocity to the fluid and push it through an involute, so not sure it would like the low flow rates.

 

[DennisCA]

No it couldn't work as a tig cooler. Flood coolant is good for tool life, finishes on the part and keeping the temperature more stable as you machine. Up to you if you think it's worthwhile.

Problem is, I don't have the required experience or knowledge to say that with any certainty. So I will just leave it alone for now.

I am leaning towards dark cutting oil and a brush or perhaps a spritzbottle of some other cutting fluid. I think I want to avoid anything water based, don't trust it to not sneak into some place I cannot see.

So far I am using motor oil, or WD40. Not sure it's not better without.

 

[addjunkie]

Souluble oil cutting fluid gets everywhere, but is what the machine is designed to use, and as said earlier, better tool life, better finish, more accuracy...machinests have been using it since before you and I were just a thought in our parents heads.

If your machine has the pump it will have been used in the past!

 

[Hood]

....... I think I want to avoid anything water based, don't trust it to not sneak into some place I cannot see..........

It will get everywhere but the water will evaporate and leave the oil if anything so.....

 

[addjunkie]

And you really do need the oil stripe up the wall behind the lathe....like all real lathists have!

 

[DennisCA]

It will get everywhere but the water will evaporate and leave the oil if anything so.....

That's what I had assumed, but been reading about people on practical machinist reporting rust in places the water wasn't able to evaporate so now I am worried about it... Also the lifespan of the stuff, keep reading 6 months and issues with mold and keeping it clean etc. Though I also saw some people mention they've used their for years. I was also thinking about semi synthetic stuff perhaps, that uses no water and so can't grow mold?

I've been asking on m ultiple sites and so far you guys seem a lot more positive towards a flood coolant system for a homeshop guy than the others I've talked to.

 

[Hood]

I suspect that the ones suffering from rancid coolant lived in hot humid parts of the world, that is something you nor I will have a problem with, evaporation will be more an issue for you.

 

[addjunkie]

My last machine, I mixed up 25 liters of Rocol multisol, and kept topping up for 5 years, no problems with growth, bugs etc....or rust

 

[DennisCA]

I think I will put the system into use then but later in the future. I do have plans for this lathe yet that I need to finish, adding oilers and protecting the ways and so forth, I think some of these modifications will help against splatter too. I am seeing it more as a system brought into use occasionally, not every time I turn something. For finishing passes and precision work.

I understand I don't want to be mixing sulfur containing cutting oil with the coolant so after that I have to use compatible oils? And what about way oil mixing with the coolant, are these issues I need to be careful with or am I being too pedantic?

 

[Hood]

You are worrying too much. If you lived in the tropics then maybe your concerns about stinking coolant would be founded.

 

[DennisCA]

Not thinking about stink now.

 

[Hood]

Just skim off the tramp oil if it ever gets to the stage that it is a problem.