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Scratches in lathe bed ways
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 9:46 pm
by Rbraniganpipes
I noticed this evening that I am getting some scratches on the ways of my wood lathe. It happens when I'm moving the tool rest slide around. I took it completely off, and sanded it lightly with some 400 grit sandpapers, but I'm still getting scratches. Hasn't happened before, and I've had the lathe for two years now.
Anyone have any ideas what I can do to prevent it from scratching further?
I'll try to post some photos .
Re: Scratches in lathe bed ways
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 9:52 am
by RDPowell
Could be a burr you missed on the underside of the slide or some steel components are not fully cased harden and is only a thin layer of hardening that in time is worn through, especially when there are two different type steels used in the manufacturing process, the harder of the two being much thinner then the bulk of it.
Not knowing exactly what you have this is only a assumption and you know how those are.
Re: Scratches in lathe bed ways
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 11:26 am
by W.Pastuch
Do not ever use sandpaper on the ways of your lathe. You can use a smooth stone to lightly stone the ways to remove any burrs, but other than that you will do more damage than good.
The only reason for scratches can be grit stuck under the tool rest. Do you sand or polish on your lathe? If you do you should very carefully clean it (also move the tool rest away and cover it) so that there is no debris left to scratch the ways.
Re: Scratches in lathe bed ways
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 3:18 pm
by caskwith
It's a wood lathe, I wouldn't worry about it. Give it a clean, file off any burrs and then relax.
FWIW, a "dead" file is the best tool for removing burrs from any machined surface, unlike abrasives it will only remove the burr and not any surrounding material.
Re: Scratches in lathe bed ways
Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 3:53 pm
by Rbraniganpipes
Thanks for your help here everyone. I have Jet Mini wood lathe. I haven't sanded the ways at all, nor would I ever consider doing that. I did however flip the tool rest over and sand the bottom of the rest with some 400 grit paper to see if it had a burr that i needed to sand off. That didn't seem to help just yet, so I may need to go back and do it again.
I do both sanding and polishing on the lathe. I sand the pipes while they are still in the briar jaws after just turning them.
The only polishing i do on the lathe is applying wax, as i can apply it at a lower speed on my wood lathe than I can on my fixed speed sanding motor.