Our lathe beds come under all sorts of punishment from constant sliding up and down of banjos and tail stocks to sprays, colours and oils. In this post, I share my top tips on keeping your bed smooth with the use of a dry lubricant.
Cleaning Your Lathe Bed
Tip One – Clean it Up!
Every week or two, I clean the lathe bed using methylated spirits (denatured alcohol as it is known in the US). I spray quite a lot on and let it soak into the surface (or any gunk on it) for a few seconds, and then clean it thoroughly with paper towel. If there is a lot of dried oil or colours or whatever, I’ll clean it up with an additional spray of meths and a rub with 0000 wire wool. Then, one more spray with meths and a wipe over with a paper towel.
Tip Two – Use a Dry Lubricant
-It’s easy to apply and not messy,
-It dries quickly,
-It leaves a transparent dry film,
-Its dust and ‘crud’ repellent.
Now it takes me generally less than 5 minutes to clean and lubricate my lathe bed.
The heavy banjo and tailstock now slide effortlessly along the lathe bed, and I couldn’t be a happier chap.
If you want to give a dry lubricant a try, click the image or here: http://amzn.to/2vuLklb and order directly from Amazon.
Thanks for reading!
Notes
If spraying a large quantity of methylated spirit when cleaning your lathe bed, ensure you wear appropriate PPE.