Pits on the lathe ways

Tim338 · Apr 6, 2013

I am still in the process of refurbishing my 9A and have used electrolysis in removing the rust and paint from my machine with great results. After 4 days in my electrolysis tank I pulled the bed out and noticed pitting on the lathe ways. The sad part is the bed has very little wear and can see the scraping marks on the majority of the ways. How serious are the pits? Some are fairly significant. Should I continue in the rebuild and check its accuracy after its assembled OR start looking for a better bed then continue with the rebuild?

iwananew10K · Apr 6, 2013

don`t worry about them. just have to keep it clean.
maybe fill the large ones if there are any just to keep them from becoming chip traps.

small ones aren`t much different from the "scraping" SB did on *some* of their beds.

Tim338 · Apr 6, 2013

What should I use to fill in the pits?

iwananew10K · Apr 6, 2013

actually JB weld works ok.
but only if they are big.

best you can do IMO is lightly stone the ways and oil it up.
use it like that and fill any trouble spots that may show up.

edkolt · Apr 7, 2013

I would not do anything to the pits. Just keep them full of oil, clean out any chips regularly. Think of then as oil bearings.

By The way the electrolysis did not do the damage. It was there before you started.

Ed S

Tim338 · Apr 7, 2013

Thanks for the advice. All I have left to do on the the lathe is disassemble, clean, paint and re felt the apron and start the assembly process. I should have a working lathe in six weeks or so (yes I am slow). It has been very satisfying to take a rusty, crusty machine and bring it back from the dead.
Any suggestions for my next project? I wouldn't mind a smaller knee-type vertical mill but I know they are hard to come by (especially with a R-8 spindle) . I have a import mill/drill machine now and its accurate for my needs but its such a pain when I have to move the head up or down as I have to indicate it "back in". Besides I like the older iron.

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