Un-Painted Lathe

Speedy64 · Nov 13, 2015

So,

As some or many of you know through my various post's I'm in the middle of completely tearing down my lathe in order to put all new wicks in her, and also to address some minor issues that needed to be addressed before I could actually start using her.

The more I'm cleaning everything, the more I'm really leaning towards "not" painting her at all when I put her back together again.

Call me crazy but I really love that "old-school, industrial, gun-metal gray" look and I think I just want to leave all the surfaces bare and/or polished up here & there.

I just looked through most of the pictures of South Bend lathes in the picture thread and I don't think I saw one un-painted lathe.

I'd love to see a completed, clean lathe that was not painted just to see if my imagination match's what one would really look like.

So if any of you have or know of such a picture please share it.

Also before I get beat up too badly by the "rust police", my lathe is in my basement that has heat in the winter and there is almost zero humidity or moisture.

I have many car parts and other bare steel items down there and nothing has ever rusted. Add to that I'm one of those freaks that wipes down & oils everything excessively so I'm not worried about the bare surfaces rusting.

Thanks in advance gang.......

Blob · Nov 13, 2015

Well, I don't think you're crazy to finish your lathe the way you want to. If you like the unpainted look, don't paint it. As long as you don't have a problem with corrosion, why not?

Speedy64 · Nov 13, 2015

Thanks,

And if you ever run across a picture of one un-painted please post it.

Like I said in my post, my main reason for posting the thread was hoping that somebody had a picture of one so I could see it.

Thanks....

tgolden · Nov 13, 2015

I think paint does have some functional purpose other than appearance. If done properly, it resists corrosion and assists in clean-up. It's easier to wipe up a properly painted surface than one left in the raw from the foundry. Now, you'll have to keep the entire machine oiled rather than just the exposed machined surfaces. I don't think the paint-less machine tool is a good idea.

Hodge · Nov 13, 2015

Clear coat?

Gordon Heaton · Nov 13, 2015

That neat 'raw machine' look will soon be dark smears and streaks. Machining is dirty business and oil, grease, coolant etc. won't wipe off the typically rough casting of old SB lathes.

Speedy64 · Nov 13, 2015

All good points, and I like the clear coat idea....

I actually got this lathe a while back and due to tons of other commitments I'm just getting around to it now.

I did strip & clean up the saddle, compound, front apron, and tailstock when I first got it, and everything that I stripped still looks great.

Granted I haven't done any cutting on the lathe so it will be interesting to see how all of that metal is affected once its operational.

It's easy enough to disassemble the larger pieces if I ever do decide to paint it, and I may clear coat certain sections of it now just to give it some added protection but I think I want to pursue this "purist theme" I've got going on for now just to see what becomes of it or if the lathe holds up.

Is she doesn't.........I'll probably paint her black, I saw a black one in the picture thread and I thought it was Bad-Ass.

Thanks for the suggestions guys....

steve-l · Nov 14, 2015

Keeping the machine clean is just good practice. Keeping an unpainted lathe clean is pretty much impossible. Clear coat paint will not adhere well and it will fail prematurely. Paint is both maintainable and long lasting. The color you use should be light to facilitate cleaning. Lathes are not supposed to be pretty, they need to be useful. You should also consider powder coat. I did my 13x40 lathe 15 years ago and it really lasts much longer than paint. Be advised that if you go that route, the coated surfaces must totally clear of oil and that may not be possible with porous castings. So in my case, I used a standard RAL grey color and used both paint and powder where appropriate.

mTeryk · Nov 14, 2015

Cast iron is porous. Soaks up oil. I agree with Gordon. It'll look dark and dirty in no time once you start using it.

Teryk

Speedy64 · Nov 14, 2015

Looks like my idea of keeping the old girl bare isn't going over so well with my fellow brethren (which is cool) I respect & appreciate all of the comments.

I'm sort of supper anal times 1,000.000 so keeping her clean isn't an issue, and I've kept all the lathes I've ever run super clean.

I actually became an apprentice machinist many, many moons ago as a young man but left it after a few years to follow a career in Aerospace that has been very good to me, so I'm not a novice and I'm fully aware of how important it is to keep them clean.

I'm also aware of the porous nature of the iron so no worries there.

I've attached a few pictures of what my lathe looks like now, and some of the parts of the lathe you see were stripped & cleaned two years ago.

Since then those sections have seen oil drippings and various other chemicals, and you can see from the pictures that they're still pretty pristine, and that they haven't turned dark or rusted at all.

You'll also see the other parts of the lathe that I have disassembled that I haven't been cleaned yet and you can see that I haven't gotten to the bed or ways at all, but they're all on the list to be cleaned.

I've also attached a picture of a lathe from the South Bend picture gallery, and if I ever painted my lathe I would paint it the same color.

Not so much because I think it's pretty or because I think lathes should be pretty. I think it looks bad ass - as in roughed & tough.

Thanks for all the replies guys.....

iwananew10K · Nov 14, 2015

I don't see any problem with it, always wanted to do it myself.

Have at it!

stephen thomas · Nov 14, 2015

I unpaint mine a little more each day.

Not near as cool as yours, yet. I do like polishing the aluminum parts.
Photo is from a few years ago.

Here's a little more recently after rescraping the ways.
Got some more paint removed in the ZEP scrub
But backslid a little before that - painted the bed before planing it.

Unpainting is kind of a work in progress.

smt

Speedy64 · Nov 14, 2015

Love your lathe and that's the direction I want to take mine.

Thanks so much for posting the picture.

rustytool · Nov 14, 2015

Here's my unpainted lathe.
I coated the headstock, tailstock and bed with shellac and wiped the base down with Fluid Film.
Some people hate it but I love it.

Blob · Nov 14, 2015

rustytool said:
View attachment 154248 View attachment 154249Here's my unpainted lathe.
I coated the headstock, tailstock and bed with shellac and wiped the base down with Fluid Film.
Some people hate it but I love it.

That lathe is saying "treat me with respect, or else!" Very cool.

Speedy64 · Nov 14, 2015

rustytool said:
View attachment 154248 View attachment 154249Here's my unpainted lathe.
I coated the headstock, tailstock and bed with shellac and wiped the base down with Fluid Film.
Some people hate it but I love it.

I ABSOLUTELY love it........

Wow man, that lathe is DIESEL!!!!!

I look at that lathe and all I see is a country hard at work trying to build itself.

Thanks a million for posting the pic.

jmm03 · Nov 15, 2015

Speedy, I happen to like the look of the raw cast iron myself,but I like a well done paint job also. There is a cast iron colored spray paint available if you were so inclined, but your's doesn't look like its suffered from lack of window dressing... Jim

Dobermann · Nov 15, 2015

If you're gonna use your lathe to make stuff out of metal, forget about the paint. Cutting fluids and hot metal chips will ruin your paint job in short order so there's no sense worrying about it. If you're going to use your lathe as a conversation piece or coffee table or museum display piece then you should certainly get the paint job just so and of the correct color....one of the several variations that South Bend used over the years. Two of my lathes have what's left of the original paint on them. My other lathe was refinished with a gorgeous paint job when I bought it but since I make stuff out of metal on my lathe, that paint job has pretty much vanished in those areas in contact with various fluids and hot chips. None of my lathes has rust on it anywhere because way and spindle oils tend to prevent rust.

It's your lathe, you should be able to paint it or not paint it as you wish!

Blob · Nov 15, 2015

Dobermann;2655087 It's your lathe said:
I absolutely agree with this.

Frederick Harvie · Nov 16, 2015

years ago there was a swiss lathe maker Mikron that was so proud of the fineness of their castings that they sold the lathes unpainted and even boasted about this in their advertizing

Un-Painted Lathe

Aluminum

Hot Rolled

Aluminum

Aluminum

Stainless

Titanium

Aluminum

Titanium

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Aluminum

Attachments

Diamond

Diamond

Aluminum

Stainless

Hot Rolled

Aluminum

Hot Rolled

Hot Rolled

Hot Rolled

Stainless

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