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Vinyl cove base for lathe way wipers?

Bill D

Diamond
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Location
Modesto, CA USA
I picked up a six inch piece of this at Habitat for humanity. It is vinyl floor cove molding. About 1/8" thick with a molded lip on the bottom. I was thinking I could use the bottom portion, with the lip, to make lathe way wipers instead of a felt/rubber sandwich. I have no idea how it will stand up to hot chips but cheap enough to try. I would expect vinyl would stand up to cutting oils and coolant.
Bill D

https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROPPE-S...nyl-Wall-Cove-Base-Coil-HC40C51S100/100123333
 
In my (limited) experience, extruded vinyl isn't very abrasion-resistant and definitely not heat-resistant. I'd expect hot chips to melt into the surface. If you're running flood coolant, "hot" chips will be much, much cooler than smoking blue and bronze dry chips, so maybe not an issue for you. I also suspect the vinyl would not conform to the ways as nicely as felt.

As you say, it has the advantage of cheap, and might be worth a try. You might also use the flat portion in place of rubber in the felt/rubber sandwich, although it might get eaten by blue and brown chips.
 
I like the idea, perhaps cover with foil tape ( kitchen foil is transparent aluminium I think,)
Shame a silicone rubber version wasn’t available, that will cope with heat merrily, silicone place mats, is there a thing as that?
I’m sure I’ve seen silicone pan pads, not as convenient a profile as that though
Mark
 
Just buy the Kabel-Schlepp stuff, there's not enough on a machine to break the bank and it works.

No NO !
We must re-purpose any and all materials, for our DIY lathes, mills, and DP's.
We need to start collecting aluminum cans, and build propane burners from pipe to sand cast our
own Gingery machine shop.
I'm surprised Gingery never bit the boolit, and offered a DIY "3-in-1" machine cast form pop cans.
 
Convenient profile, for sure. Way oil will leech all the plasticizers out of the vinyl over time and eventually the wiper will harden. Harder than your way wiper in the morning.

It'll last a couple years though. :D
 
I had forgotten about leather. It can be formed by soaking in water overnight then clamped to force a bend. That is how they make pump leathers.
I suppose you are right the vinyl will melt or harden. I do have some 1/2" silicone tubing that could be slit to make postage stamp size pieces. I have to replace my windshield wiper blades every season because they get hard and no longer work correctly. Actually, being a cheapskate, I only replace the drivers side and transfer the old one over to the passengers side. The passenger side one is cut down and moved to the rear. Only the rear blade is tossed.

Bill D
 
As mentioned, vinyl will not have good longevity in a use like this. I wouldn't trust silicone either, its physical properties (tensile strength and abrasion resistance) are poor and it is very hit-or-miss on oil and chemical resistance.

Chloroprene (Neoprene) rubber is the traditional choice for a way wiper, NBR (nitrile, buna) will work also, FKM (viton) is more spendy but will last longer. Leather would be the (pre-mid-20th century) extra-traditional material.
 
With the way wiper sections available from places like McMaster-Carr it seems like a waste of time to dink around with stuff from the aisles of Home Depot.

Stuart
 
a quite thin piece of UHMW(oil impregnated maybe)
could be put in with the bend loaded into it
this would be very similar to what Haas uses on there wing covers (thin copper strip)
as the material wears out it contours to the shape of the surface it is dragging on, the bend keeps it tight against whatever surface
the copper wipers on a Haas wing cover lasts for years
not sure how long the plastic would last but a 12"x12" sheet would make a bunch and they could be changed out in 10 minutes
you might be able to get it in just the right strip width and just cut it to length

McMaster-Carr

.77 cents a foot



or
you could hang your head in shame because you took two minutes out of your day to brainstorm something a little unorthodox and offended one of the super duper machine brain guys


not
 
You also want a material that when steel chips become embedded will not score the ways.

I'd stick with felt or leather, the traditional materials.
 
or
you could hang your head in shame because you took two minutes out of your day to brainstorm something a little unorthodox and offended one of the super duper machine brain guys


not

Might as well add a barn door hinge and some duct tape as too...make the trip to Home Despot worthwhile. What good is a machine without a barn door hinge?

Stuart
 
silicone place mats, is there a thing as that?
Extremely close. They make silicone non-stick liners for baking sheets. An industry standard "half-sheet" is 13x18, while a "full-sheet" is 18x26. The liners are usually about 1/16" thick and reinforced with a molded-in coarse mesh of fiberglass.
 
or
you could hang your head in shame because you took two minutes out of your day to brainstorm something a little unorthodox and offended one of the super duper machine brain guys
Doesn't offend me in the least, it's not my machine. But it's dumb.

People who make way wipers have looked into the problem in depth for a hundred years. They've seen problems most of us have not even imagined - and solved them. Real way wipers actually work and don't cost all that much.

Sure, you can brainstorm something a little unorthodox, fix that hole in your tire, maybe some hair spray and a piece of cardboard ? But personally ? No, I'm not going to recommend that.
 
Being old school, I prefer leather wipers to anything else I have tried and especially felt.

Too much information what - or whom - you may have felt.

ISTR leather was used for lining a synthetic vagina, "pioneering" Christine Jorgenson days? I'm sure I don' wanna KNOW if steel chips became "in bed'ed".

Must at least be more durable as wiper stock than re-purposed arseholes, so that should help prevent Old Skewl Machinists from being hunted and scalped for our value as tight and flexible self-adjusting raw material?

Nipped in the bud?

Wot a painful way to daze yer end! Hole idea of it stinks!

:(

Kabel-Schlepp sounds like ANOTHER Germanic recreational activity, but so long as it works..
 
"ISTR leather was used for lining a synthetic vagina, "pioneering" Christine Jorgenson days? I'm sure I don' wanna KNOW if steel chips became "in bed'ed"

You certainly cover a lot of ground termite, as you know the street credibility issue is still unresolved, these are modern times, you must show photos!
That is if you want to be the "old sage" on the site, otherwise you are the "old troll"...…..
 
of any of the responses mine was aimed at yours the least
you answered exactly right
"i disagree, here's my idea"
but that is not what i'm seeing as the norm
"you f'in boob how could you be so stupid, get lost and don't come back"
seems to be much more common



Doesn't offend me in the least, it's not my machine. But it's dumb.

People who make way wipers have looked into the problem in depth for a hundred years. They've seen problems most of us have not even imagined - and solved them. Real way wipers actually work and don't cost all that much.

Sure, you can brainstorm something a little unorthodox, fix that hole in your tire, maybe some hair spray and a piece of cardboard ? But personally ? No, I'm not going to recommend that.
 
I think I paid 50 cents for a small piece of the cove base. I think I will go ahead and try it for the backside of the tailstock. I did buy a set of real way wipers but it only had six pieces. I was surprised to find the vee ways are different for the tailstock and the apron. Same angle but different blank width across the tip. Meaning the wipers are different as well. The flat way wipers are identical since there is not too much to vary on a flat surface.
Bill D
 
Combine that with the fact that some chips will embed themselves in the wiper and you can see that you will have a scraper that will wear your ways down.

Although it will wear, felt does not harden. So a chip embedded in it will be able to sink deeper and will not exert as much force on the ways. I would stick with felt.



Convenient profile, for sure. Way oil will leech all the plasticizers out of the vinyl over time and eventually the wiper will harden. Harder than your way wiper in the morning.

It'll last a couple years though. :D
 








 
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