Cleaning The Leadscrew

PmGRacer said:

I have just used mineral spirits and a disposable paint brush with the bristles cut shorter making it stiffer. After cleaning I use DTE Circulating Oil on the screw. I lube the lathe- ways,spindle, apron, tail stock, change gears etc every time I use the lathe with fresh Way Oil, Spindle Oil and Circulating Oil. Once everything is clean it is easier to keep it clean with the fresh oils.


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texasgunsmith said:

For impacted crud at the bottom of threads, I do something like the string trick, but with a screw driver flat blade. Screw driver shaft griped in four fingers, blade tip pointing up, and parallel to my thumb, also pointing up.

Now pinch leadscrew with thumb on one side, screw driver blade on the other. Run the leadscrew. . . If you have soft skin, duct tape your thumb .

Might take a pass or two in each direction. Once impacted crud is out, string method is pretty good.

To make pretty, emory cloth with wd40 while spinning lead screw. Same as you might for any part in the chuck. Emory cloth string method can help clean threads as well.

Final clean with ATF and a rag strip, or strings. . .

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Kevin T said:

Thanks the shortened brush is making a big difference...still not coming out as shiny as I would have thought.

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neanderthal mach said:

Dullvinci's 100% right. While very fine abrasives would take a lot of time and effort to affect the lead screws accuracy, it's still not a great idea. And if the lead screw is in that condition what are the half nuts like? Polishing the thread flanks while having half nuts half full of the same crap is a bit pointless. Pull the lead screw and drop it in a capped piece of pipe, fill with whatever your solvent of choice is and let it soak while your dropping the apron to get at those half nuts. Guaranteed they need the same attention. If you really want a new looking lead screw, then order a blank with the correct ACME TPI for your lathe and machine the ends to suit. Very likely that's what South Bend may have done anyway since manufacturing long lengths of ACME screws and then straightening them to meet spec is a pretty specialized business. While your at it, replace the half nuts as well and then that area is at least properly rebuilt and good for another 50 years. Lube oil instead of grease is almost always used everywhere on manual machine tools instead of grease. It both lubricates the moving parts but also helps to flush out contamination and any wear particles. If the lead screw or even way surfaces show black oil after some use, it means your not oiling often enough or with enough oil. And that lube or way oil is dirt cheap, those precision parts aren't.

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SteveM said:

This makes me wonder if having a bush mounted to one or both sides of the carriage to brush the chips off before they get into the apron would be a good idea.

You could have it on the underside pointing up so that any chips that come off fall down.

Kinda like way wipers clean the ways before it goes under the carriage.

Steve

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