Subject: Way Wipe Felt?

From: [email-masked] (Bob Neidorff)
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 14:31:34 GMT

What is this stuff called felt way wipe?  Is this cotton felt?
Can I make my own, or do I have to buy little pieces of rag
for $15 each from the manufacturer?  My lathe has four little
pieces of felt squeezed between a metal block and the carriage.

My understanding is that these things constantly refresh the 
oil on the ways and wipe chips off so that they don't get into 
the guts.  Is that a fair assessment?

I went to a local cloth shop.  They have acrylic felt, but I'm
sure that is the wrong stuff.  They also have wool felt, but 
it is sold off of the bolt as very thin fabric.  I assume that it
could be overlapped to make an appropriate thickness but I don't
know for sure.

Your experiences and ideas are welcome.

Thanks!

-- 
Bob Neidorff; Unitrode I. C. Corp.  |  Internet: [email-masked]
7 Continental Blvd.                 |  Voice   : (US) 603-429-8541
Merrimack, NH  03054-0399 USA       |  FAX     : (US) 603-424-3460

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From: [email-masked] (Ken Knaell)
Date: 30 Nov 1994 12:28:25 -0500

In rec.crafts.metalworking, [email-masked] (Bob Neidorff) writes:
<what is this stuff called felt way wipe?  Is this cotton felt?
[cut]
<My understanding is that these things constantly refresh the
<oil on the ways and wipe chips off so that they don't get into
<the guts.  Is that a fair assessment?
<Your experiences and ideas are welcome.
<Bob Neidorff; Unitrode I. C. Corp.  |  Internet: [email-masked]
 I've wondered about this lately also and bought some nice green "felt"
at a crafts store that I later wondered exactly the same thought "Is
this acrylic?".  It probably comes down to how much trouble is one
willing to go to to keep his tool ways clean and what type of
machining debris usually falls onto them.  Grinding is probably the
worst debris and big chips of aluminum brobably can be brushed off by
hand.  I will never run a tool post grinder without the whole lathe
covered by plastic and every other machine in the same room covered
or protected somehow.

If one thinks how clean glass can be made with a squeege in a single
wipe and how oil seals work with a single lip in contact with metal,
one might be inclined to use a single rubber (neoprene perhaps) strip
to wipe ways clean.  On the other hand some machines have no way wipes.
I am probably going to put a neoprene-wipe/felt-reoiler on my second
hand lathe before I use it too much one of these days.
ken
bethesda, md

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From: [email-masked] (Mike Rehmus)
Date: 2 Dec 1994 17:12:49 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Gregory 
P. Widin) writes: 

>
>In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Bob Neidorff) 
wrote:
>My South Bend lathe has similar wipers.  I bought some thick (about 
1/4")
>felt from Brownells (Montezuma, IA), and then used the old wipers as a
>template to cut out new ones.  They work fine.  Now I have a few sets 
that
>I can rotate, so they dry out after cleaning.  Tubal Cain in Model
>Engineer says he just uses soap and water to clean out his wipers, but
>then is always sure they are dry before they're replace.
>
>Greg
>
>_____________________________________________________________________
>Gregory P. Widin      3M Hardgoods and Electronics Support Division
>[email-masked]                                  Building 260-6A-08  
>(612) 736-6708                           St. Paul, MN   55144 U.S.A. 
>

Question about felt
Felt blackboard erasers often contain metal.  That is why you are not 
supposed to use them on white boards.  Does all commercial felt contain 
metal?  What would this do to the ways of a machine tool?

Mike