Way Wipers, Use Felt Until Find Some Ruber?

kvt

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Ok, Here is my dilemma, Have an old Taiwan lathe, but the way wipers are trashed, made from rubber and hard as rocks and no longer keeping the fine chips out. I did manage to find a couple of rubber ones that will work, but the other two I did not find anything for. So here is what I am trying to decide, Do I cut a piece of felt and make a small metal plate to go over it, and put that in place while I look, or open to suggestions.
I will continue to look for some that will work, or order me some rubber and start working on cutting some out.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
The topic of best way wipers can open the door for lots of options, plenty of people selling better mouse traps, and even people defending their choice of felt or rubber or something else to the death. Well, not quite... Here is just one source of way wipers, there are many more:
http://www.dynatect.com/protective-covers/way-wipers
and a simple search that will provide plenty more to confuse you:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=machine+way+wipers&pc=MOZI&form=MOZSBR
My take on it: Something is better than nothing for MOST work. One of the issues of wipers is that they can trap nasty stuff in as well as out, and the best thing to keep out chips can be quite different than the best thing to keep out grit.
 
I had a South Bend that I made wipers from felt and they worked for years. I now have a Colchester and bought factory made wipers and They are plain Vanilla 1/8" Neoprene.
 
I've bought felt from McMaster Carr in the past to make way wipers from. And like talvare said use F-1 or F-2 grade felt. I think you can even get it of of eBay too. And yes, make a plate from aluminum or brass to retain the felt. My L & S had felt way wipers with a fiberglass looking plate retaining the felt in place.

I've used way wiper material like from these guys in my past. http://www.ameropean.com/waywipers.htm#Standard Does ok for flat ways, not so good for vee or dovetail ways. Have to do a lot of cutting and fitting for dovetails and vee's. The custom molded way wipers are way too expensive for use H-M unless you have deep pockets, which I don't have. Last resort, check with the manufacture of the lathe you have, if they are still in business and see if they sell replacement wipers. I'm sure they do.
 
I've bought felt from McMaster Carr in the past to make way wipers from. And like talvare said use F-1 or F-2 grade felt. I think you can even get it of of eBay too. And yes, make a plate from aluminum or brass to retain the felt. My L & S had felt way wipers with a fiberglass looking plate retaining the felt in place.

I've used way wiper material like from these guys in my past. http://www.ameropean.com/waywipers.htm#Standard Does ok for flat ways, not so good for vee or dovetail ways. Have to do a lot of cutting and fitting for dovetails and vee's. The custom molded way wipers are way too expensive for use H-M unless you have deep pockets, which I don't have. Last resort, check with the manufacture of the lathe you have, if they are still in business and see if they sell replacement wipers. I'm sure they do.
yea, have the V ways, and looked at some of the waywiper stuff, Looked like a problem for small V ways.
The company no longer around, Well it is around but no longer does machines, was bought out and does other stuff now and will not even talk about old stuff. I got some way felt in now just to cut some covers and trim the felt, But since the old wipers let some junk in I have decided to take the whole assembly apart clean, inspect etc. found what seems to be a plug missing on the backside of the apron, Letting junk into the gears, so I will be cleaning the apron up good as well. So I think I have a bit of time to get some covers made for the wipers. Trying to decide if I want to paint while apart also.
 
New paint won't make it run better. Might make it look better!:big grin:
 
I've used F-5 felt for wiper. I remember reading it some where. I believe Zoro.com is where I bought mine. There was a excellent application sheet for felt grades but I cant locate it right now.
 
One thing to keep in mind when fitting felt to way wipers. F-5 is fine, but it is much dense and can be difficult to install properly unless you make a die and stamp them out. The reason I prefer the less dense felt like F-1 or F-2, cut slightly oversized as well as a little thicker. When you go together with wiper and felt, it is squeezed tight so it bears snug against the ways of the machine. It also helps to soak/saturate the felt in oil before assembly, too. Not a have too, but helps. Ken
 
Yea, paint will make it look better for at least a month, but it should help with where I am finding rust that was not taken care of properly before other paint was applied.
Have the felt in, But trying to decide what to make the covers out of do not have any think brass plate, and the steel that I have is ether thin tin, or 1/4 inch plate, May have to make a trip to the scrap yard and see if I can find some thing.
 
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