Lathework For Beginners

To conclude this series Neil Wyatt looks at some final advice for those developing their turning skills.

The Lathework for Beginner’s series is drawing to a close. I hope that new recruits to our marvellous hobby have found it useful and that more experienced readers will have found some useful ideas as we have gone along. In this final instalment, I would like to finish with some more advice of a more general nature that may be useful to new lathe owners who are starting to build up their workshop.

Cutting Fluids

Almost all cutting operations are improved by the use of some sort of cutting fluid. In industry floods of coolant are used which not only lubricates the cut but washes away chips and reduces the cutting temperature, all of which greatly improves tool life and finish at the expense of complexity and the need to keep coolant where you want it. In addition, the coolant (normally ‘suds’ a mixture of emulsified oils and water) can cause both corrosion and even health problems if leftstanding, although more modern formulations tend to be better in these respects. Most, but by no means all, users of smaller machine tools tend to consider flood coolant too much bother.

More usual, is the use of neat cutting oils, generally applied by brush or drip feed. While these do not wash away chips or offer much cooling, they do lubricate and will improve tool life and finish, especially on tougher materials. I’m a user of neat cutting oils, photo 1, and a little goes a long way- half a litre will last most of us at least a year. Use cheap pound-shop paint brushes to apply the oil, and don’t worry if the odd bristle gets chopped off ! I keep a pot of oil with a brush in it at the back of my lathe at all times, photo 2.