Thread: Found Reason X Y Leadscrews Handles are Stiff to Operate

In preparation for a cnc mill conversion I removed the DRO scales etc and also the table/slides, I found that the table was almost impossible to slide by hand once the lead screws had been removed, even with the gib screws slackened off - I had noticed some stiffness when using the lead screw handles but did not really give it much thought, until I tried to slide the table off. After giving it a good soaking with WD it started to move slightly at first and then could be removed, it turned out that the flood coolant (not my own concoction) had gone gummy on the dovetails/slides, so if you find the leadscrew handles getting stiff it might be something to look at if you are using flood coolant.
Flood coolant is I think not a bad idea, but it does tend to fly all over the place if the stream is directed at the wrong place, all it takes is a slight nudge to the nozzle to bring it under control - I do have guards that I place around the workpiece but I guess over the years it finds it's way down onto the dovetails. The flood coolant I was using is sold by Sprint and is a thick blue liquid that is diluted down with water to make a 5%-10% emulsion, I have had no other issues with it - it does however tend to stain the table in the area under the vice if I leave it for too long before I clean it, I accidently left it once for around 3 months, and the grey/brown colour of the table had turned dark where the vice had been clamped down.
I did try an air blast and mist coolant for a while but got sick of the compressor (which sits between the mill and lathe) noise.

Even oil by itself can go gummy over an extended period.
When I got my shaper there was no way I could move the ram until I’d completely removed the gib and could lever the ram sideways to break it free.
I must have checked about 20 times that there wasn’t anything else I’d missed that was stopping it from moving. Nothing like cracking a casting when you’ve missed a hidden fastener and then get keen with the “apply increasing force” part…

Steve

I've only used full flood a few times over years doing bigger repetitive jobs to save on tooling.

I've used both oil and a thin layer of grease under the vice with good results.
Grease seemed to work better keeping the coolant out.

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