My lathe's running hot!

[David Walser]

Should I be concerned if my lathe's running hot to the touch? Before you answer, please note I'm posting this from Arizona and that my shop lacks A/C (or heat and insulation). It was over 110 today. Still, it was my first chance to turn in months, so after dark I mounted a chunk of palo verde and roughed out the outside of a vase. It was uncomfortably warm, but it was nice to throw some shavings again.

I hope I can finish it tomorrow.

[Wally Dickerman]

David, I assume that it's the bearings that are running hot. May be a problem it they have previously been running cool.

When I got my Oneway almost 3 years ago, The inboard bearings ran hot. Not too hot to touch but too hot to comfortably rest my hand on. I discussed this with the folks at Oneway. They said that 150 degrees was within the okay range. At 150 deg. you don't lay your hand on it. They also said that in time it would cool down. Today after hundreds of hours of use it still runs just as hot. I've talked to a couple of other Oneway owners who have the same experience.

Can you imagine how hot the wheel bearings on your car get at 75 MPH?

Wally

[John Hart]

There is a very narrow margin of temperature that humans can deal with....I think that's a big key when you are talking about ambient temperatures over 100 degrees and mechanical devices that typically operate around 120-130 in ambient temps of 70-80. As the ambient temp rises...so does the machine, and you start to approach the threshold of what a human considers "too hot to touch".

Bearings and motors can withstand much higher temps that you can touch, and the internal temperatures are even higher. I think you're witnessing the inability of the ambient air to absorb that energy...and it just "seems" too hot.

I think, on days like the one you are describing...a small silent fan, pointed at the headstock willl compensate and work wonders.:)

[Bill Bulloch]

110 degrees, I'd be running hot too. Here in Georgia for the past three weeks the temp has been in the high 90s with the humidity close to 100. This prompted me to install Air Conditioning in my shop last week. The lathe my not appreciate it, but I sure do.

[Bernie Weishapl]

David my brother doesn't have air in his shop and when it gets 100 to 110 outside he runs two fans. One is directly on the lathe headstock. Seems to do pretty good.

[Steve Mawson]

But it is a DRY heat. Been running hot here to with lots of humidity. However no rain for two days.

[Allen Neighbors]

I'm in NW Texas, and it gets pretty hot here, too... 100 today. In my un-airconditioned shop, with open eaves, the temp gets unbearable. I have one box fan on the floor beneath my lathe, blowing on the electronics and motor. (I also have 3 blowing on me, and two out the window). :)
The headstock still feels too hot to touch at times (not always)... I sometimes wonder if I'm putting too much pressure on my tailstock when I'm balancing blanks...
But the fan blowing on the electronics does help keep the motor cooler to the touch; it just doesn't help the headstock...