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Jens Hoffmann
02-11-2018, 12:29 PM
Hello everyone,
I have an unheated, uninsulated, detached garage that I知 thinking about moving my lathe and bandsaw into. Living in Minnesota, it gets well below freezing here. My concern and that question is: would the cold do any damage to the machines? Can I still operate them safely without damaging them (I知 mainly thinking about the motor) in the cold?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Jens

Mike Cutler
02-11-2018, 12:53 PM
Jens

My garage shop is uninsulated and unheated also, unless I'm actually working in there. I'm only in Connecticut though. You guys in Minnesota get much colder temps.
You will have problems with condensation through the years. All of my machines are covered with moving blankets, when not in use, to stop the condensation from from forming on top. I still have to treat the tops with paste wax and such.
Bearings will start to complain when the temps drop into single digits, at least mine have. I don't know what the temp specs are for "normal" bearing grease, but I suspect it's not real low. The motor would be fine. It's the bearings you need to watch out for.
If your lathe has electronic speed control you'll need to consider that also.

Bill Dufour
02-11-2018, 1:39 PM
Having worked one summer In Alaska I was told that most all plastics and rubbers are good down to -40. C or F makes no difference. I would wonder about the bearing grease below 30F or so. My lathe motor bearing made noise but only below 45-50F for a few minutes until the warmed up from running. No noise since I replaced them. Of course they were original and had 40 year old grease which was still somewhat soft when removed. All the other bearings are oil lubed so no issues with them. I use 100% synthetic oil on the theory that cold will not affect it so much and it should never dry out into sludge and gunk things up.
I have to put a blanket over my lathe with a goldenrod heater in the base to prevent condensation below 50F in my shop.
Bill D

Bryan Lisowski
02-11-2018, 7:56 PM
I find my machines can take the cold better than me most of the time.

Andrew Seemann
02-11-2018, 9:38 PM
Growing up in St Paul, the main issues with having tools in an unheated garage were: condensation, the standing water from the snow and ice that melts off the cars, and the salt in the standing water. If you have a way of heating the garage, the tools should be fine once they warm up a bit. Some things will be unhappy if you try to run them too cold.

In general though, I'd say that you will think it is too cold to use the machines before they are too cold to be operated.

The biggest thing would be to try to keep the standing water to a minimum, since it will be the source of the water vapor that will condense on the machines. Keeping light oil on the bare metal surfaces will help some too.

Jeff Bartley
02-12-2018, 7:40 AM
Jens,

I'll echo what's already been said: condensation is the big trouble maker. It's the times when it's been cold and warms up quickly that cause the greatest issues.

I have several machines in an unheated storage unit and the heaviest machine had beaded up water on the top during the last quick warm spell here in VA. When I saw it my stomach dropped!

Two days later I was back there with a green scotchbrite pad and some mineral spirits cleaning off the thin layer of rust. I followed that with a layer of fresh 20-50 motor oil and it's been happily rust free.

Of course the best way to keep machines rust free is the use them everyday! I'm in the midst of a shop build so soon these machines will come out of hibernation!

Malcolm McLeod
02-12-2018, 8:09 AM
... It's the times when it's been cold and warms up quickly that cause the greatest issues.
...

+1^

If you keep the dew-point temperature of the air in your shop below the surface temperature of your tools, you should have little trouble. Typically, a de-humidifier could do this, but measuring and trying to regulate this would be a royal PAIN.

So, the alternative is to just keep the tool's surface temp above the air's dew-point. I'd guess 99% of the folks who condition their shop air, use this approach by just heating the shop air...?

Agree that short of storing tools in Alaska interior (-50degF), bearings will warm quickly. Just be careful of impact to plastics, some flavors start to get brittle at low temps.

Jens Hoffmann
02-13-2018, 1:45 PM
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. I値l be sure to warm up the garage before use so that the bearings aren稚 too cold. I知 doing some preventive care to make sure that condensation isn稚 going to be an issue, too!

Bill Dufour
02-14-2018, 11:03 PM
My father said that the only time his lathe motor bearings made any noise when when I came over. They started making noise after five minutes or so. I offered to remove the motor and replace the bearings, he said not to bother. He explained I was the only person who used his lathe for long anymore. I suppose after 60 years the grease may have dried up.
Bill D