How can I protect my lathe investment?

[Scott Winners]

I scored BIG today, probably my best lifetime power tool purchase. All in for $525 I have 8 buck knives with plenty of steel left on them, a duplicator/pantograph, a W&H full sized lathe (bare ways are 57 inches) with a 8 amp single phase 110vac motor, a pretty well made DIY bracket to swing the assembled lathe up against the wall when not in use, and the chain hoist the PO used for same.

The bad news is it was 1980s manufature, mixed metric and imperial fasteners, and one side of the motor base is welded to a hinge that is part of the homemade bracketry.

A lathe that can handle 30 inches spindles with a pantograph or pattern follower was exactly what I needed, I am making custon height keyboard tables for my office colleagues. I need at least 60 legs in hardwood with a whatever identical taper at the top to work with the staked technique Chris Schwarz drones on and on about in the anarchist design book.

It was stored in an unheated shop. Once I got it home I stripped it down with a socket set and have been wiping water off it. Next I will get out my allen wrench set to take the head and tail apart.

There have been at least 16 million threads here lately about rust prevention. I bought the lathe from the grandson of the man who used it and built the wall bracket. He doesn't know what rust preventative grandpa used, but there is no visible rust on it. I am leaning towards green nylon 3M scrubbers and jojoba oil because I have plenty of both.

Pics or it didn't happen of course.

20201115_162043[1].jpg20201115_162003[1].jpg20201115_152047[1].jpg20201115_161917[1].jpg

[Scott Winners]

Here is the duplicator tool off the ways and sitting upside down) on my chest freezer, also a close up of the cutting head I am not sure how to sharpen. The way it works is a plywood profile of the desired shape fits in a slot at each endpiece holding the guide rods. There is a roller guide, sort of like on a router bit that rides on the shaped edge of the plywood pattern while the cutter duplicates the shape in the spindle.