Lathe drip tray slope angle?
 

My first post to the group.

I'm about to install my first lathe at home (not counting the little
Unimat). It's a pre-1950 Myford ML7 3 1/2" x 19" with cabinet stand and
drip tray. It doesn't have a coolant pump and probably never will. Even
so I think there should be a slope towards the corner of the tray where
the drain hole is, just in case. What should the slope angle be? It's
going in a cellar with a concrete floor (unknown thickness, I'm going to
drill it to find out) but I intend to make a concrete plinth for it of
about 3" thick with sloping sides. Any advice gratefully received.

Incidentally, the drain hole could be in the front left corner (where it
is now) or the back right corner. (Someone fastened a mains socket to
the back corner of the cabinet stand where it would foul the drain hose
if it were on that corner.) I had a Myford 254 Plus longbed lathe at a
previous place of work and its drain hole was at the back right. Its
drip tray wasn't reversible so I suppose that's the normal position.
That lathe was on a horizontal bench, though. On my lathe, with a slope
to the rear, rolly things in the tray will roll to the back...
--
John Fletcher

Lathe drip tray slope angle?
 

"John Fletcher" wrote in message
...
My first post to the group.

I'm about to install my first lathe at home (not counting the little
Unimat). It's a pre-1950 Myford ML7 3 1/2" x 19" with cabinet stand and
drip tray. It doesn't have a coolant pump and probably never will. Even
so I think there should be a slope towards the corner of the tray where
the drain hole is, just in case. What should the slope angle be? It's
going in a cellar with a concrete floor (unknown thickness, I'm going to
drill it to find out) but I intend to make a concrete plinth for it of
about 3" thick with sloping sides. Any advice gratefully received.

Incidentally, the drain hole could be in the front left corner (where it
is now) or the back right corner. (Someone fastened a mains socket to
the back corner of the cabinet stand where it would foul the drain hose
if it were on that corner.) I had a Myford 254 Plus longbed lathe at a
previous place of work and its drain hole was at the back right. Its
drip tray wasn't reversible so I suppose that's the normal position.
That lathe was on a horizontal bench, though. On my lathe, with a slope
to the rear, rolly things in the tray will roll to the back...
--
John Fletcher

My personal standard is one inch in ten feet. You could get away with a lot
less slope but this is easy to calculate and pretty much guarantees rapid
draining.
If (for this slope) your tray is two feet wide the slope (back to front)
would be 2 tenths of an inch. A six foot length gives 6 tenths.
Regards.
Ken.

Lathe drip tray slope angle?
 

Thanks, Beecrofter. Quite a shallow slope. Looking forward to getting it
all back together. The small bits are here at home, getting cleaned when
I have spare minutes, the big bits still at the factory. The factory
that made it over fifty years ago is only a few miles away and they keep
spares on the shelf! I'm getting a backgear cluster from them tomorrow
because mine is missing teeth. Yes, they even open Saturdays.

All the best,

John

In article , Beecrofter
writes
Hot on the left, cold on the right, **** don't flow uphill' and payday's Friday!
1/8" per foot of run works for pipes, pans, and patios.
--
John Fletcher