Lathe bed “gaskets”

[steviec_lj]

On my recently acquired Kerry AG, there are what look to have been cork gaskets under the head and tail stock areas where it bolted to the base.

“Noob” question is, can these be replaced with a dense cork board, say 15mm thick?

Or is there a better material?

I assume it’s purely to act as a seal so coolant/cutting fluid doesn’t leak down into the cabinet..

 

[MBB]

The Kerry I had the lathe cabinet top was made of wood which the manufacturer used to mount the lathe on I couldn't remember any gasket on it.

 

[steviec_lj]

Ahh, this is a solid cast base, from the manufacturer. Has a gasket affair on each corner

 

[grim_d]

What's the reason you want to replace it?

Presumably the cork is fully compressed? I don't think i'd put anything too thick and soft under there, might play havok with bed levelling and vibration may loosen things up in time?

Not sure.

 

[Rig Pig]

If you have disturbed it then you should really level the bed and shim as required to remove any twist.

 

[roofman]

I would be inclined to have metal to metal and just have a compression gasket with large washers on the fixing bolts on the underside of cabinet to form a seal...anyway unless your running a coolant pump your never going to flood the base of the lathe..

 

[addjunkie]

I just used hylomar on my last machine, worked fine stopping the coolant drips, didnt stop the line up the wall behind though.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

as far as im aware they are literally sealing gaskets on the kerry lathes, the mounting bolts should only be just in so nipped, as such, i imagine anything in there would do the job

 

[Shox Dr]

I’d sit it on 3 small nuts, 2 at the head, one at the tail. Use P38 to fill the gap. Sit it down clean off any excess, just nipping the bolts up. Once its gone off, a further nip to seat. Otherwise any distortion in the base may transfer to the bed.