Thread: Plain Bearing Lathe Spindle lubrication?

Without seeing anything I suspect the oil feeder is one of those type that supply a constant drip to the bearings.... There is a part that flips on top that is an on/off and the bit under that probably screws to adjust the flow rate... As for oil, I would think 80W way too heavy an oil.. More likely to be an ISO 68 or a 42 or something like that.... Lightish engine oil could work well and very available.. My internet is up to crap at the moment so I cannot search anything but see what oil similar type lathes that do similar speeds recommend viscosity wise...

I use automotive engine oil in the Visby lathe , it has large tapered bronze bushes for the spindle bearings , it is total loss system as far as I can work out , it seems to be happy running on the car oil . The car oil is very cheap when on special $12 for 5 litres of valvoline .

The SAE 80w gear oil I used is roughly the same as some 30W/50 engine oil I had lying around (gear oils and engine oils use different measurement temperatures I believe?)- I was concerned that a thinner oil would be slung from the bearings too rapidly. Grease strikes me as not being the right lubricant for the job.
Did a quick google image search - the fitting is a grease cup - looks identical to this:


The rest of the fittings are oil cups with the flip lids.

As you described and your picture shows you have a grease cup for your spindle lub point.

May be this was used to replace a damaged oiler.

Normally in a plain bearing headstock spindle oil will be used,as mentioned a 46 or 68 hydraulic should be suitable.

When these spindles are made they have clearance around the spindle and bearing journal and rely on the oil providing a thin barrier between spindle and bearing journal,this oil in effect forms the bearing.

You might have to do a search for drip oilers, this will allow you to regulate your oil flow and shut off the oil flow when the machine is not being used.

There are many different size oilers on the market.

Price for them can also differ greatly,these would be one item where cheap is not a great alternative to quality.

That is a standard grease cup as used on old vehicles, stationary engines, pumps etc. As you suggest it is filled with grease, and given a half turn each time the machine is used to keep the bearing greased. I have several on a 1927 Chevrolet. I doubt if it was the original fitting on the lathe and would be surprised if grease was the originally specified lubricant. A fairly light oil like ISO68 is usually recommended tor this purpose.

Since it feeds two bearings, I suspect a drip feed oiler as described by RC (see link) would have been the most likely original fitting. Otherwise I would think a wick feed oiler like the other ones on the machine would be more likely than a grease cup.

http://www.stationaryengineparts.com...-Level-Gauges/

Drip feed oilers are still available, but some are complete junk - I know, because I recently bought a pair of cheap plated steel Chinese made ones from Arc Euro Trade to use on my old belt driven lathe in place of the wick oilers. They will not turn off properly when not in use but keep dripping, and the oil drip feed regulation is not reliable, so they were not useable. I don't know the quality of the ones in the link, but someone on the forum could probably recommend a source of better quality units than I bought. Note: If ordering new lubricators, the Thor lubricators are almost certainly BSP thread. The American pipe threads used on American made lubricators are different, and most don't interchange with BSP.

Frank

Added later: Pipeclay posted while I was typing this.

OK, thanks guys - will add that to the list of things to buy... sigh.