machine maintenance

[hammers-n-nails]

this is a dumb question but how do you guys get oil through those little spring loaded balls on the machines. i try pumping it in with the oil can with the tip pressed down but im not sure that much is getting in there, any ideas?

 

[tmuir]

This has been asked before but I can't find the thread.
But from what I remembered was someone modified the tip of the oil can to have a little slot cut in the end of the spout so the oil could get out the side of the tip, not just at the top where it is pressing against the ball.
I'm sure someone will be able to find a link to this old thread.

 

[Metal Butcher]

The small tapered tip on my oil can pushes the ball in and the tip sort of seals up the space between the fitting and the tip. Usually half the oil ends up leaking out, but enough gets in to do the job. I don't consider the system all that good.

Replacing them with 'hinged cover' oil cups could probably work if you really need to eliminate the aggravation by making an improvement.

EDIT; My oil can has an internal piston pump that produces a good amount of pressure, and the neck is flexible for fittings that can't be reached with a head on approach.

-MB

 

[Deanofid]

They are kind of a fiddly thing to get oil into. Using hinged top oilers is not a viable solution for a lot of them, because they usually sit right on a slide and will interfere with other operations.

Thankfully, most of them supply oil to things like lead screws, and don't take a lot of oil to get the job done. Using a thin tapered punch to push the ball down and then letting oil run down the punch into the hole works okay. You can do the same thing with a short piece of 1/16" drill rod.

Some older lathes use a small flat head screw in place of those aggravating spring balls. Take out the screw, give it a squirt of oil, and put the screw back in. You could pop out the balls, pull the spring, and tap the hole for a small screw. That might involve some disassembly to avoid getting chips from the tapping in the lead screw, or whatever that hole is meant to lubricate.

Dean

 

[don-tucker]

I turned up a tapered nozzle with a No 60 hole and soldered it to the end of my oil can (pump action type) spout,seems to work ok,I tried to get an oil pump with a concave end but no luck.
Don

 

[Stilldrillin]

I removed the silly little oilers and fitted top hat plugs........

Works a treat.... For me!

 

[Mutley]

I use a large bore needle on a syringe, i got mine from a fishing tackle shop, they are used to pump fish oil into baits for pike fishing etc.

 

[raym 11]

Once upon a time there was a machinist working the night shift.
One night he inadvertantly drilled a small hole in a fairly new Bridgeport bed.
He sized the hole to accept a flush mount press in spring/ball oiler hoping the boss would think it was part of the bed design and not notice.
He noticed.

Ray M

 

[MattB]

you want one of these

http://www.ashtonseals.com/lubrication-equipment.asp

click on grease guns and a menu drops down then hover over push oil guns. Our harrison lathe came with one but it leaks, need to replace it now we have a miller too.

matt

 

[Kermit]

I used very small bristle brushes and cleaned out the oil holes as much as possible when my chinese 9 x lathe was delivered. They were incredably dirty and partly clogged as well. Mostly sand and black grease with a vaseline consistency. After reading of others' experiences with these machines I have formed a theory. It's like they come from the factory loaded with destructive "faults" and only a good cleaning and alignment restores them to acceptable operation. If you miss one of the installed faults and operate the lathe for any length of time, self destruction ensues.
???
A ploy to sell more parts or is it the attitude of a chinese worker who wants to punish his employeers for how they treat him by sabotaging the "product" of the company?

I don't get it. After making a product that is very useable and could last for many years, why wouldn't the oil passages and bearings and spindles and nuts and pulleys and gears be clean and free of sand and metal shavings? They've done the job up to 98% and just totally choke and slack on the final 2%?

What other market and production forces are at work here? Good product - increases business. Poor products - decrease demand for product. The owners and operators of the business seem to understand this. The product is very often more than adequate and sometimes excellent AFTER cleaning and alinging.

Some one educate me, because this seems like sabotage to me.

:-[

 

[potman]

Kermit,

Perhaps they're not in it for the long haul.

Make and sell a million, you recover your costs plus a good profit.
Then move on to make and sell a million of something else.
Forget about the first product.
Who cares about reputation.

earl...

 

[d.bick]

Like you I fail to understand why the finishing touch to a machine seems to let many of these imports down. Over the last thirty years I have attended many model and manufacturing exhibitions, and the standard has improved from when the machine came full of foundry sand and the motors would not last more than a few days. But some of these unseen horrors should not be.
I have bought a 12” wide metal folder to bend the smaller sheet projects.
The one on a model trade stand (Warco) U.K. trader, had a lot of play in the top beam clamp pivot, it could have been designed better. I ordered one of the same type but better priced from Chester tools here in the U.K. when it came it had the same fault. It can be easily fixed with new tighter pins, and is probably still good value for money.
Maybe unskilled workers with little respect or pride in what they make could be the answer
I like the old manufactures like South bend and Bridgeport. But could never afford to buy them new. And thats the reason we by foreign the price
Dave Bick

 

[ozzie46]

Just a theory, but if someone is forced to work in a job they don't want to be in, at a wage that barely keeps you alive, by a system that even tells you how many kids you can have, then I believe this is the result.

Ron

 

[New_Guy]

I removed the silly little oilers and fitted top hat plugs........

Works a treat.... For me!

i love that idea

the very old southbends (and maybe other lathes) used to have a big hole offset in the casting that held what was called the oil "dabber?" at that time everyone used dead centers and they got very hot and this hole was somehow meant to help but now most of those lathes have lost there "dabbers" there is a thread on PM that details the steps taken to make a new one and i have to say they look good. i mention this because the "Dabbers" had a little ball to grab and it would be cool some of those plugs maybe got fancy or maybe even just a knurl so oily fingers can grip them

sorry the word was "Dauber" found 2 different ones
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/swtools/_images/machinery/10ee/1940_tailstock.JPG
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/swtools/_images/machinery/10ee/1940_tailstock_dauber.JPG
and
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj59/jrollett/Web Photos/OilDauber.jpg

 

[mu38&Bg#]

The import products rely on one basic concept. If it's cheap enough, they will buy it, maybe even more than once. They just don't care. Some companies do, but many don't. If you been there and seen how things are done and experienced how they think, it's not much of a question. However, a new generation is taking over and things will change.

The daubers were used to apply white lead to the dead center. I think my old Atlas/Craftsman still has some in it!

I use a plastic squeeze bottle to push oil into the ball spring oilers. I have to angle it a bit or the ball just seals the tip and no oil comes out. I'm just going to put a little notch in the tip to prevent this. My old lathe didn't have these, my "new to me" old one does.