The great oil debate!

[lazylathe]

To oil or what oil not to oil with!

As many of you know i have my Myford ML7 arriving next weekend!
I am looking for suggestions on what types of oil to use on the various parts of the lathe.
Myford recommends Esso Nutto H32, but so far i have not been able to locate it in Ontario, Canada.
And importing it seems a bit silly...
There must be something local that i can use as a substitute.

I am also looking for an oiler, i suppose it should be a high pressure one to get the oil to where it needs to be.
Any recommendations on this?
I have seen quite a nice one on a Myford site:
http://www.lathespares.co.uk/oil-nipples-lubrication-c-31/new-oil-gun-myford-lathe-p-528

Any suggestions on oils or where you buy them from in Ontario or Canada would be greatly appreciated!

Andrew

 

[compspecial]

Esso nutto is described as a hydraulic oil with anti-wear properties, just what the doctor ordered for a precious lathe! Alternatives listed are listed as
Shell tellus 32
Castrol hyspin awh 32
B.P bartran H or HV32
I hope you may have more luck finding one of those
Stew

 

[Omnimill]

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=33263

Looks like a good SAE 30 Motor Oil will do provided the Lathe isn't in a production environment ... !

 

[Metal Butcher]

The most important thing is to clean and oil your lathe on a regular basis. I honestly think that a non-detergent 30W oil will do just fine to lubricate a lathe and its 'way's'.

Oil is more critical on the way's of a milling machine due to the higher weight of the table. This weight causes a stick-slip condition that's not only annoying, but it can lead to premature wear. I switched over to a well known brand of 'way oil' and it proved its worth.

Below is a link to what I use, and I consider it good oil for its intended purpose.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/2-PINTS-SOUTH-BE...144?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa7b980f0

A little more in depth product information'

http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENINDMOMobil_Vactra_Numbered.pdf

EDIT: You can also buy it by the gallon, 5 gallon, and 55 gallon drum. Depending on how much machining you plan on doing.

The 'oily' can of worms is now officially open! Rof}

-MB

 

[firebird]

Hi Andrew

I have a ML7 also. The oiler is very similar to the one I have and should be fine. I use oil I bought from Myford at a show in the drip feed oilers for the head stock. Every where else gets 10/40 motor on a regular basis.

Cheers

Rich

 

[Maryak]

Castrol Hyspin 32

Shell Tellus 32

or auto transmission oil which is also ISO 32 - SAE 10

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Deanofid]

I use the same product as Metal Butcher, and even buy it from the same seller on ebay. It's actually made for lathes and mills, and is cheap enough.
No guessing whether it's the right stuff. A pint goes a long way.

 

[doc1955]

Definitely non detergent you don't want to use a detergent oil as it washes away way lub is pretty close to the same thing as a 30 weight non detergent oil.

 

[lazylathe]

Thanks for the info!
Just ordered some off ebay.

I will wait till it arrives before doing anything on the lathe.
Rather strip it and oil it before using it, just in case...

Andrew

 

[f350ca]

Andrew,
Wish I had seen your post sooner, Shell Tellus 32 is available at any Shell bulk oil dealer. Last one I bought was about $40 for a 20 liter pail. As for way oil I've been using chain saw bar oil for years, cheap and sticks to the ways beter than any oil I've run across, if it will lube a chain traveling at god knows what speed for hours on end it should protect a set of ways.

 

[Russel]

Motor oil and chain saw bar oil are very different in one aspect. If you take a bowl of common motor oil, such as that which you use in your car engine, and run an hand powered mixer (or eggbeater) in it the oil will move away from the mixer parts turning in the oil. If you do the same with chainsaw bar oil the bar oil will climb into the mixer. I've seen this demonstrated at a chainsaw repair class, it had most of us kind of surprised. The bar oil is designed with this property so that it tends to cling to the moving chainsaw links rather than fling off them. I'm not sure how this will affect lubrication when using chainsaw bar oil on a lathe, but it is something to consider.

 

[Loose nut]

Myford recommends Esso Nutto H32, but so far i have not been able to locate it in Ontario, Canada.
And importing it seems a bit silly...

It seems strange that you can't find it here because they make it at the refinery in Sarnia, Ontario. Any Esso agent (not gas stations but bulk suppliers and farm agents) should be able to get it for you. You can call the Esso help line or go online

http://map.essolubes.ca/locator.php

and they will put you touch with someone that can supply it.

 

[lazylathe]

Thanks for that link and info!
I am not from Canada, but am learning my way around this part of it quite well.
I see the nearest place is in St. Thomas.
There hours are 8 to 5pm mon-fri, so that is not so good...
Will call them and see if they will ship!

Andrew

 

[shred]

Motor oil and chain saw bar oil are very different in one aspect. If you take a bowl of common motor oil, such as that which you use in your car engine, and run an hand powered mixer (or eggbeater) in it the oil will move away from the mixer parts turning in the oil. If you do the same with chainsaw bar oil the bar oil will climb into the mixer. I've seen this demonstrated at a chainsaw repair class, it had most of us kind of surprised. The bar oil is designed with this property so that it tends to cling to the moving chainsaw links rather than fling off them. I'm not sure how this will affect lubrication when using chainsaw bar oil on a lathe, but it is something to consider.

Those are the "Tackifiers" in action. It's a good thing for machine tools when the oil might run off where you want it otherwise, like vertical ways and such (if you are anal about cleaning and oiling, it doesn't matter much what oil you use)

The downside to chain saw bar oil is nowdays it's made with bottom of the barrel oil (in the old days Stihl oil rocked), since it's pretty much flung off after use.
Good way oil also has tackifiers and is a better grade of oil. Kind of expensive to put on your chainsaw at $18/gal though.