Way, No Way or What the Hay

[cobra428]

Hi Guy's,
Today I was cleaning up after the H/M and getting ready to go back to working on the Whittle V8. I blew off the machines (which have been idle for a long time while I blinged the H/M). Wiped them down sweep the floor and begin to oil them up.
What is the proper care and feeding of a lathe and mill. Grizz and HF just says to oil. Well what the heck kind of oil ??? For the gear boxes (once a year) I use 30W non detergent motor oil. 50 W might make them quieter??
I do have Way oil that I wipe the ways down with but what do I use on the spindle and tail stock and the gibs on the carriage and the lead screw bearings and gears Way oil still ???
HELP, like to keep my investment going for years to come!
Tony

 

[rake60]

I use 20WT non detergent motor oil for all my home machines
and have a very good reason for using exactly that.
The reason is I have a whole lot of it here!

Any non detergent oil is fine to use on manually lubricated machine tools.
You can buy special way lube oils that cost about twice as much as
standard non detergent motor oils. In truth, they are less refined
lubricants. Pour a little of each into glass jars and you will see the
the non detergent motor oil is almost clear, and the way lube oil
is a honey color brown. The way lube oils are a bit more viscous so they
stick to the ways a little longer. In a dirty shop like my own that is not
a benefit.

Rick

 

[cobra428]

Hey Thanks Rick,
I guess I'm just a guy who thinks to much. I saw a thing on McMaster with way oil. Well I'm not using way oil.....Maybe I should be using way oil ....maybe I'm not doing the right thing by my machines......got to get way oil......I was just......thinking to much :big:
Tony

 

[Tin Falcon]

I use mobile Vactra 2 way oil on the ways, gears etc

http://www.mobil.com/Canada-English/Lubes/PDS/IOCAENINDMOMobil_Vactra_Numbered.asp

Velocolite 10 on the spindle bearings.
http://www.mobil.com/Canada-English/Lubes/PDS/IOCAENINDMOMobil_Velocite.asp
One shop I worked for had a Shell distributor less than half a mile away we used Shell Tona S iso 68 by the 5 gallon bucket.

http://www.shell.com/home/global/shell_for_businesses/metalworking/metalworking_pkg/tonna_brochure.pdf

Tin

 

[cobra428]

Thanks Tin

I use mobile Vactra way oil on the ways, gears etc

Just ran down the basement to see....I'm using #4 Vactra all around except for the gear boxes. I have some syn 90w (hot rod manual trany stuff) I was thinking of using there but am afarid of the seal compatibility.
Tony

 

[Krown Kustoms]

Hydraulic fluid!
I use it for everything, when chips get on it in the ways, instead of having them get glued in by something thick they float.
When the bed moves the overlap point acts as a wiper and pushes everything out of the way instead of maybe running over them and creating a problem.
Thats just me though, an old 35yr+ vet machinist told me about it.

 

[joeby]

Tony,
I'm not sure what types of machines you have; but Vactra #2 is a recommended weight for many types of machines, #4 seems to be a little heavy.

There are discussions all over the place about the "proper" oil.

BTW, Vactra oil was changed a while back, and the replacement for the "old" Vactra is Vacuoline. This is the sticky stuff.

Kevin

 

[gmac]

Can anyone explain why they specify NON detergent oils? Is it really that problematic, I would have thought the detergents would help suspend dirt/contamination etc?

Garry

 

[Maryak]

Garry,

The detergents/dispersants in auto engine oils are designed to minimise the effects of carbon resulting from the combustion process never being fully completed.

As there is no carbon byproduct in machine tool gearboxes they are not required. The other problem is that they have an affinity for water and again in a machine tool, the oil is never normally hot enough to drive off the water and the water remains in suspension in the oil, reducing its' lubricating properties - The "Milky" look of the oil.

Machine tool lubricant (not slideways) properties.

• High film strength
• Exceedingly good wear protection
• Outstanding oxidation stability
• Excellent rust protection
• Superior water separation
• Extremely good foam resistance.

Normally ISO 68, (SAE 20)

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[gmac]

Great answer Bob! Thanks again.

Garry

 

[pete]

Cobra,
I'd suggest you Goggle automotive oils against proper recomended lathe oils, In a nutshell Detergent oils are designed to float the contaminents so that the automotive oil filter can do it's job, Lathe oils such as for a lathe gear box are designed to let the contamination settle to the bottom and be removed during an oil change.

Way oils are designed to stick to the required surface but more important they help prevent what's called "Sticktion" This is a stick/slip effect that happens with closely fitted surfaces, What happens is due to backlash in the leadscrews the Saddle/Cross slide/Top slide will stick and slip in very tiny increments under different loads, IMHO buy the correct oil, Lathe manufactures do not recommend a certain oil cause they own stocks in that company, They recommend what works. Yes specialty oils are a bit hard to get but automotive oils WILL not do the job.

Pete