Best oil for gear boxes of lathe

[Nobullfrank]

I purchased a used lathe and I noticed oil sight glass throughout my lathe. As a hobbyist how often should I change the oil and what is the best oil to use in these gear boxes.

 

[DAN_IN_MN]

I purchased a used lathe and I noticed oil sight glass throughout my lathe. As a hobbyist how often should I change the oil and what is the best oil to use in these gear boxes.

What lathe did you get? My 12" Clausing Lathe 6307 has these sites too. I'll be following this thread.

 

[ridgeway]

I just changed the fluids in my 12x36 Grizzly. Put ISO 32 hydrulic fluid in the headstock and ISO 68 in the carriage. Purchased one at the local Tractor Supply and one at Enco.

 

[Nobullfrank]

I bought a Turn Pro 13x40 gap bed lathe the original owner used it to make motorcycle parts. It is a nice clean lathe however this is my first metal lathes. I also own a mini jet wood lathe that is a lot of fun.

 

[Ray C]

Hydraulic oil ISO 68 or 100 is recommended for most modern lathes in Continental North America. 100 is best when you're in a warm climate and 68 for cooler areas. I've had both in my machine and cannot tell the difference in any way. If you're only putting a 10-15 hours (on average) of use a week on the machines you'll probably be perfectly fine with 2 year change intervals. On a new machine, it's recommended to change the oil after the first 40 hours of use. BTW ISO 68 is equivalent to 20W and ISO 100 is 30W. ISO 32 (15W) is recommended for really cold, unheated areas. It's usually a good practice to either keep a log book or write the change date on the housing.

Again, this applies to most of the modern manufacture, manual machines that I know of. High-dollar CNC equipment might be different as they can operate at 4-5 times the speed.

For manual machine ways, Vactra #2 is recommended for horizontal surfaces and #4 for vertical surfaces. I happen to us #4 everywhere with no problem.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=te9AUu3OLZGp4AOA1YCYBg&ved=0CDUQ9QEwBA

Ray

 

[blacksmithden]

I've been using Shell 0W30 semi-synthetic motor oil in my dad's lathe for years, and now in mine as well. I get a bit here and a bit there leftover from the jugs we use at work. No problems yet. I figure if it's good enough for the screaming diesel engines in our heavily abused rental equipment, it's good enough for my lathe.

 

[Nobullfrank]

Thanks everyone for the information I think I will use 68 hydraulic oil. I use this in my hydraulic equipment and it holds up real well. I use my equipment in Arizona summer heat and Colorado winter cold with very good results.

 

[samthedog]

ISO 68 hydraulic oils are good for gearboxes since they are normally anti foaming and contain lubricants like zinc particles. They have good anti wear properties and are very temperature stable.

I have had this discussion a number of times with people who say hydraulic oil should just be used in hydraulic systems. This is not the case and many hydraulic oils are designed with gear pumps in mind so have great shear resistance and lubrication properties. In general lubricants are made to fulfil a number of different roles and therefore have several applications.

ISO 68 hydraulic oil is the standard used in many of the Colchester and Clausing machines and I have yet to see any ill effects on my 49 year old Colchester.

Paul.

 

[GLCarlson]

I think the problem with motor oil is that it is designed to keep particles suspended so they can be cleaned out by the filter. For a lathe you want a non detergent oil that will allow the abrasive particles to settle out of the oil and not be circulated through your machine.

Shawn

Correct. May not matter much in hobby use, but ND30 is proper for most older machines, and is specifically what Standard-Modern recommended for my lathe. Don't know about the newer machines; hydraulic oils may be fine.