Lubrication of SB 9A apron

[oztool]

I am "spring-cleaning" the apron and saddle of my 1947 South Bend 9A.
After 10 hours of research I find many references to the oiling of the usual SB 9A points marked in yellow below:



However, lubrication of the gears for the rack and the power cross-feed are rarely, if ever mentioned.


From the top view (below) you can see that both of the gear shafts have felt wicks for oil.



How does oil get to the wicks ?
The slot on the rack gear shaft (on my lathe) DOES open to the front face, so it could be lubricated by attempting to squirt oil directly into the end of the wick.

If this is an oil-point, I don't recall it being mentioned , it is easily missed, and it would be messy to use because it has no cup or recess. Nevertheless, this small fuzzy chart does seem to show it (behind the handwheel, top right)



On my lathe, lubrication of the power cross-feed gear is even more mysterious since the slot for the oil wick stops before it reaches the front face of the apron. This means that oiling must occur from the back (which would not be possible without removing the saddle from the apron). Unlike the lubrication diagram shown above, my lathe has no hole in the end of the shaft.
Does oil "raineth from the heavens above" from the spindle of the cross-feed assembly somehow ?
Or, should I rotate the shaft so that the slot is at the bottom, and drill a diagonal hole (or two holes at right-angles) from the end face of the shaft to meet up with the oil slot ? Why would my lathe not have this hole ?

What arrangement do you folks have on your SB 9A lathes ? Any thoughts from anyone ?

 

[oztool]

I honestly couldn't tell you accurately. I would need pics to remember.

I had a lot of felts.. I would assume that the hole was a blind hole and a crosshole met it, and assume there must be a felt involved as well.
I am surprised yours does not have the hole... How would it get oiled from outside the apron??? The hole acts as a resovoir while the felts soak up the oil.

edit: you can look through these pics to see what you can find. They may provide a hint

https://imgur.com/a/6OT4a

Nice restoration Woodchucker !
I'm intrigued by the large tray under the machine - I presume it is a "re-purposed" item - what was it for originally ?

 

[oztool]

These were factory improvements on the lathe added over the years to improve oiling. The GITS oiler over the handwheel hole is usually added by an owner (I don't believe that SB ever added them). It would be my guess that the holes in the shafts angle down to meet with a felt channel.

I had thought that my GITS oiler was original, but it is listed as a "commercially available item" , and I can find no historical South Bend illustration showing an oil cup for the handwheel. I guess it would have been a luxury item on a $75 lathe, so you are probably right that it was not OE.
I , too, thought that the shaft holes might have been angled, but looking at the nice photographs that Woodchucker has provided of his SB apron, the oil holes for the "carriage gears" (as SB called them) seem very round (not oval). The rack gear shaft hole is very close to the edge. Maybe it was drilled square until it broke into the slot for the felt. The power cross-feed shaft hole is more central. Perhaps this one was drilled square and then cross drilled in order to meet the end of the slot holding the felt.
Does anyone know ?

 

[woodchucker]

Nice restoration Woodchucker !
I'm intrigued by the large tray under the machine - I presume it is a "re-purposed" item - what was it for originally ?

That was a oil plan for the garage floor. Get the large, the lathe didn't fit on the small.
I don't understand people that put their lathes on wood, there is so much oil and swarf... I am sure it would imbed in the wood quickly.

Thank you. It was a basket case... But it supports my needs.. I can hit .001 and under.. even with worn ways. I can also totally blow a size.. all my fault of course.