Oil change CM 44214

pmhayden

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A friend gave (free!!!! ) me a Central Machine / Harbor Freight 44214 Lathe/Mill and a lot of tooling. I am very happy with it. I know it is not a Bridgeport, but hey. I am interested in gunsmithing on a purely amatuer basis.

I am getting it set up. The first thing I want to do is clean it up and change the oil, lube, etc. the manual is pretty sparse.

Question 1: There is a clear plastic nut below the chuck. Is this there the oil drains out?
Question 2: There is a nut above and behind this nut, above the chuck, on the back side. Is this where the oil goes in?
Question 3: How much and what type of oil?

Sorry for the beginner questions. But I don't want to run it until I get the lube and oil changed, as it has been sitting a while. Thanks for any help.
 
Harbor Freight is fairly decent about having O&M manuals available for download on their website. I didn't check for CM44214, but I have downloaded some other manuals.
That would be a good place to start.
Regards, Geoff Morgab
 
Thank you. I found a manual for a Grizzly G9729, essentially the same machine. The manual that came with the CM is very thin but the G9729 manual is much better.
 
I checked behind my post and HF site claims not to have a pdf file for the CM 44214. I'm sure that when the model was in inventory they held a manual. You could try contacting them via email. I have had reasonable results with this, they reply within about 24 hours. As I posted elsewhere on this forum, Harbor Freight has changed their parts and technical service to a less customer friendly operation.
The other alternative is to track down the clones of this machine. Smitty and Grizzly, among others, may have sold a very similar or identical machine. I bought a pulley that fit an ENCO machine from HF several years ago when they were more active in the parts supply. It was a matter of visiting the local HF store and having a look at one of the machines on the floor.
Good Luck, Geoff Morgan
 
Thank you. I found a manual for a Grizzly G9729, essentially the same machine. The manual that came with the CM is very thin but the G9729 manual is much better.

This posted just as I was composing my second reply. In my experience, Grizzly is very good on parts supply and service.
GM
 
This posted just as I was composing my second reply. In my experience, Grizzly is very good on parts supply and service.
GM

Just ordered a missing part from Grizzly, from their equivalent. My next step is to change the oil. And maybe get a vise. I am happier than a pig in mud.
 
Changing the oil is a pita. The drain is located behind the gears in the gear box housing directly below the main shaft. The fill is on the back above the motor. I use a piece of foil tape. I clean blow the drain hole and put a piece of the tape there which acts as a funnel to direct the flow of oil into a container. That way you don't have a lot of clean up after you drain it.
 
I managed to change the oil but it was a mess. ;-). Got it done, though.
 
We;come to the gang!!!! I too have the more primitive 5980 so I just upgraded to some good old American iron from CT. Don't hesitate to jump in and get yer feet wet, you are in for some good times in the future.
Bob
 
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