Oil Filled Rotary Tables

darkzero

darkzero

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Occassionally I hear of oil filled rotary tables. I've never seen one in person, at least I don't think I have. I searched online and did see one with a sight glass.

I've only owned 2 Vertex RTs & the only other one I've used was a Moore but I don't remember seeing a sight glass. How do you tell if it's oil filled? Would they have obvious filler & drain plugs?
 
darkzero,

I have a 8" Phase II purchased new from Enco and it is supposed to be filled with oil. There is no sight glass just a fill plug and what is interesting is it also has a GITS oiler on the side?? Don't know why that would be necessary if it is oil filled

None the less,when I received it I filled it with oil as instructed, in the vertical position. Then I set it back down horizontal on my work bench. A few minutes later I was shocked to see all the oil had drained out on my bench. Don't have a clue where it is coming from. I had read somewhere there was a fix for that but I did not pursue it because I figured just put some oil in it via the GITS oiler before use and not worry about it.

Hope that helps,
Sandia
 
I have an 8" Phase II also and mine does have a sight glass. You are correct, I have done the same thing, fill it in one position and then have it run out in the other.
 
I have a 10" horizontal only R/T that I picked up off of craigs list. It is badged MSC, and MSC couldn't tell me how old it is.
It is filled with way oil, has a site glass and the oil does stay in the unit. I don't know what was in it when I bought it but the oil dried up to the consistency of concrete.
If oil can leak out then flood coolant etc. can leak in.
 
darkzero said:
Occassionally I hear of oil filled rotary tables. I've never seen one in person, at least I don't think I have. I searched online and did see one with a sight glass.

I've only owned 2 Vertex RTs & the only other one I've used was a Moore but I don't remember seeing a sight glass. How do you tell if it's oil filled? Would they have obvious filler & drain plugs?
Click to expand...

I personally never heard of a oil filled table. I searched on the internet, apparently it was a smoother operation than non oil filled table. I was thinking they were designed to heavier loads.

I don't recall using a rotary table in my career. I must have at least once or twice. The same with dividing heads. That is why I like this trade, for some of us dividing heads and rotary tables are everyday tools.
 
I have a gigantic 20" rotary table that I bought from craigslist. It's oil filed. It's just a horizontal, no vertical capability. I've used it a couple of times already believe it or not. I only have a small 6"rotary table besides this monster. I paid $50 for that 20" rotary table, I had to grab it.
 
This is the first I've learned of rotary table oil levels.
I have a 14" Kamakura horizontal rotary table. There's just the cup oiler for the handle (drive gear), and a couple of ball valve oilers on the table.
 
Im sure some makes and models designed for oil and some for grease. My troyke takes 90w gear lube per the manual. Even has the little oiler cups on the crank and side of the housing. It does leak out though rather profusely depending on orientation. There aren't rubber seals or anything so its really just nature of the beast i suppose. Ive seen some guys open them up, grease well and leave it at that to avoid the oil leak.
 
Thanks everyone. I have hear of certain oil filled models leaking often. Basically I'm just trying to figure out if mine is oil filled. I only have ball oilers on mine, which I do oil on use but I don'y see a drain plug anyway for oil. I'm assuming mine is not an oil filled model. It's a Yuasa copy made by Vertex. Could not find anything in the manual stating it needs to be filled with oil, just squirt oil in the ball oilers.
 
I have the Grizzly "Yuasa style" 8'\" and it also needed to be filled with oil before use. It was a pain trying to get the oil to run into the oil fill port. It kept air locking.
 
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