Oil Sight "glass"

Nelson said:
They want $20 for a new sight glass for the VN #12.

I had another thought. I love the look of those old-fashioned brass and glass engine sight glasses. Any way to use a reducer on the hole in the gearbox to install one of those? You get a lot clearer reading with that then the flat glass that came with the mill.
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Nelson,

Are you talking about some of these: http://www.deboltmachine.com/id6.html ?

I think the NV would be suited to a brass guage due to the possibility of yellow metal shims in the gears boxes - we should not run oil with brass harming additives 0 so a brass guage makes more sense than it would for a more modern mill.

Devon
 
Devon,

On a VN12 of your vintage, you can't get to the oil sight glass on the ram gearbox without removing the lock ring for the right end of the output shaft. It's not a trivial job and you need to be careful about messing with the collars, since they control the mesh of the cutter head pinon gear.

A fellow I've been corresponding with found some flashlight lens on eBay for a few bucks that are about the right size to replace the windows. Another possible source for the windows are watch crystals. Someone told me that you can order the crystals in just about any diameter you want, but I don't recall the suggested source.

Cal
 
Shopsweeper said:
Nelson,

Are you talking about some of these: http://www.deboltmachine.com/id6.html ?

I think the NV would be suited to a brass guage due to the possibility of yellow metal shims in the gears boxes - we should not run oil with brass harming additives 0 so a brass guage makes more sense than it would for a more modern mill.

Devon
Click to expand...


Yes,

I would like to put one of those glass oilcocks on in place of the sight glass, I would have to plug the site glass hole with a reducer and then put in an elbow and then the gauge. I like the device from Frank mentions- the acrylic tube that sticks out- very easy to see the level, and easier to install. I wonder what it goes for.



Nelson
 
Nelson said:
Yes,

I would like to put one of those glass oilcocks on in place of the sight glass, I would have to plug the site glass hole with a reducer and then put in an elbow and then the gauge. I like the device from Frank mentions- the acrylic tube that sticks out- very easy to see the level, and easier to install. I wonder what it goes for.



Nelson
Click to expand...
Nelson,

should you go down the road of fitting the type of oil glasses you propose, a good project might be to turn a brass sleeve to fit over it, , this sleeve could have a slot or window cut in the side of it, This can be rotated downwards away from danger, after checking your levels
 
Nelson said:
Yes,

I would like to put one of those glass oilcocks on in place of the sight glass, I would have to plug the site glass hole with a reducer and then put in an elbow and then the gauge. I like the device from Frank mentions- the acrylic tube that sticks out- very easy to see the level, and easier to install. I wonder what it goes for.



Nelson
Click to expand...

If you like what Frank is showing - follow the link in my original post. They have several sizes.

If I did not need the practice threading anyway I might just buy one. But it seems silly that I plan to practice threading Delrin anyway - so why not move to acrylic and make myself a 'glass'?
 
Shopsweeper said:
If you like what Frank is showing - follow the link in my original post. They have several sizes.

If I did not need the practice threading anyway I might just buy one. But it seems silly that I plan to practice threading Delrin anyway - so why not move to acrylic and make myself a 'glass'?
Click to expand...

The acrylic is nice...I can probably make it with just a drill press if I center it properly. (Lathe still isn't up and running).


If you make one, can you show us how you did it?

Nelson
 
Nelson said:
The acrylic is nice...I can probably make it with just a drill press if I center it properly. (Lathe still isn't up and running).


If you make one, can you show us how you did it?

Nelson
Click to expand...

If it turns out well, I will report back. If I botch it up - we will never speak of this again. :)
 
I think you could get away with 150F....but then again, I guess the VN's run hot. I have an intact glass on the ram gearbox, but it is cloudy. Do you guys know the best way to restore something like that without scratching it up worse? The glass on the feed gearbox appears to be broken, so I will have to replace that anyway. I would prefer to avoid messing with the way the gears mesh, etc. so I will probably just try to "uncloud" the one in the ram.
 
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