Hello Cal, here are the pics you asked for.
Hi Les,
You have an older machine with the ball-bearing gearbox. You cutter-head is the type that uses grease to lubricate both the front and rear spindle bearings.
I see that you have a Universal Subhead installed. Those are handy for weird compound angle setups and can be used for horizontal boring using the Y-axis power feed. But for general use, you will get better rigidity if you use your tooling directly in the cutter-head.
You need to take the subhead off, remove the plate on either end of the cutter-head, clean out all the old grease and oil, then repack the bearings. As I said before, don't take the spindle apart or do anything that will change the bearing pre-load. Use kerosene or mineral spirits to flush out the old grease. You should probably check again after 10 or 12 hours of use, adding a little more grease if necessary. Don't overpack: the bearings themselves should be about 50% full. If you pack them full, then roll the spindle around and let the excess squeeze out you should be OK. If you pack the bearing and the cavity completely full, the grease can't circulate and the bearing may overheat.
I use Mobilith SHC 100 grease. It's a full synthetic grease designed for electric motors, but will work great here since it's a high RPM, high temperature grease.
The large caps on the grease fitting are designed to be turned in a little at a time to force more grease into the bearing. I wouldn't bother with them: with a synthetic grease like SHC 100, you can probably leave the bearings alone once properly packed. Check them once a year when you change the oil on the cutter-head.
BTW, I misspoke before: all of the machines used grease in the rear bearing; the front bearing on newer heads is lubricated by the oil in the main sump. I had it backwards.
Cal
