# Converted a grease gun for oil use



## jmhoying (Jul 18, 2013)

I know others have converted a grease gun for oil use (My Index Super 55 mill has grease style zerks for oil on the ways).  I had a John Deere brand grease gun that was of pretty good quality and I cleaned all the grease out of it the best I could.   I decided that there was a lot more volume in the 11 oz tube than I needed, so I cut the cylinder in half and welded the cap onto the bottom (also welded the plunger hole and vent holes closed).   I ran 6 oz of motor oil through it to flush it out and it looks like it'll work great.  Since it is held inverted during use, the one-hand model is ideal for this purpose.



Jack
Fort Loramie, Ohio


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## Ulma Doctor (Jul 18, 2013)

nice work!!
i cheated one time by leaving the paper tube in the barrel and pulling the plunger rod all the out .
then fill the cavity with oil, return the head and pump the grease that remained out until oil flowed...BaddaBing!!
but your idea is much better and cleaner i surmise!!
mike)


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## Charley Davidson (Jul 18, 2013)

Nice job, I need to make a couple myself, one for my surface grinder.


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## leadunderpressure (Jul 18, 2013)

Cool. This is what I need. Anything special that you did to the grease gun? What gun did it start as?


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## jmhoying (Jul 19, 2013)

leadunderpressure said:


> Cool. This is what I need. Anything special that you did to the grease gun? What gun did it start as?



The only thing I did was to cut off and weld up the bottom.  I've seen others that use the gun as is and make rubber seals for the lower screw-on cap. I wanted a more compact and leak-proof version.

Nothing special about the grease gun.  It was a 25 year old John Deere model that my Dad had.

Jack


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## itsme_Bernie (Jul 19, 2013)

I need one of these!  Thanks for posting!


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## Bobf (Aug 18, 2013)

Thanks for the tip on converting the grease gun. I had one from China and wasn't sure it would push the way oil but I thought I'd give it a shot. I just pulled the plunger rod out, and sawed it off. It appeared the cap on the bottom was liquid tight, so I just cleaned off the paint, ruffed it up with some sand paper and JB welded a small piece of aluminum over the hole. Let it set over night and today I pulled the Y jib and cleaned all the grease off, coated it with way oil and put it back. 1/2 filled my new oil gun with Mobil 2 and hit the zerks with it. Worked great, Thx again.


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