# Craftsman oil wt.



## mecompco (Dec 30, 2014)

So before I started reading the forum, I filled all the oil cups/holes on my 101.07383 with Mobile 1 synthetic gear oil. I now find that 20 wt. is recommended. Will this cause problems? Have not really run the lathe other than making sure it spins. I will pick up some 20 wt. for future use. Thanks!

Regards,
Michael


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## thomas s (Dec 30, 2014)

I do not think it will cause any problems. Any oil is better than none. But try and fill oil cups with that 20W. So it will work its way to the bearings. I use 30W mobile 1 thomas s


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## wa5cab (Dec 30, 2014)

Michael,

The Mobile 1 won't hurt anything short term but the reason for the recommendations to use straight mineral oil and not to use current high detergent engine oils is that most if not all synthetic engine oils contain detergents and absorb and hold water.  Not a problem in IC engines as the oil gets hot enough to evaporate the water but in machine tools, and especially those that sometimes spend long periods not being used, it will cause rust in all but the driest climates.

SAE 20 marked as such has gotten quite difficult to find.  The only source I found in Houston was 3-in-One in the little squirt cans,  In the quantity used on a lathe it would be quite expensive.  About 3 years ago, I bought a gallon of Mobile DTE Circulating Oil Hevay Medium ISO 68 from Enco.  SAE 20 W crosses to ISO 65 to 70, depending upon whose chart you are looking at.  Two or three machine shop suppliers in Houston also carry it but I was ordering some other things from Enco at the time.

Robert D.


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## mecompco (Dec 30, 2014)

Thanks for the responses, guys. Not sure if gear oil has detergents? Probably. I thought the problem might be the viscosity (75-90) that might be too heavy to flow properly.

Will see what I can find for non-detergent oil before I run the machine to any extent.

Regards,
Michael


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## wa5cab (Dec 30, 2014)

Sorry.  I assumed that you meant Mobile 1 10W40 (or something similar) engine oil.  SAE 75W90 is a little thick.  I don't know whether it contains detergents or not.  But I would recommend putting a rubber tube or hose on each of the oilers and blowing through it.  The various oil passage holes are small and the heavier gear oil may or may not flow through them.  If your spindle bearing oil cups have the later or retrofitted felt plugs, I would pull the plugs and blow through those cups, too.  And washing out the felts.  Then with the felts out, fill the cups with 20 W and let it drain through once before replacing the felts.

Robert D.


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## John Hasler (Dec 30, 2014)

wa5cab said:


> Sorry.  I assumed that you meant Mobile 1 10W40 (or something similar) engine oil.  SAE 75W90 is a little thick.  I don't know whether it contains detergents or not.  But I would recommend putting a rubber tube or hose on each of the oilers and blowing through it.  The various oil passage holes are small and the heavier gear oil may or may not flow through them.  If your spindle bearing oil cups have the later or retrofitted felt plugs, I would pull the plugs and blow through those cups, too.  And washing out the felts.  Then with the felts out, fill the cups with 20 W and let it drain through once before replacing the felts.
> 
> Robert D.



Gear oil SAE viscosities are not the same as engine oil SAE viscosities.  75W90 gear oil is actually similar in room-temperature viscosity to 10W40 engine oil.

I think it's better to refer to ISO grades when specifying oil for machines, though.  The SAE grading system is very application-specific.


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## mecompco (Dec 30, 2014)

wa5cab said:


> Sorry.  I assumed that you meant Mobile 1 10W40 (or something similar) engine oil.  SAE 75W90 is a little thick.  I don't know whether it contains detergents or not.  But I would recommend putting a rubber tube or hose on each of the oilers and blowing through it.  The various oil passage holes are small and the heavier gear oil may or may not flow through them.  If your spindle bearing oil cups have the later or retrofitted felt plugs, I would pull the plugs and blow through those cups, too.  And washing out the felts.  Then with the felts out, fill the cups with 20 W and let it drain through once before replacing the felts.
> 
> Robert D.



Thanks for the clarification, Robert. I don't think there are any felts in the cups. I did noodle around with the machine a little this afternoon and it looks like the oil is flowing from the cups--the small holes, I don't know. I will def. find the proper lube ASAP.

Regards, 
Michael


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## wa5cab (Dec 30, 2014)

OK.  I had forgotten how thin 75W Gear is compared to 90W Gear.  90W Gear ~ 50W Crankcase but 75W Gear ~ 15W Crankcase.


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## Mondo (Jan 1, 2015)

The spindle in that lathe has sintered "Oilite" bronze (SAE 841) bushings supporting the four-step pulley.  When operated in back-gear mode the spindle turns inside those bushings.  Similarly the counter shaft is supported by sintered Oilite bronze bushings. Oilite bronze is porous and impregnated with SAE 10 (early) or SAE 20 (later) non-detergent machine oil when manufactured.  While operating, as the sintered bronze bushings warm they "sweat" oil to maintain lubrication of the rotating shaft.  When the machine is stopped and the bronze cools it absorbs free oil back into the pores.

Although the spindle main bearings are Babbit and not Oilite Bronze, there are no oil seals to contain the lubricant and there will always be some bleed-over between the main bearings to the pulley bushings.  To maintain compatibility with the oil in the bushings you should be  using either SAE 10 or SAE 20 non-detergent oil and nothing else.

Four years ago I bought a 2 gallon jug of SAE 20 non-detergent motor oil from a nearby Tractor Supply store (www.tractorsupply.com).  I figure it will last longer than the blood in my veins.

If the local big-box auto parts store doesn't have it or can't get it you should be able to find it at most any NAPA auto parts store.  As a last resort let your fingers do the walking on the keyboard and use your favorite web search engine to find a suitable supplier.


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## caveBob (Jan 1, 2015)

Spiral_Chips said:


> If the local big-box auto parts store doesn't have it or can't get it you should be able to find it at most any NAPA auto parts store.  As a last resort let your fingers do the walking on the keyboard and use your favorite web search engine to find a suitable supplier.



Ditto that, I usually order lubes from Enco when they have free shipping offers... think they have one going on now...


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## stupoty (Jan 1, 2015)

Not so helpfull for you as it's a uk based company but others may find it handy.

ive purchased some way oil and deturgent free sae somthing, their called vintagebearingco on ebay.

they are very competative and post is very cheep.

One thing that might be helpfull is they seem to be mostly marine suppliers, might be worth checking boat chandelery types for deturgent free oil etc.

Stuart


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## Mondo (Jan 2, 2015)

stupoty said:


> Not so helpfull for you as _*it's a uk based company*_ but others may find it handy.
> 
> ive purchased some way oil and deturgent free sae somthing, their called vintagebearingco on ebay.
> 
> ...



Huh??  I think CaveBob was referring to www.use-enco.com which is based in Fernley, Nevada, USA.

But yes, non-detergent oils can often be found in chandlerys and other vendors who cater to marine or agricultural and other non-automobile industries.


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## caveBob (Jan 2, 2015)

Spiral_Chips said:


> Huh??  I think CaveBob was referring to www.use-enco.com which is based in Fernley, Nevada, USA.



Yeup, thanks for posting the link, I shoulda done that...


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## JPMacG (Jan 7, 2015)

Motivated by this discussion, I just bought a 2 gallon bottle of non-detergent 20 weight oil from Tractor Supply (thanks Spiral_Chips).   I figure it is more than a lifetime supply for me.  My sons will probably dispose of the half-empty bottle when they inherit my house some day.


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## Dazed&Confused (Jan 9, 2015)

Just a heads up you can get 12 quarts of SAE20 Non-detergent on Amazon for around 35$.


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## wa5cab (Jan 10, 2015)

Strange thing is that neither NAPA or Tractor Supply stores around Houston carry SAE 20W.  The people at the NAPA store couldn't even find it in their catalog.

Robert D.


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## Mondo (Jan 10, 2015)

No SAE 20 at NAPA in Houston?  That is odd.  But I bet they stock sweet crude by the barrel!   :rofl:


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