# Removing Tailstock Spindle Oil Cup?



## Halfnuts (Nov 10, 2013)

I started my rebuild on my new/old SB 10L today.  This is a 1962 model with underdrive, cabinet mounted, 4' bed.  The lathe is in great shape, but it's been sitting in a shed and had collected a lot of gritty dust that blew in the shed doors over the years.  Before I run the lathe, I want to tear apart the tailstock, apron, and headstock and do a thorough cleaning, maybe repaint and then reassemble.

Today, I started with the tailstock.  What could go wrong?

I stripped the tailstock assembly and all the parts are soaking in a bucket of kerosene.  However I can't seem to be able to remove the tailstock spindle oil cup.  It turns to the left, but not to the right, which means it's threaded directly into the casting.  I scraped the paint away from the stem of the oiler and unlike the oil cups on the headstock, this one is threaded directly into the casting.  Not threaded into a plug, which is then pressed into a recess in the casting.

I'm sure someone has come across this problem in the past.  But I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the oil cup without damaging it.

Any ideas?


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## Chuck K (Nov 10, 2013)

I haven't run into that problem, but it's been a long time since I refurbed a 10L.  I would try chipping away all the paint on the casting to see if it is releived a little to allow the oiler to rotate 360 degrees.  It's hard to tell from the pic just how much room your lacking....but you could relieve it with an angle grinder and then repair with JB or bondo before repainting.  Or you could just make life easier and leave it installed and move on to something else.  Good luck with the project.

Chuck


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## Bill C. (Nov 10, 2013)

Chuck K said:


> I haven't run into that problem, but it's been a long time since I refurbed a 10L.  I would try chipping away all the paint on the casting to see if it is releived a little to allow the oiler to rotate 360 degrees.  It's hard to tell from the pic just how much room your lacking....but you could relieve it with an angle grinder and then repair with JB or bondo before repainting.  Or you could just make life easier and leave it installed and move on to something else.  Good luck with the project.
> 
> Chuck




Never removed one.  I think I would hit it hard with a powered wire brush.  Its likely never been tampered with after leaving the manufacturer's plant.  If it doesn't come out try running a pipe cleaner though it.


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## Halfnuts (Nov 10, 2013)

Well, after turning it this way and that I decided that it really had to be threaded.  So I figured that if it threaded in there, it will have to come out the same way.  And if I destroyed it, I'm sure oil cups are available somewhere, so I decided to give it a spin.  Turned it out with pliers and, oddly enough, it survived the trip.  Came right out and was threaded after all.  So now the casting and all the painted parts are bubbling away in a bucket of hot water into which I poured a couple ounces of Home Depot Crystal Drain Cleaner which is mostly lye.  I've used the stuff for removing paint from old engine parts and it works great.  I'll look at it tomorrow morning and see what's what.

Thank you for all your help.

Here's a DIY hot tank with an engine block in it:





And here's how it came out after 24 hours soaking with a small submersible pump circulating the stripping bath:


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