# 9A Headstock has grease fittings for spindle



## jimkinney (Oct 14, 2013)

Picked up most of a 9A this weekend that seems to be in fairly good shape.  I will see if I can get some pictures tonight.

It is missing the motor drive assembly, tool post and tailstock clamp and bolt that I know of.  It needs both the cross slide and compound nuts which have lots of play.  It did come with most of the collet hardware.  There are a couple of repaired cast parts, and the back-gear lever arm is broken off.

It also appears to be a collection of parts from multiple sources.  The bed may be a replacement since it has no serial number and the QC gearbox model number is for a V-belt lathe where this one is flat belt.

Now to my question.  The headstock has grease fittings for the spindle lubrication.  They are threaded into the headstock, and I removed one to confirm there is definitely grease behind them.  Was this an option? 

I'm assuming that this was added at some time and will have to be replace when I rebuild it.  I started window shopping on ebay for missing parts and will definitely spend more than the $165 I paid so far to get it up and running.

Thanks in advance,

Jim


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## rafe (Oct 14, 2013)

Hi Jim, There are lots of threads on here about using grease for your back gears and lots of other information about rebuilding your SB or just getting it funtional. I personally still use oil, but it just comes down to user choice 
patience is the key to finding the parts you need at a reasonable cost Good Luck


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## stonehands (Oct 14, 2013)

Jim, I just finished up the restoration of a 9N Model A back drive. You will find it's an EZ project that gives you a really nice lathe in the end. I think I have a lot of the parts you are looking for, I'll send you a PM.--David


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## McRuff (Oct 14, 2013)

Grease was never an option for the spindle itself.
If these are threaded into the front side of the lower spindle area where you generally see the oil cups I would remove this spindle clean it out and put new capillaries in it and place the proper oil back in it. Post a picture of this, it would help a lot!!


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## george wilson (Oct 15, 2013)

Definitely USE OIL in the spindle. Those grease fittings were put on by an ignorant owner!! I hope the spindle bearings aren't already ruined. Especially since they are just part of the headstock casting,and cannot be changed. I have seen South Bend lathes so worn that I could lift the chuck up 1/8" by putting a crowbar under it.


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## itsme_Bernie (Oct 15, 2013)

Is it possible they are those pressure oil fittings for an oil-gun?  It's hard to find those oil guns, but my Cushman chuck has a fitting that looks like a Zerk grease fitting, but is meant to oil the scroll.



Bernie


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## jimkinney (Oct 15, 2013)

McRuff said:


> Grease was never an option for the spindle itself.
> If these are threaded into the front side of the lower spindle area where you generally see the oil cups I would remove this spindle clean it out and put new capillaries in it and place the proper oil back in it. Post a picture of this, it would help a lot!!



Here are some pictures that show the grease fittings, and the second shows some of the grease that I dug out.   There are no capillaries/wicks up in the holes.  

Bernie - It is definitely grease and not hardened old oil.  It is at least clean grease, so hasn't been run with it.  The spindle spins freely, and has no play that I can feel, but haven't put an indicator on it yet.

David - Replied to your PM, thanks for the offer, I will get back to you.

Other photo's show broken backgear lever and QC gearbox.  The gearbox seems to be in good shape.  I couldn't find any broken gears, but some show quite a bit of wear.

Thanks so far, more to come.

Jim


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## SE18 (Oct 15, 2013)

I believe the only part that gets grease in a 9A are the roller bearings in the race and the screw areas on the pulleys. The grease is Super Lube Synthetic.

The spindle cups gets something like Mobil Velocite #10; I got a gallon from ENCO (I also purchased a gallon of ways oil and the C type oils from ENCO.

I had a gallon of the B stuff already

For the 1/2 HP GE motor (original 1942) I use spindle oil


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## McRuff (Oct 18, 2013)

Your headstock should have this style of oil cups screwed in place of the grease fittings.

http://www.gitsmfg.com/style-l-elbow-threaded/
When the spindle is removed you should have a wool capillary wick that sucks the oil up and applies it to the spindle as it turns. The cup while small is the storage for the velocite spindle oil.

Your headstock needs to be completely disassembled, cleaned, the wicks replaced and new oil cups put on, while your at it replace the fibre take up nut on the the left end and do the needle bearing upgrade, pm me if you need numbers for the needle bearings or a source for parts.


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## jimkinney (Oct 21, 2013)

SE18 - I do have a gallon of Mobil spindle oil from my Craftsman lathe and will use it on this one when it gets rebuilt.

McRuff - I ordered a rebuild kit off ebay with the new wicks.  I will clean out the headstock and use the correct lubrication before powering up.  Probably the only thing that has saved the spindle is the lathe hasn't been used lately since it doesn't have the drive unit.

Thanks all for the input.

Jim


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