# Van Norman #12 LUBRICANTS



## cayusedriver (Sep 29, 2011)

Van Norman 12 users:

What lubricants, oils, gear oils, greases, etc., are being used in the various applicable areas of the Van Norman 12? Can anyone offer where these may be purchased in smaller quantities such as may be used by Hobby Machinists as compared to an industrial application where large quantities are purchased?

Thanks,

Cayuse


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## HMF (Sep 29, 2011)

OK, here is a link with the information you need:

http://www.owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=77&amp;t=92755&amp;p=634309&amp;hilit=van+norman+12#p634309

Pay attention to the PM links, as there is a very in-depth discussion of lubrication of the Van Norman #12. The problem with the discussion, as with most "expert" sites, is there are different opinions by the resident "experts," so if you are looking for a "pat" answer, good luck.

Also, when you hit 20 posts on here, the downloads area, American Milling Machines, has the #12 manual, instructions, brochures, and various other information. Some of it I scanned in myself because the quality of what I saw elsewhere left a lot to be desired.

One of the MOST knowledgeable guys about these mills is "Cal Haines" - he is a member here though doesn't visit much. Great guy- I owe him some parts I need to get to the post office to ship. Another VERY knowledgeable guy with a #12 who is no longer here (I wish he was) is Lane. Here is his site: http://sites.google.com/site/machinistsite/TWO-BUDDIES/lanes-home.

I will be very blunt, if you are a newbie, some of the guys on the Yahoo Van Norman list tend to be pretty ornery, and not too helpful. A couple of us on here own the #12. I had 2, a 1943 Navy one I parted out, except for the base, ram and knee, and a 1946 I am bringing down my basement to strip, refinish and restore. I use two stripping agents that I personally favor. One is Citrustrip, and if you are working indoors, that is good stuff to use. Smells good, not too toxic, water soluable, yet it works. Then I have this graffitti remover they sell here in NYC, Schmeckenbecker's or something like that. It works really nice on grease and paint, lifts it right off. A few treatments by both of those brings you down to a stable base to paint on. Some people fill with auto body putty, bondo, or metal-filled epoxy (Devcon). This is especially true for the crack between the base and the column (I had to split mine up to get it down the basement stairs- see the post in the forum). But I'm going to mill with it, not submit it to the Smithsonian, so I am not going to fill. I will scotchbrite or wet sand the surface and paint it and that is it. 

I used Rustoleum Smoke Gray on the 1943 one to practice, and, as you see from the photos on here, it came out nice- the before and after is pretty stunning. The Rustoleum takes a WEEK between coats to fully cure. The original color of these machines was a funny green color, like a forest green. While I like to reproduce faithfully sometimes, I wanted the gray, the green is just too ugly.


This should get you going, plus talking to Cal. 
I would LOVE for you to post some pics of your restoration process on here...please?  

Nelson


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## Welder1st (Jan 4, 2012)

Van Norman mentions in their instruction manual a priority grease. Does anyone know of a substitute.


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## Primitive_Pete (Nov 18, 2015)

Welder1st said:


> Van Norman mentions in their instruction manual a priority grease. Does anyone know of a substitute.


Is this the same as California Roll grease ?


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## Jason Annen (Nov 18, 2015)

I use the following:

Gear boxes, non-detergent SAE 30 weight
Cutter head, Mobil 634 gear oil, synthetic
Grease, Mobil NLGI-2 high temp/high pressure

Jason


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## Primitive_Pete (Nov 24, 2015)

Jason,
As a matter of interest, how did you decide on those particular oil and greases?  Specifically, why different oils between the cutter head and the gear box?


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## Jason Annen (Nov 24, 2015)

Start off with the manual.  The SAE 30 is spelled out in the manual, you want non-detergent oil.  The manual calls for 600 wt transmission oil in the cutter head, multiple searches on the net tell me that equates to 140 wt gear oil, and the Mobil 634 SHC is a high quality synthetic gear oil, so I picked it.

As for the grease, that was also an internet search, so I just picked a quality high temp, high pressure grease.

Jason


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## Primitive_Pete (Nov 24, 2015)

Thanks Jason, My mill is still some months away from making chips but this  good info. I am mostly worried about spindle grease because i have the older style with no seals so grease is all I got to keep the oil in.


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