Detent Ball Lubricators

R

Richard King 2

Master Machine Tool Rebuilder & Instructor
Former Member
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Feb 1, 2018
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I wanted to share something about the ball detent lubricators that many machines use. I saw one in a lathe compound once that never seems to accept oil when it was pumped into it, so we took apart the compound and discovered it was pressed into a blind hole...lol... It was an Asian import. They have a spring under them that supposedly pushes up a ball to close them. Most of the time when I open up the machines those ball fittings a clogged with chips. They are easy to remove by flipping the part over and using a same size of the hole punch and tap them out. I have also read where some screw in a wood screw into them and they are pulled out. My suggestion is to take apart your machine slides and clean the ball lubricators and the ways. It's good preventative maintenance. Many times those Asian lathes only drill a hole though the the part and never cut in an oil grove to spread the oil out of the hole. If you ever see this, please ask me . Many times if the machine runs accurately but the ways start to show wear or you get "stick slip" You can take it apart and scrape new oil pockets in it and its a way to avoid a real machine rebuild in the future.
 
Here's pictures! I find the link very helpful hitting some of my fittings!
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Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
I keep getting parts where I go to put oil in, and those oiler just sink down into the hole. The hole is drilled straight through at the outside diameter of the oiler, instead of having it neck down a little narrower at the depth of the oiler. Haven't quite decided what to do about that.
 
sounds like the spring is broken. Order some new ones. They are cheap compared to scraping
 
Richard King 2 said:
sounds like the spring is broken. Order some new ones. They are cheap compared to scraping
Click to expand...
No. The ball works fine inside the little cylinder. The whole cylinder slides back through the hole. There is no shoulder, either on the cylinder or in the hole, to keep it from sliding back.
 
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