Dipping my toes into turning

[Dabbler]

No problem. what *I* use, is ISO 32 hydraulic oil in all my headstocks and aprons. I use Tonna 68 way oil for all the ways in my mills and lathes.

That's all the lubrication I use. I have ISO135 wt oil for a specific lathe because the seals are shot, but that is only temporary. When the seals are replaced, the bearings will run in ISO 32 hydraulic.

Commentary:

For those who care:

I use ISO 32 instead of ISO68 hydraulic for several reasons.
1) there is no tangible lubricity difference between the two at all temperatures less than 100 degrees C
2) My shop goes down to 4 C (36F) in the winter, due to heating costs. We regularly get -20c and -30C weather here. The ISO 32 is less sludgy at 4C, and will lubricate better when cold.
3) it is less than a third of the cost for the next available (better) options.
4) it is readily available in 5 gallon pails for less than 100 CDN pesos.

I use Shell Tonna because the Mo0bil Vactra is harder to buy (has to be ordered in) and Vactra is more expensive for the same job. (where I am).
Also it is advertised as a slideway lubricant which when I talked to teh Esso engineer, is primarily intended for horizontal ways, such as for a lathe. I also need way oil for my vertical ways in my mills.

I hope this helps @koenbro

 

[koenbro]

The detailed explanation and recommendation help tremendously, @Dabbler, thank you so much. Will search for Tonna Shell.

 

[vk2024]

Hi all,
Here is my oil plan:
1) Shell Tellus S2 MX 68: about $120 locally. Picked up so no shipping.
2) Starfire AW 32 for the apron: $62 from amzn
3) Vactra 2 for the ways

Should keep me oily for a while.

 

[Aukai]

From what I understand the Vactra 2 does not have the tackifiers(sp) that it used to, mine was not very sticky. I changed to a different brand, much better.

 

[vk2024]

From what I understand the Vactra 2 does not have the tackifiers(sp) that it used to, mine was not very sticky. I changed to a different brand, much better.

You are not wrong about that since Mobil removed some tackifier (peritack, I think) from Vactra2. That said, I picked up a gallon of Vactra 2 from a friend who owns a large commercial shop and buys the stuff in 55 gallon drums. He seems to use it on a lot of his equipment and has no complaints. I think that to some extent, all this oil stuff is a bit overrated, changing the oil regularly, keeping the ways clean, oiling the leadscrew, half nuts etc are probably much more important. And the Vactra 2 was a great deal for me - $10 for a gallon . I also looked at Mobil Vacuoline 1409 that does have peritack. However that was only available in 5 gallon buckets and that is probably going to be enough for several generations of my family - I'd have to put it in my will. So, Vactra 2 it is.

Who would have thought that when I embarked on this, I'd learn so much about oil!

EDIT: I will have a 5 gallon can of AW 32 and that will probably outlast me. As I remarked to Koenbro, I should set up a hydraulic fluid stand on my lawn instead of a lemonade stand.

 

[Dabbler]

I think that to some extent, all this oil stuff is a bit overrated,

yes it is. some lubrication is infinitely better than no lubrication. As long as you have an oil film, you win.

 

[koenbro]

ELS PROBLEMS

I have a problem with the Clough42 Electronic lead screw when I am trying to thread to a shoulder, using kwackers' fork that adds cutting to a shoulder among other impressive upgrades. The ELS works well for feeding. When I try to thread though, the subsequent cuts do not align with the previous ones. I suspect backlash in my gearbox, but wanted to get y'all'z advice. The machine always stop precisely at the shoulder (within the DRO error of 5 um) but the retraction is variable bu +/- 1-1.5 mm in the z axis.

First cut, pitch is 3mm for ease of observation:




Second cut:



Subsequent cuts:



In the end I have many cuts (middle section below) that overlap and cancel each other, so I never get a nice clean thread.

 

[davidpbest]

ELS PROBLEMS

I have a problem with the Clough42 Electronic lead screw when I am trying to thread to a shoulder, using kwackers' fork that adds cutting to a shoulder among other impressive upgrades. The ELS works well for feeding. When I try to thread though, the subsequent cuts do not align with the previous ones. I suspect backlash in my gearbox, but wanted to get y'all'z advice. The machine always stop precisely at the shoulder (within the DRO error of 5 um) but the retraction is variable bu +/- 1-1.5 mm in the z axis.

Threading in metric requires that you back out of the thread with the half-nut engaged. You can't disengage the half-nut and re-engage it on subsequent passes unless your lathe is configured specifically with a metric leadscrew for the carriage. You might also consider threading away from the shoulder instead of threading toward it. And you should have a thread relief groove (a landing spot for the idle cutting tool to hover in) no matter which direction you're threading.

 

[WobblyHand]

Threading in metric requires that you back out of the thread with the half-nut engaged. You can't disengage the half-nut and re-engage it on subsequent passes unless your lathe is configured specifically with a metric leadscrew for the carriage. You might also consider threading away from the shoulder instead of threading toward it. And you should have a thread relief groove (a landing spot for the idle cutting tool to hover in) no matter which direction you're threading.

Strictly speaking, with an ELS and appropriate software, metric threads can be resynchronized, even with disengaging the half nut - if the ELS is aware of "everything". It doesn't require a metric lead screw. Just a bunch of accounting for the relative relationships between the spindle and the cutter position and a bit of math. If you know the spindle angle and position, the carriage position and the lead screw angle, (along with the lathe characteristics) one should be able resync and get threads to the precision of your system.

Threading away from the shoulder is good to know. It helps, especially for blind internal threading. Thread relief is always good.

Hard to tell what is going on in @koenbro 's situation. Really need a blow by blow description of his process, to be able to offer an opinion. Plus, one would need to read the software fork to determine how it is supposed to work, and what limitations may be in the software. It may not be a universal implementation... Don't know, haven't looked into it.

 

[davidpbest]

Strictly speaking, with an ELS and appropriate software, metric threads can be resynchronized, even with disengaging the half nut - if the ELS is aware of "everything". It doesn't require a metric lead screw. Just a bunch of accounting for the relative relationships between the spindle and the cutter position and a bit of math. If you know the spindle angle and position, the carriage position and the lead screw angle, (along with the lathe characteristics) one should be able resync and get threads to the precision of your system.

Well, of course, if you knew all that, and could enter it into the ELS, it could compensate, but the Clough42 ELS is not set up to do that math. Looking at the over-threading, my guess is that this is still an issue related to disengaging the half-nut and trying to re-engage it at the proper time and place. He's using the ELS that James Clough designed, and James goes into what's required to do metric threading with his ELS in glorious detail in the video at the following link. It's not straight forward given that he has an imperial lead screw and trying to cut metric, but it is possible to be successful disengaging and re-engaging the half nut if strict procedures are followed. Personally, I would find it a lot easier to just leave the half-nut engaged and back out of the operation for the next pass even with this ELS.

Let's ask the OP - were you disengaging and re-engaging the half-nut between passes?