Lagun mill - zerk fittings on knee ways, what lube to use?

[jimmcw]

My new-to-me FT-2 has zerk fittings on the knee ways. I purchased the (expensive and of marginal use) manual from Lagun and in the section on lubrication it does not indicate what/how to lube the knee ways. Despite my association of zerk fittings with grease, to my thinking, you use way oil on .. ways. But when I removed the fittings they were packed with a white grease so clearly previous owner(s) shot grease in there.

I saw that H&W sells a "Push N Lube Pump for Zerk Base" intended (from description) to inject way oil on Bridgeport mills with zerk fittings. I was about to just go ahead and order one of these, but I thought I'd pose the question to this forum and see if any of you have advice/experience/thoughts. Picture shows one of the zerk fittings in question.

 

[pontiac428]

Despite my association of zerk fittings with grease, to my thinking, you use way oil on .. ways.

Definitely use way oil on the ways. The only place the Lagun lube schedule specifies grease is on the bull gear via the zerk at the back of the head. The ball fitting that looks zerk-ish on the left side of the head and the oil cup both take spindle oil (Velocite #2 or comparable). All the moving parts in the table are way oil. The grease will eventually wash out, so just oil it regularly through the zerks and it should be okay.

 

[akjeff]

You are correct, those Zero fittings are for the same way lube you use for the x-y slide ways. I thought the plastic "push lube" pumps offered by H&W and others looked kinda cheap and fragile, so I made my own. Basically just gut a small grease gun, and plug off the hole where the plunger was, and fill it with way lube. You'll have to hold it upside down to gravity feed oil to the pump, but it works great. I did a thread on it, and will try to find it, and link it. Hopefully the previous owner(s) didn't use grease!

 

[akjeff]

Here you go.

Way oil gun

The circa 1984 Lagun FTV-1 that's on it's way, only has a partial "one shot" oil system. The pump that's in the saddle, oils the table slide, cross slide, and nuts. The vertical knee slides still have Zerk fittings, but they are not grease fittings! The oilers I found online were either cheap...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[jimmcw]

You are correct, those Zero fittings are for the same way lube you use for the x-y slide ways. I thought the plastic "push lube" pumps offered by H&W and others looked kinda cheap and fragile, so I made my own. Basically just gut a small grease gun, and plug off the hole where the plunger was, and fill it with way lube. You'll have to hold it upside down to gravity feed oil to the pump, but it works great. I did a thread on it, and will try to find it, and link it. Hopefully the previous owner(s) didn't use grease!

Thanks - and unfortunately, they (previous owner/s) seem to have used grease, as that is what I found on the inside of the zerks when I removed them :-( I cleaned them out, and I'll start working way oil into the ways. If I don't see signs of the oil weeping out onto the ways, I'll consider using ATF or such to purge the grease - hope I don't have to go that route.

And I'll check out your clever (and budget) zerk-oiler idea!

 

[jimmcw]

Here you go.

Way oil gun

The circa 1984 Lagun FTV-1 that's on it's way, only has a partial "one shot" oil system. The pump that's in the saddle, oils the table slide, cross slide, and nuts. The vertical knee slides still have Zerk fittings, but they are not grease fittings! The oilers I found online were either cheap...

www.hobby-machinist.com

Great thread! Thanks.

 

[T. J.]

FWIW, I’ve had good luck with the oiler from H&W.

 

[Chipper5783]

After several years of mucking around with home grown options, I finally purchased a Reilang oil gun. It was expensive. It works on both the “outie” and “innie” oil fittings, it works on any angle, it doesn’t leak, it will put out lots of pressure - only regret is that I didn’t get it years earlier.

I've seen the push grease gun for power saw roller nose bar, it would likely work for the “innie” fittings (and you could make a new end for the nipple type fitting). So, yes there are other option, however getting the right lubricant to where it should be is important - to the point that the cost of properly lubricating the machine is insignificant compared to the cost if it is not properly lubricated it.

 

[pontiac428]

I finally purchased a Reilang oil gun.

This. Worth every penny once you've suffered the alternatives.

 

[akjeff]

If I had machines with multiple oil fittings at numerous( and hard to reach ) locations, then yes I'd likely opt for a purpose built oil gun. For this particular mill, those two male Zerks are the only places requiring an oil gun, and both are in a very easy to reach location. For this specific purpose, the modified grease gun works flawlessly, and is very easy to make.