One shot lubricator PM1340GT quick change gears (photo heavy)

[Alan H.]

I installed a “one-shot” lubricator for the quick change gears on my PM1340GT lathe. Others have done this upgrade as well and mine is just another example of how it can be done. A couple of my buddies that have plowed this ground before were extremely helpful in sharing their insights with me.

Here are a couple of photos of the finished install:

Some of the details:

I used a ½” round brass manifold with 1/8” OD (1/16” ID) copper tubing distributors. These small distributors were threaded and fit into the manifold. The pump I used is a Trico PM2000 which is an 8cc pump. I used 3/16” ID Tygon tubing from the pump to the manifold.

One challenge was to adapt the pump to the Tygon tubing. I made the tubing adapter for the discharge of the pump. It is an 8 mm -1 male to 3/16” hose barb.

The ½” OD manifold was through drilled to ¼” ID and the end was closed by solder sweating a brass plug into it and then machining it flush. The manifold was drilled and tapped with #6 -32 holes for the distributor tubes. The tubes/pipettes were threaded to secure them to the manifold and were different lengths to feed the oil ports on the distributor. The manifold is held in place with a brass clip.

The Trico PM2000 pump and custom fitting:

The fitting I made along with the HSS tool I ground to make the barb end:


Tapping the manifold for the distributors:


Manifold parts ready for assembly:


Tubes threaded into the manifold:


My goal with the concept I used was to be able to see how this system works and make any adjustments as necessary. I am satisfied with the outcome. The purpose of the attached video is for you to see how the pumping action works:

My hope is this thread may help others who might want to do such an upgrade. Therefore I am hoping other folks who have done an upgrade like this may share their work on this thread as well.

 

[Silverbullet]

What do you with excess oil in it? Or do you have a drain to recycle the oil Good to oil them well , looks like a good idea , think you could use tubing from the pipettes to some of the bearing ones for better lube to them instead of just gravity. More I think about it I'm gonna try it on my old logan and my enco mill which I had been going to do.

 

[Alan H.]

I have a catch pan to catch the oil. I personally throw it away. I'm switching oils soon to a more expensive one and I may begin to filter it and recycle as well.
I believe the ports on the PM1340 will adequately oil everything as long as you are getting oil to them.

 

[davidpbest]

Hey Alan, that looks super. Not at all what I expected given our prior correspondence. It's always interesting to me to see the different approaches people take to solving problems. Frankly, I had no idea you were as good a plumber as a machinist - live and learn. Your approach is certainly a lot more straight forward that my implementation (which is documented here if anyone is interested). Very nice job. I like the see-through supply hose from the pump - on mine, I have to wait 15 minutes to see oil drip off the gears to know it's really done something.

 

[[X]Outlaw]

Great write up and video Alan. This is something that I'm going to be implementing on my 1340GT as well. All the great details provided by yourself, David and Mark makes it pretty straight forward.

 

[Alan H.]

Hey Alan, that looks super. Not at all what I expected given our prior correspondence. It's always interesting to me to see the different approaches people take to solving problems. Frankly, I had no idea you were as good a plumber as a machinist - live and learn. Your approach is certainly a lot more straight forward that my implementation (which is documented here if anyone is interested). Very nice job. I like the see-through supply hose from the pump - on mine, I have to wait 15 minutes to see oil drip off the gears to know it's really done something.

David, I think your approach is far more sophisticated than mine and I actually bought the plate and some tooling to implement it. At the 11th hour I decided to do it this way as a bit of a test so I could observe the behaviour of it and resize the orifices if necessary. I decided on Tygon so I could see what is going on with air bubbles, etc. My test turned okay so I plan on leaving it as is. Your coaching and the details of your system were invaluable to me in terms of sizing the orifices and getting the details of a pump worked out.

Thanks for providing the link to your system on this thread for others. The concept and detail of your work along with the documentation you have provided is your usual gold standard.

Great write up and video Alan. This is something that I'm going to be implementing on my 1340GT as well. All the great details provided by yourself, David and Mark makes it pretty straight forward.

Great, this is the purpose of this thread. David and Mark (and others?) have plowed this ground before me and my hope is to get it in one thread as a resource. Then folks can come up with the solution they like and that fits the machining capacity they have in their shop.

The not so straightforward part are the fittings and hose for the one shot pumps. David coached me through that and that's how I discovered that the connection is 8 mm -1. The Trico specs are confusing in that regard and I am betting the specs on the other pumps out there are no better. Good luck on deciding which approach you will take.

 

[J Bennett]

Alan,
Great looking job. Thanks for posting.
James

 

[Rich V]

Nice job.
Would addition of fabric/sponge pad help to distribute the oil and allow for slower & more prolonged oil drip?

 

[Alan H.]

Rich,
There is a piece of gauze in there from the factory. I have assumed it is primarily there as a filter to keep debris out of the ports. It will naturally impede flow and cause the oil to distribute a bit. When I put the new manifold in I put a new piece of cotton gauze in there. Here it is dry before it was fit a bit better and then oiled.



Perhaps a oil resistant sponge or thicker fabric would eliminate the need for the manifold altogether??

My goal was to confirm that all the ports are getting adequate lubrication, particularly the ones for the bearings as mentioned in the video.

 

[Rich V]

Alan,
I like the idea of using a manifold & 1shot for this I just think that adding a sponge/pad would help a bit more. What you have now looks like a winner.