Shell Tellus 33

W

walterwoj

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I have my Clausing-Colchester 15x48 Lathe running and am almost ready to put it to use. The manual calls for Shell Tellus 33 Oil for the headstock and gearbox but clearly that oil from the 60s? is not available anymore. It currently is low on mystery oil and I was wondering if I could use the Velocitite No 6 Spindle Oil I use in my Sheldon lathe (it's not a gearhead though), Would it play well with what's in there or do I need to flush it with new? What is the current replacement for Tellus 33?
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Tellus33 was a AW68 oil
The spindle oil you have is too light for the application, IMO
 
Not that it will happen here but I’ve seen different oils not play together. Granted it was in a racing engine, but I’d be inclined to drain and replace with new oil. I’m not picky, currently using tractor oil that meets the spec for my lathe but oil is cheap compared to repairs.

John
 
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I ended up getting NAPA oils. Very fair pricing. I have your little brother lathe 13”


Cutting oil is my blood.
 

Shell Tellus 33 Equivalent

petroleumservicecompany.com petroleumservicecompany.com

Apparently, Tellus was similar to hydraulic oil, not R&O turbine oil, that many machines used in that application. My lathe uses R&O oil, but the previous owner used hydraulic oil, and it seemed to work just fine. Many people interchange them for machinery applications.
 
Tellus 33 was, from it's beginning, an AW68 hydraulic oil. I would not worry about metal compatability for that reason alone. Virtually EVERY hydraulic thing has bras, bronze, etc in it. They knew that when they made the oil. Or look a the PDS. It's gonna be 1a ir 1b, Corrosion doesn't happen until the 4x and you're pretty far down that class before it's gonna bother you beyond cosmetic. As far as compatibility with other oils, It certainly won't blow up in your face if you mix in another AW68 oil. It'd probably give me a warm fuzzy feeling to drain out what remains and not mix (much), but that's about it. That Telllus is (was) new enough to guarantee that one AW can go with another.

Personally, I'd be happiest to move it over to a circulating oil (DTE for example), but they're not that different. AW hydraulic oil was the original spec that Tellus was made to.
 
My lathe is using Mobile DTE Lite, which is iso 32. Recirculating oil. More expensive than hydraulic oil, though.
 
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