I disassembled the table of my mill/drill (Jet JMD-15) to clean off all the hardened-on grease it shipped with. (Never had the courage up till now, but I've been unhappy with the lack of precision I've been getting.)
After I clean off all the gook that's there now, what is the right thing to lube the ways and screws with? I've been Googling around but remain somewhat unclear. Some say "way oil" (and if so, where do I get that from?) and some say that way oil is too sticky and it is better to use motor oil or even mineral oil (which? what weight?).
actually isn't bad for the cleaning chore. Just spray some on, let it soak, scrub with old toothbrush, paper towels, etc. But like Tim said, don't use it for lube. It ain't.
I use 30 or 40 motor oil. Wipe down the ways, get the spindle..screws etc..
Stoped using wdxx cause it would leave spots. I think there is some moisture in the kersone that they use in their product. The moisture is left behind, when it drys, producing rust spots....
I have the same mill/drill. And while I still pine for a "Real" mill, I've managed to chew up plenty-o-metal with it... for me anyway.
Cleaning won't improve accuracy... per se. Setting the gibs will, tramming the head will.
I use slick-50. My neighbor runs maintenance at a local injection molding plant and his guys tell him you want that "sticky" bit - drop of oil on your thumb & forefinger. Pull them apart and if you see a string... that's what you want. Way oil has the same property, it's available from J&L in 1-gal jugs. Slick-50 gear lube is available at Fleet Farm. I also throw 30w oil at it when it's handy. I think it's more important to lube it at all than what you lube it with. I'm not running a production schedule, or production feed rates.
Make _sure_ you lube the lead screws. The load & wear is most significant there. There's an article in HSM or PIM that outlines setup of a mill/drill for a one-shot oiler. I've not done it.
It is designed to absorb water and carry it off whatever is being cleaned. The "WD" in the name is for "Water Displacement". If it is allowed to stand, as it evaporates, the water which it has picked up will be concentrated in smaller and smaller areas, until it finally leaves nothing but the water -- and there you rust.
If you use it to clean up, wipe it off and replace with real lubricant.
For most machine ways and leadscrews, my choice is Vactra No. 2 waylube. (You can get various sized containers of it from the MSC catalog, among other places.)
Yes, it is sticky -- that is so it *stays* on the ways as the machine moves back and forth -- or as it sits unused for a few weeks. It still makes my machines glide very smoothly.
I can't see why it would be a poor choice for a mill drill, but you probably should check the manufacturer's manual for recomnendations.
Obviously, some other lubricant should be used for spindle bearings.
It's kerosene, which doesn't absorb water. It does tend to displace it from metal surfaces.
It is OK as a lubricant in the sense of making metal slippery. After all, jet fuel is the lubricant in high-speed turbine bearings. The problem with it on tools is that it evaporates in a matter of days.
I think the concern was that because mill drills aren't that great at protecting the ways from chips and dust, the sticky oil would tend to accumulate gunk faster. Conversely, the loads are not as high as they would be on a larger machine, and there are no vertical ways, so a "normal" oil works fine.
I'm not saying I agree with that; I'm way too ignorant to have an opinion on it. I'm just reciting what I read somewhere.
On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 22:33:57 -0500, Richard J Kinch calmly ranted:
High-speed turbine bearings on whose turbines? I thought most used turbine engine oil. (22k Google hits seem to support that, though there is a link regarding vapor phase lubrication for expendable turbine engines such as those used on cruise missiles.)
The problem with high-detergent automotive engine oils is that the detergent tends to absorb moisture/humidity, and become gummy. In an engine, the engine heat vaporizes off the moisture, but in most other lubricating applications, there is not enough heat to burn off the moisture, so it simply collects and turns the lubricant gummy.
That is why electric motor manufacturers specify a non-detergent oil - such as a straight 20 weight - to lubricate their motors.
Any multi-viscosity automotive engine oil is high detergent as are many of the single weight grades.
You should buy oil that specifically says, "Non-detergent" on the container if you wish to use an automotive engine oil for general lubrication around the shop.
The problem with additives such as Slick-50 and STP is that they are, essentially, additive components designed to *modify* lubricants - not lubricants in and of themselves.
The "Motor Honey" types - such as STP, Motor Medic, etc. - are viscosity index improvers. In layman's terms, they increase the viscosity of the base oil......for example, taking a straight 20 weight to a 30 weight.
If you want/need 30 weight, why not simply buy the 30 weight for the price of a quart of oil instead of adding 150 percent more to the original price in additive costs?
And, one more quick note.....Mixing 10 weight oil with 30 weight oil does not result in 20 weight oil any more than mixing one-inch rocks with three-inch rocks will result in a bucket full of two-inch rocks.
An oil's viscosity is determined by molecular structure - not dilution....and the chemicals in V.I. improvers work at the modifying the molecular structure - not by adding a thicker mixture to thicken the oil..
FWIW - Being an automotive guy, I, personally, use 80W-90 hypoid gear oil on my lathe and mill-drill ways.
In many cases however the machines are lubed as 'total loss.' For the case where there is a reservoir and circulating lube, this can be an issue. However for a machine that has lube oil applied, and then mopped up after it comes off the ways or out of the bearings, there is little chance for moisture to be absorbed.
In most cases gumming is a result of undesired polymerization of the lube oil. As an example, ATF is a high detergent lube oil that is designed specifically to resist gumming. It's what I use in my shop for routine lubrication.
I also use detergent synthetic motor oil (Mobil One) in the plain spindle bearings in my lathe. I've never seen it to gel as if it had absorbed moisture, and it's never gummed up. Granted I do change the oil and flush the reservoirs at least annually.
Hmm ... most of those apply just as well to the Rockwell/Delta/AMMCO
7" shaper which I have, and the manufacturer's manual strongly suggests Vactra No. 2 for lubricating the whole machine -- including the long sliding ram dovetail and the (mostly exposed) semi-box ways for the horizontal travel.
Note that while the loads may be less on the smaller machines, the surface area of the ways is typically less, too, so you wind up with the same load per square inch of way bearing surface.
There are opinions everywhere, and I have given you mine -- not gospel, but they have worked well for me with lots of quite old machines. (Some older than I am.)
The main thing is that you should clean up and re-lube after each use -- and if it has been sitting for a while, *before* use as well, to deal with dust which has settled while it was unused.
This is especially so in the case of most lathes, where there are long stretches of uncovered ways lubed with way oil.
Waylube is formulated for the task, and is very good for that task, and it is not *that* expensive. (I'm still on my first 5 gallon drum of it, but well beyond the first gallon used, as it goes on all of my machines in the proper places.
Actually, it;s a heavy oil in a solvent (kerosene?) Put about a tablespoon of it in a cup and let it set a week or apply some heat., What remains looks like 90W oil. =20
To reply, please remove one letter from each side of "@" Spammers are VERMIN. Please kill them all.
They also may not be compatible with the original oil's attitives and have a detrimental effect to the original oil's performance, with possible serious consequenses to the motor.
I suggest changing the oil at shorter intervals, I change every
5000 against the recommended 10,000 for my car and it has just passed
355,000. Oil is much cheaper than repairs.
Not quite correct, as you say, they are viscosity index "improvers" They alter the rate of change in viscosity relative to temperature.
The higher the viscosity index the lower the rate of change.
A low VI oil may have a viscosity of 100 centiStokes @ 40C and a viscosity of 3 c/S at 100C, very poor performance in maintaining oil pressure in a motor.
From memory, a normal 20W-50 engine oil has a viscosity of approximately 100c/S @ 40C and 18.5 @ 100C with a VI of about 115.
For reference, most high volume, quality base oils (pure, no additives) have a VI of 95 to 100. The above oil would probably have a base oil mix VI of 97, the upgrade to 115 being due to the VI improver. Base oils can be made to have a high VI, but are extremely expensive, much more than the cost of adding VI improver
Of course, adding more VI improver into your engine dilutes the important part, the detergent/anti-wear additives, making more frequent changes imperative. If you want higher VI, buy a 5W/60 from a reputable maker and change at recommended or shorter intervals, retaining the additive protection. Once again, Slick 50 etc. may not be compatible with the original oil's VI improver.
Agreed
Maybe 1 3/4 inch rocks VBG
that is what I understand.
Lots of shear resistance in that, must try it when not using coolant.
My info may be a bit out of date as I have been retired since '95
Alan in beautiful Golden Bay, Western Oz, South 32.25.42, East 115.45.44 GMT+8 VK6 YAB ICQ 6581610 to reply, change oz to au in address
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