Way and spindle lubricant

I am not familiar with the Vactra oils, but what I bought from MSC as "spindle oil" is a lot lighter than what I got from my-friend-the-machine- shop-owner as way oil.

Jerry

Vactra #2 is a way lube; Vactra heavy-medium is an inexpensive general purpose oil. I don't know why Mobil uses the same name for two different products. Use Vactra #2 on the ways.

I've never seen anything other than SAE10 (ISO VG 22?) spindle oil spec'd for a j-head spindle. Mobil Velocite #10 is one example. Are you sure the manual applies to your mill and you're interpreting it correctly?

Ned Simmons

OK.

See page 34 of

Vactra #2 has got stickyness enhancing additives to make it stay on the ways. The heavy medium doesn't.

I will admit that I use way oil in the shaper bearings, but they are already shagged and the way oil doesn't run out as fast as an equivalent bearing oil. I wouldn't use way oil for good/high speed bearings.

Mark Rand RTFM

The following page for the 2J head specifies spindle oil, as do the BP manuals I have from the 60's and 80's. I'd be leary of using the Vactra M-H. McMaster stocks Velocite.

Ned Simmons

Igor, I buy 10 weight nondetergent motor oil at NAPA and use it on all my spindles, BP included.

GWE

Thanks, here's what I will get.

Mobil Oil Velocite #10 Spindle Oil, ISO 22, SAE 5W, 1 Gal

Grant mentioned nondetergent #10 weight oil from Napa, I will call them and if they have it, I will buy it there as I do not need a whole gallon of it, I think.

Vactra #2 is way oil, it has tackifiers in it to promote sticking to the ways. It isn't a spindle oil. BTW, McMasters has it and I think you are close to one of their distribution points.

As far as my spindle, I'm using Moble DTE Light based on a recomendation I picked up somewhere but I have a varidrive 2J head.

Wes

The oil industry loves to confuse! 10-grade will probably be an SAE 10 (engine and gear oils are usually given SAE numbers). I can't lay hands on the viscosity in other units for the moment. The 68 oil will be an ISO grade, normally used for plain bearings as in steam turbines, and will be 68 cSt at 40 C (or 100 F). Intuition / common sense would say you obviously need a thicker oil for a gearbox than a spindle. But the spindle will run quite a bit hotter than many gearboxes, which will drop the viscosity. So it might be correct to run the spindle on something which is quite thick at room temperature.

Found it; SAE 10w engine oil has a viscosity at 40 C of about 20 - 32 cSt.

Incidentally, SAE 90 gear oil covers the same viscosity range as SAE 40 and SAE 50 engine oil, namely about 125 to 300 cSt at 40 C.

I buy mine from MSC in gallons.

You can buy it in 5 gallon buckets from a local oil dealer.

Martin - oh - best to be Mobil dealer!

Mart> >> I am confused. My BP Manual says that I should use "Vactra #2" for

I bought that stuff today at McMaster-Carr. Thanks to all.