Way oil unit size

--That doesn't sound right. MSC sells way oil by the gallon and so does sbbolts.com

I recently purchased a small quantity of both way oil and spindle oil (8-oz quantities) from a guy selling on eBay.

Harry C.

Correct? No. Confused? Yes.

Mobil Vactra #2 Way Oil, 1 Gallon, $12.87

With online shopping catalogs, it's really quite easy to find out the answers to these types of questions yourself. For example, try going to Enco's home page and typing "way oil" into their keyword search. One of the refining search selectors (to narrow down your results) is "Container Size".

- Michael

I buy spindle and way oil in 1 gallon sizes. No problem - from MSC to DXP - lots of people sell several grades of way oil in black Mobil gallon plastic jugs.

MSC page 2685 lists Vactra number 2 and number 4 way oil in 1 gal plastic.

Martin

Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Bill Schwab wrote:

You could also try looking in your machine's lubrication chart for the exact oil specified. My lathe manual specifies SAE 20 wt, which the auto-shop teacher buys with regular engine oil.

In quart containers, by the way.

I've had no trouble buying generic way oil from places like MSC in one gal plastic jugs. Some Mobil oils are sold in smaller containers, and some are only in 5-gal and up.

Jon

The manual makes only passing mention of a medium machine oil, but beyond that, there was a strong recommendation from this group to use way oil on the ways. The mill is getting engine oil at present, and way and spindle oils are now on order.

My real question still stands: what is the best way to apply the way oil, and how often will it need to be done?

Thanks,

Bill

Martin,

Thanks to you and others offering pointers to vendors. I found J&L early on, and they have treated me fairly well. However, they do not carry Mobil way oil in gallon jugs; I even called to confirm it, and was wondering whether there was a good reason for it.

MSC looks pretty good, but their web site registration was bit weird, so I ended up ordering from Enco.

Bill

I had this problem with a lathe and its oiling. In addition to the ways, it also has numerous oil fittings in the headstock and motor. I have a large 60mL syringe, and I fill it with oil and squirt it wherever I need it. The large school machine shops I have visited keep way oil in large oilcans. The lubrication chart in my manual has drawings showing the location of all the oil fittings and whether to lubricate daily, weekly, or monthly. I would recommend that all spindle and head lubrication points be oiled daily, ways oiled daily or every time you clean off the machine, and then monthly clean the ways with solvent and then oil. Several of my machine manuals reccomend this kind of schedule.

That seems reasonable, especially oiling the spindle every time. It reminds me of another question, which is which lubricant to use in the ports on the dials and ways? Seeing the way oil in action will no doubt help.

So far, I have found only one port on the spindle (Rong Fu 31), near the base of the head. The oil obviously makes it way back to the vertical feed axis, because it occaisionally drips from there. It seems like there must be something I should oil near the top though.

With respect to the power feed (mill/drill), it seems a tradeoff between attaching/detaching the feed too often vs. waiting too long to oil the port it conceals :(

I'm getting better at reattaching the feed, and I probably should make a jig to get the front-back position the way it prefers. A block of the right size should do it. Another option would be to make a tool that can reach under the feed, or rig some tubing that stays in place, presumably with a lever to depress the fitting for oiling?? I won't even mention drilling an access hole in the feed =:0

Bill

I don't know about others, but I apply it to the ball oilers on my lathe and mill with a pump oil can designed for that purpose. There are various styles but the essential feature is a cone-shaped tip. Goldenrod is one brand, if you want to search the on-line tool distributors for an example. When inserted into the ball oiler, the tip on the oil can depresses the ball (which acts as a check valve) and seals the tip against the lip of the oiler so that lube can be applied under moderate pressure to force it through the oil channels. On surfaces with no ball oiler, I'll dripple some on the surface and apply it over the surface with a finger or (clean) shop rag.

According to Bill Schwab :

That is interesting. ENCO is owned by MSC these days, and it probably ships from the same warehouse. :-)

That said -- I don't use the web based ordering. I phone their phone number from the catalog to place the orders.

You *do* have to be registered with them, and give the registration number when you order parts, but that simply assures that you get the sales flyers regularly, and the "Big Book" 4000+ page catalog once a year.

Enjoy, DoN.