Posted: 3/1/2025 1:38:22 PM EDT
I've only been muttering and asking newb questions for what, the past year?  I found a local Grizzly G4003g for sale by a local like minded individual. It was obviously meant to be, as I was able to find a half-price 2 ton engine hoist to move it the next day. It's a 12x36, has a DRO, a bucket of tooling, and a few other goodies all came with it. But... oh, that poor s10 that hauled it back. I swear, it wasn't a low-rider on the way there! Attached File After much cursing and straining, I got it off the truck. You never realize just how tall a 1" lip between driveway and garage can be till you're trying to get small, heavily loaded, steel wheels over it by yourself.  A bit more cursing and sweating and a full trash bin later, it's staged in front of where I hope to keep it till I move or sell it. By this point, I'm VERY glad I didn't get anything bigger.  Attached File |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
| I just had one of those burn up in a shop fire. It's a great lathe, and I made a couple great shooting rifles with it among other farm stuff. The only downside that I ever noticed to the lathe was the 70 rpms being the slowest to thread with.... I would like to have just a bit slower than that. Level that puppy, and test bar the tailstock alignment, and start making chips fly! It's a good machine. |
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While I was figuring out where to put it, I had the chip tray leaning against the truck. It only took two days of Spray on some degreaser, Wipe it down a little, Spray on some more, go work for an hour or three, lather, rinse, repeat. You can tell it's about 12 years old, but it's mosty white(ish) again! The splash guard though... I think I'll have to agree that parts of it were once something akin to white and "be happy with how it's matured." I do have to say, getting it in place and a bolt into each set of legs to make it stay put was a bit of an adventure without help. Attached File Attached File This would probably be the place to bitch and moan about the snapped bolt on one side of the splash guard. I get the left hand drillbit and extractor kit delivered, take the guard back off, start to drill into the snapped bolt... and find out the hole was only plugged with silicon caulking. OK, cool - I have new bolts and washers, lets get this thing on right. Dammit - the holes on the end of the bed don't match up with the holes in the splashguard. THAT's why it only had one back there. Grrrr..... On a positive note, the DRO (DROII-2L) is back on and it still works. I'm off to find the instructions for it now. :-) I'm torn - run the DRO cables over the back where they'll be out of the way, or in the chip pan where they'll be buried in chips & oil. I've got a clamp to attach them to, but it's a little awkward. Attached File |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
| On my 13x40 jet, I ran the dro cables thru the backsplash tight to the head and then cable clamped to the back of the bed casting. If you measure right you can get just enough of a loop in the carriage cable to get full travel yet stay out of the way. I'll see if I have any pics. Been a few years... |
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Leveling.... I did the best I could with the .5mm/m level I have on hand... but I know that's only an approximation in this realm. Would these be 'Good Enough' to finish dialing it in? I'm not going to be making new heart valves or replacement cigarette lighters for the International Space Station, so I suspect these will get me well within my own margin of error.  
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Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
I've never used a machinist level on my equipment. Get it leveled with a standard level for coolant and oil flow reasons. Then do your bar tests. I question if you can even adjust out any bed twist on these smaller machines. On big, heavy, long ones, sure. Little ones...you'd about have to bolt them down and shim. I don't think gravity is going to be enough. Where leveling could come in handy is on a mill if you tend to use a level for set up. I use angle blocks and indicators. Or machine critical surfaces in one set up. |
| I got this one when I bought mine. Did it help?? I've no idea... I was trying to do things by the book, but I wanted the best dang rifle I could possibly make... Would it matter on the things I made for the farm... I doubt it very much... Unless you are trying to hit that fourth decimal place with intent... I wouldn't worry a great deal about it. |
| Oh and there is one thing that is very important if you try to thread anything. The compound is off by 90 degrees ... if you put your compound at 28.5, your not going to have success with anything standard.... google it, it's been a while since I threaded anything. |
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Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: ... I question if you can even adjust out any bed twist on these smaller machines. ... Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: ... I question if you can even adjust out any bed twist on these smaller machines. ... Originally Posted By elginrunner: Oh and there is one thing that is very important if you try to thread anything. The compound is off by 90 degrees ... if you put your compound at 28.5, your not going to have success with anything standard.... google it, it's been a while since I threaded anything. |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
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But is one corner now light on the other end? A wobbly machine ain't no fun either. Measure the diameter of the T slot under that compound. I may have some custom T slot nuts that will fit it. Easiest way to make them was to turn a T ring and then cut it up. So I have a whole bunch of extras. |
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There is a slight movement to it, but I have to tug fairly well to feel it. It's not off center though - it's all front-back on the anti-vibration feet. T-slot on the Compound? Your wording makes it sound like there's a circular t-slot somewhere? All I can find is the single flat slot the tool post is in. (See page 98-99 of the year-appropriate manual here - post 4/12, pre 6/20 - not sure if there's another between them) There is a circular, well, raceway on the top of the cross slide, but that's the closest thing I can identify. Just in case it's what you were asking about, the bit T slot dims are (in ", all are 'ish') - widths 1.97 and 1.26 - heights 0.22 and 0.47 |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
Forgive the poor pics, but they're almost 15 years old and the digital cam I used was older than that. Nothing like what we have today that even my 3yr old can take good pics with. Just noticed you can also see the workbench to the left of the lathe that I mentioned previously to use the space, but still allow for things sticking out the back of the spindle. |
| One thing I wish I did before dropping my G0750G on the stands was caulk around those bolt holes to the cabinet to prevent oil migration in to the cabinets. Yea I took a few years to figure out that most of my oil wasn’t cutting oil but leaks from the head reservoir and to a lessor degree the front gear box. Mine has knobs where you have two levers. It turned out the majority of the oil seepage was from defective oil sight glasses. The glass itself wasn’t well sealed in the rubber ring that held it. The oil would simply follow the glass and was near invisible except weeks later I’d have oil in the chip pan, down the cabinet and on to the floor. Two new sight glasses and a tube of permatex gasket sealer fixed it. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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Oh and my lathe (sans cabinets) was all I could do to lift it with the front end loader on my compact tractor. Iirc the lathe only was supposed to be 1050 pounds and my FEL limit was 1100. It was at the uppermost extension of the hydraulic rams where it would struggle. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably pull the three jaw off as well as the cross slide. Although if you put the carriage all the way right you can counterweight the heavier headstock to a minor degree. Mine came with oil in it though even though they advertise as shipped dry. My headstock was full of casting sand and metal grindings. That was a chore to rag out. I also put a strong 1” neodym magnet on the shelf inside the reservoir to gather any metal I missed or generate in the future. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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+1 on the compound angle indicator on the machine. My 29.5 degrees is with my arrow pointing just outside the scale range. Measure it at the tool to the work. Once you know it’s right you can take a prick punch and make your own alignment mark. I have not done so but it’s a thought. And 28.5 or 30 degrees it doesn’t have to be all that precise. I think I actually use 30. (The important thing is to use a gage and make sure the cutting tool is square to the part. Threading gage or fishtail gage is what I use). All the compound 29.5 degree compound is doing is making the cutting edge on one side of the tool instead of both sides of the sixty degree point of the cutting tool. A bigger stiffer machine and carbide and some say just feed straight in without the 28.5 degree angle. I have some carbide but have not tried it. These lathes while not quite benchtop hobby grade aren’t exactly commercial grade like a 16” swing industrial job with all the bells and whistles. Do what you can to stiffen them up within their capability. -Don’t hang cutting tools farther out than necessary -On the same idea, don’t have your compound cantilevered far out when you don’t have to. It will act like a springboard. Pull it back near the pivot point of the tool post holder. I only recently found that tip. I hadn’t paid attention to whether I was reaching with the cross slide or the compound at the set up starting point. -now is a good time to adjust the gib and the crossfeed nut. If you did not get the manual it is on the Grizzly website. I am still a floundering amateur. Have fun and watch the safety warnings. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: I ended up removing my compound and making a solid riser for more rigidity. Also, bought a wedge type tool post and made a bunch of tool holders. ... Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: I ended up removing my compound and making a solid riser for more rigidity. Also, bought a wedge type tool post and made a bunch of tool holders. ...  I do like what you've done with the DRO. I've added a cheap hand clamp and zip tie to hold my wires up and out of any pooling oil, but that's enough for now, and may change as I learn more about actually using it. Originally Posted By SteelonSteel: One thing I wish I did before dropping my G0750G on the stands was caulk around those bolt holes to the cabinet to prevent oil migration in to the cabinets. Yea I took a few years to figure out that most of my oil wasn't cutting oil but leaks from the head reservoir and to a lessor degree the front gear box. Mine has knobs where you have two levers. It turned out the majority of the oil seepage was from defective oil sight glasses. ... Oh and my lathe (sans cabinets) was all I could do to lift it with the front end loader on my compact tractor. Iirc the lathe only was supposed to be 1050 pounds and my FEL limit was 1100. ... don't have your compound cantilevered far out when you don't have to. It will act like a springboard. ... If you did not get the manual it is on the Grizzly website. ... Just how much seepage into the cabinet did you get? I've got some parts mostly clean, but throwing more degreaser at it and marking likely leak points with masking or painters tape isn't a huge task. The head has fresh-ish low-hour oil, but I can't tell if the apron is full or empty. Draining and filling that is on my short list. I might was well get it done before a final cleaning. I can say that wiping down the ways, re-oiling them and trying to top off the apron's ball ports did wonders for how easy it runs. Weight... yeah.. the body itself has a shipping weight of 1022lbs, and the legs are 164 & 144. Accounting for dunnage, that's still somewhere north of 1200lbs. Even a 2 ton engine hoist couldn't go to full extension on that. It makes me sooooo glad I didn't hold out for a 'real' 14"-16" lathe, and is one of the aspects that make me consider this sort of a Goldilocks Zone purchase. Big enough to be reasonably stiff, small enough that it can be moved without heroic efforts, long enough to reprofile a barrel, short enough to fit in the garage, 1.57" spindle bore, 2hp 220 for decent power, single phase to use an available circuit, used enough to afford, new enough to still have some factory support, and packaged with enough various tooling and measuring devices to be turnkey. Heck - I even got small sticks of stainless and delrin to practice on! As for the manual - I noticed the online manual is for a newer variant. An email to CS got me a link to the version from when this one was built. I haven't looked deep enough to see exactly what the differences are though. It all looks pretty similar. |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
Lots of oil in the cabinet! I hadn’t used the lathe in months bud had topped off the headstock oil when I last used it. So figure a half inch of the area of the headstock amount of oil. I filled slightly over half way up the sight glass and it leaked down to just below the glass. About a quart and a half I suppose. I had a cardboard box with a spare motor capacitor in it. The box was completely soaked and darkened with absorbed oil, there was a puddle of oil on both the top and bottom shelves and oil on the floor. I will say I posted a tip a comment in another guy’s review on Grizzly mentioning my leaks. Grizzly CS called me up and walked me though hunting down the leak. I thought it was going to be a bearing seal on the spindle. I flooded the tech guy’s plan, cleaning everywhere with dawn and affixing paper towels to show the leaks. A day later it showed leaks at the sight glass and the oil drain plug. No dribbles or lines of oil but thin thin seepage. It’s sneaky. The NPT threaded drain plugs aren’t tightly fitting in the casting. I had used teflon tape but that was insufficient. Just use Permatex for oil and stop it good if you have any issues with the drain plugs. I don’t think your front gear box is wet? Greased gears perhaps behind those lever arms. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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Oh….that foaming pump spray Dawn stuff is good on cleaning up old oil stains on the machine. The Delrin is a good place to practice on. Another thing for cheap practice, especially threading,…pvc pipe or conduit. White, grey black, it doesn’t matter. That’s what I played with practicing threading set ups. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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Hmmm... I've had some really flimsy PVC scrap in the back fora year or two. I might have finally pitched it last month. I hope not. According to the book,
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Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
All lathes leak. They have so many parts passing through gearboxes and some exposed gears that it's just going to happen. Plan accordingly. I sealed up the swarf tray (actually a drawer on mine) and would wipe it out when I did my cleanings. On the oil...I think I went with iso 46 in my machines (I have others besides the lathe). You need to do a little research. IIRC there were some oils that worked good and others had additives that could attack some of the metals in the gearbox. Like bronze bushings. I'm hazy on the details, so look into it yourself. I think I read about it on practical machinist. |
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Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: ...IIRC there were some oils that worked good and others had additives that could attack some of the metals in the gearbox. Like bronze bushings. ...I think I read about it on practical machinist. These are the book recommendations:
From a Practical Machinist thread : "That's an ISO 68 gear oil, R&O is the designation for rust and oxidation inhibitors" and "Staying away from automotive lubes is a good general statement. It's not the lubes in general, but many contain an EP additive that usually consists of a chlorinated ester or a sulfer dioxide compound. It's the EP additives that cause the problem." Summit Machine Tools has this general advice - "hydraulic, non-detergent gear oil" They talk about ISO 68, but that's just a general recommendation. A Hobby Machinist thread has this wisdom: "motor oils have all kinds of additives you don't want in a lathe (they hold water/dirt in suspension with detergent additives, unless your lathe has pumped and filtered oil, some of the EP additives badly affect brass and bronze)" Some place called Angola Transparency summarizes non-detergent mineral oil based hydraulic oil And a nice block of info is hidden in a Home Shop Machinist thread - -
Hey @Foxtrot08 - Do you have any favorite choices for ISO 32 & 68 non-detergent mineral oil based hydraulic machine oils? Before diving into this side quest I put the cheapest things that looked kind'a right in my cart. They seem to hit the talking points, but I'm not kosher with the idea of damaging a stupid-expensive bit of machinery for $10 extra dollars spread over the next year or two. Edit - Well Dang Foxtrot08 - it looks like you answered this very same question over at BITOG - BITOG Lathe thread on iso 32 and 68 -- I am a little confused by one of your comments though... "If you need a non-detergent product, you need an R&O or a turbine product. This is different than an AW." The ones I have in my cart seem to say they have both. 
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Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
| When I first bought the equipment, I got a 5 gal bucket of the Mobile DTE medium/heavy. Maybe I'm mis-remembering, but I got exactly what was specified and paid for it accordingly. Later I got "ISO 46 Hydraulic Fluid". I use it for way oil as well as headstock, apron, etc. |
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Originally Posted By Amish_Bill: Ooohhhh... this could be good to know about! These are the book recommendations:
From a Practical Machinist thread : "That's an ISO 68 gear oil, R&O is the designation for rust and oxidation inhibitors" and "Staying away from automotive lubes is a good general statement. It's not the lubes in general, but many contain an EP additive that usually consists of a chlorinated ester or a sulfer dioxide compound. It's the EP additives that cause the problem." Summit Machine Tools has this general advice - "hydraulic, non-detergent gear oil" They talk about ISO 68, but that's just a general recommendation. A Hobby Machinist thread has this wisdom: "motor oils have all kinds of additives you don't want in a lathe (they hold water/dirt in suspension with detergent additives, unless your lathe has pumped and filtered oil, some of the EP additives badly affect brass and bronze)" Some place called Angola Transparency summarizes non-detergent mineral oil based hydraulic oil And a nice block of info is hidden in a Home Shop Machinist thread - -
Hey @Foxtrot08 - Do you have any favorite choices for ISO 32 & 68 non-detergent mineral oil based hydraulic machine oils? Before diving into this side quest I put the cheapest things that looked kind'a right in my cart. They seem to hit the talking points, but I'm not kosher with the idea of damaging a stupid-expensive bit of machinery for $10 extra dollars spread over the next year or two. Edit - Well Dang Foxtrot08 - it looks like you answered this very same question over at BITOG - BITOG Lathe thread on iso 32 and 68 -- I am a little confused by one of your comments though... "If you need a non-detergent product, you need an R&O or a turbine product. This is different than an AW." The ones I have in my cart seem to say they have both. www.amazon.com/dp/B07X2LPTL7www.amazon.com/dp/B0945BJ4QR Originally Posted By Amish_Bill: Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: ...IIRC there were some oils that worked good and others had additives that could attack some of the metals in the gearbox. Like bronze bushings. ...I think I read about it on practical machinist. These are the book recommendations:
From a Practical Machinist thread : "That's an ISO 68 gear oil, R&O is the designation for rust and oxidation inhibitors" and "Staying away from automotive lubes is a good general statement. It's not the lubes in general, but many contain an EP additive that usually consists of a chlorinated ester or a sulfer dioxide compound. It's the EP additives that cause the problem." Summit Machine Tools has this general advice - "hydraulic, non-detergent gear oil" They talk about ISO 68, but that's just a general recommendation. A Hobby Machinist thread has this wisdom: "motor oils have all kinds of additives you don't want in a lathe (they hold water/dirt in suspension with detergent additives, unless your lathe has pumped and filtered oil, some of the EP additives badly affect brass and bronze)" Some place called Angola Transparency summarizes non-detergent mineral oil based hydraulic oil And a nice block of info is hidden in a Home Shop Machinist thread - -
Hey @Foxtrot08 - Do you have any favorite choices for ISO 32 & 68 non-detergent mineral oil based hydraulic machine oils? Before diving into this side quest I put the cheapest things that looked kind'a right in my cart. They seem to hit the talking points, but I'm not kosher with the idea of damaging a stupid-expensive bit of machinery for $10 extra dollars spread over the next year or two. Edit - Well Dang Foxtrot08 - it looks like you answered this very same question over at BITOG - BITOG Lathe thread on iso 32 and 68 -- I am a little confused by one of your comments though... "If you need a non-detergent product, you need an R&O or a turbine product. This is different than an AW." The ones I have in my cart seem to say they have both. www.amazon.com/dp/B07X2LPTL7www.amazon.com/dp/B0945BJ4QR Those are hydraulic oils - and shitty ones at that. All hydraulic oils *are* R&O oils. They’re just R&O AW oils. R&O oils are not AW oils. They’re missing the AW package. An AW (antiwear but disregard this for your purposes) additive packages in hydraulic oils are good for hydraulic pumps, cylinders, etc. In your case, it’s essentially a lightly loaded gear box you’re trying to lubricate. AW packaged in this situation will end up gunking up and varnishing the gear box. So any simple R&O or turbine oil will work. Your way oil is just a wayoil. Or waylube oil. Tons of ISO 68 way oils out there. Spindle oil they’re actually recommending is a high VI AW hydraulic oil. Not an actual high speed spindle oil, for the record. Spindle oils are like Spindle 5 / 10 / 22. If you need any help sourcing theses let me know. I have buckets of everything. But 5gal is really the smallest quantity I do. |
Direction, not intention, determines destination.
Integrity is the essence of everything successful.
Integrity is the essence of everything successful.
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Originally Posted By Foxtrot08: Those are hydraulic oils - and shitty ones at that. All hydraulic oils *are* R&O oils. They’re just R&O AW oils. R&O oils are not AW oils. They’re missing the AW package. An AW (antiwear but disregard this for your purposes) additive packages in hydraulic oils are good for hydraulic pumps, cylinders, etc. In your case, it’s essentially a lightly loaded gear box you’re trying to lubricate. AW packaged in this situation will end up gunking up and varnishing the gear box. So any simple R&O or turbine oil will work. Those are proper terms, but what is a common example that we can find at a farm or automotive type store? Your way oil is just a wayoil. Or waylube oil. Tons of ISO 68 way oils out there. Spindle oil they’re actually recommending is a high VI AW hydraulic oil. Not an actual high speed spindle oil, for the record. Spindle oils are like Spindle 5 / 10 / 22. This is confusing to me. You just said to avoid AW oil, but then say that's what's recommended. Is it just a matter of degrees? As in, it will work fine, but will gunk up if run 24/7 for 100years and better options exist? If you need any help sourcing theses let me know. I have buckets of everything. But 5gal is really the smallest quantity I do. I just want to say that we appreciate your knowledge here, but I don't think the terms and explanations translate well to those that aren't familiar in the first place. As hobby guys, sometimes we just need something that works, is easy and/or cheap to find, and won't kill the equipment. At one point, all these fancy fluids did not exist... |
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Originally Posted By Foxtrot08: ... If you need any help sourcing theses let me know. I have buckets of everything. But 5gal is really the smallest quantity I do. Thanks for the details. I'll see what I can find with those magic keywords. The big point I'm walking away with is, 'No AW Additives' for lathe use. (spindle OR ways & gears) Side question - would either of these be cross compatible with an old sears compressor? It struck me that there's a 20+ year old compressor in the garage that, if any, still has the factory oil in it. Oopsy!! |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
Originally Posted By Boostinjdm: I just want to say that we appreciate your knowledge here, but I don't think the terms and explanations translate well to those that aren't familiar in the first place. As hobby guys, sometimes we just need something that works, is easy and/or cheap to find, and won't kill the equipment. At one point, all these fancy fluids did not exist... +1 to the expert knowledge to decode stuff and I agree that just sourcing something local is handy. When I first got mine I was able to get Valvoline H&O at Tractor Supply in the right weight. I cleaned the grit out the best I could and wanted to run something for a little bit and get the rest of the junk out including in fresh break in wear metals. After that I just bought the Mobile equivalents…..DTE Light iirc. Mobil iirc has near twins in that range DTE Light and a numbered oil. The cheapest I found the Mobile oils in the gallon jugs was on Amazon. It was fulfilled by Grainger much cheaper than on the fulfiller’s own site. The warehouse was in the next county and I had my oil in about ten hours. I was shocked. Foxtrot could easily hook you up and you’ll have extra oil for changing. A gallon is plenty for my headstock. I am lazy and find the gallon jugs easier to handle. I am sure I pay a premium by buying by the gallon… like $40 a gallon where a pail is probably $150-160 when I looked. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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I have to say I pretty much hate the ball oilers. I never really know if the oil is actually passing the ball or I am making a mess on top. I stupidly bought the cheap Grizzly oil can pump. I bought a couple Goldenrod brand oilers. They’re better made but I still seem to get more oil on top of the ball oilers than through them. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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Originally Posted By SteelonSteel: I have to say I pretty much hate the ball oilers. I never really know if the oil is actually passing the ball or I am making a mess on top. I stupidly bought the cheap Grizzly oil can pump. I bought a couple Goldenrod brand oilers. They’re better made but I still seem to get more oil on top of the ball oilers than through them. Check to make sure the balls move. You can take an oiler, add a short piece of rubber hose, and use it that way. The hose forms a seal around the oiler. Or get a push oiler. I have a couple, but haven't had a chance to use them yet. An old machinist I knew had one he used daily and I thought it was the way to go. On older machines, the oil passages will get gunked up or plugged. If you're fighting the oilers too much, that may be the case. |
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Push Oilers... from $20 on Bridgeport Parts to well over $100. Dang. I saw a reference on Practical Machinist for one the guy claims is plenty powerful. https://www.ebay.com/itm/375656260720 Now that I'm thinking about it, I have some small medicine syringes from the last time we needed to push something icky down our dog's throat. I wonder if those tips are the right size... |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
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This is like what I have. I still need to swap the end on it. I bought 2 so I could have one for ball oilers and one for grease zerts (still using oil) as not all my machines are the same. https://www.grainger.com/product/19XH24?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:DDJWUR:20500801:APZ_1&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA5pq-BhBuEiwAvkzVZXltsDQcFFE81VCuPDb4-JzyOgZOYsFffKvq0exHM9F5PTTc9oWZrhoCJncQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds |
| Is that one where you take the back off and glop grease in manually? |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
Good News / Bad News... Good News - my 123 blocks and a machinist level showed up today. It turns out that I was able to use a plain Johnson .5mm/m 2ft level to get the bed even to a half-tick on the machinist level. Go Me! The bad news... I have a tube of silicon to seal the base to the chip pan so I don't leak oils down into the leg/cabinets. I now need to unbolt & lift the lathe. That's gonna break all my leveling work. Argh!! |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
The one that I bought from Grizzly has a plastic tip on a flex plastic hose. https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-high-pressure-oil-can-5-oz.-with-flex-nozzle/h7617 Ha, looking at the reviews up now in the six years since I bought it is rated as junk and now on clearance for a dollar and change. One theory the fail and leak is the nozzle tip is the wrong shape and bottoms out the ball and spring and still plugs the nozzle. maybe I’ll file the tip. I’ll try the small hose on the tip of the goldenrod brand one. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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I have one of these $4.44 beauties on the way. Worst case, it's an oil jar. Hmmm rightback - gonna test my dog-medicine-syringe idea. (it works - at least for the ones that don't seem to be clogged) Did I mention that I did pretty good at levelling thie beast with a 2ft Johnson level from Lowes? I just checked with the machinists level and some cheap feeler gauges. Left-Right, it's out appr 0.054" over 11". I'm really annoyed that I have to move it to seal it and re-do that work. Of course, with a 'proper' level and 123 blocks, I wonder how even I can get it? Hmm... can I still call them 123 when they're really 25-50-75 metric blocks? |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
|
Originally Posted By Amish_Bill: I have one of these $4.44 beauties on the way. Worst case, it's an oil jar. Hmmm rightback - gonna test my dog-medicine-syringe idea. (it works - at least for the ones that don't seem to be clogged) Did I mention that I did pretty good at levelling thie beast with a 2ft Johnson level from Lowes? I just checked with the machinists level and some cheap feeler gauges. Left-Right, it's out appr 0.054" over 11". I'm really annoyed that I have to move it to seal it and re-do that work. Of course, with a 'proper' level and 123 blocks, I wonder how even I can get it? Hmm... can I still call them 123 when they're really 25-50-75 metric blocks? I don’t get worked up over metric…….re cutting tooling if it’s not from the US everything is probably metric anyway and just sold as the nearest inch equivalent. I guess I like 16mm size insert tooling holders. If you don’t feel like lifting the lathe off the stand you could try a fillet of caulk around the base. As far as chips I ordered online a 15”x 30” boot tray that I am going to slip in the chip tray. Hopefully that will aid in cleanup. I recently grabbed an ice scraper/brush from my truck that had long ago busted the ice blade off it. The brush does a halfway decent job of pulling the chips to the front to clean. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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I hadn't thought of a liner for the chip tray. It's an interesting idea. I also makes me think I should bias the leveling towards the rear and right, as there's already a hole in that corner I can put a catch bucket of some sort under. And, if I'm going to be changing the tilt, there's no reason to be cranky about having to re-level after adding a little silicon. Honestly, I'm more cranky about pressure from the silicon deforming the chip pan where it rides over the raised contact points of the legs. The blocks - all I cared about was accuracy when using them as spacers to get the level over the prismatic rails. The WEN ones were nice - individually wrapped in a bag in a box in a padded bag. For a dollar or two over the generic ones, I liked them. |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman