Cleaning and Servicing a Myford M type 3 1/2″

[Mike TeamanParticipant @miketeaman64279]

I have recently bought a lathe which has been standing for some time. there is a little surface rust but not much evidence of wear or damage. What are the best materials for cleaning/ painting etc. I've been using WD40 and a light abrasive on the exposed areas which have slight rust. The headstock bearings have an oil cup at the top. What grade of oil should I use? What should I use on the gears? What paint do you recommend and should I use primer, undercoat and gloss? The "V" pulleys have slight rusting. What would be a good method of cleaning the rust off? Any tricks?

mike

[Mike TeamanParticipant @miketeaman64279]

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Mike According to my handbook Myford recommended Esso NUTO H32 I'm not sure if this is still available I've had a pint for a long time NOTE what look like grease nipples are in fact OIL nipples I would have used paraffin and a wire brush as regards slight rust on pullies, run the lathe, the belts should move that

Roy

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If it is only light rust, green pan scourers are a pretty safe way to remove the rust. Oil and fine emery should deal with the more serious areas, but beware of working hard locally so that the surface is longer uniformly flat.

You will be recommended to use Myford approved lubricants, but I always used engine oil on mine. The oil contains additives which are not needed for the lightly loaded bearings (compared to the loads, temperatures, and chemical conditions experienced in an engine) in the lathe.

Engine oils are always available, and a 5 litre container is probably a lot cheaper, relatively, than a small quantity of a much simpler spindle oil such as Nuto.

For the gears, I would advise something more glutinous, since the lubricant will only be applied intermittently.

Again, motor type oils such as SAE 90 grade will suffice, (SAE 140 would be better being higher viscosity and so less likely to drip or be flung off, but will probably be less easily available). EP (Hypoid) oils will suffice, but you do not need the surface reactants intended to cope with the very shear and pressure loads for which they are formulated.

Since speeds and loads are relatively low, you do not need, (and cannot reproduce) a constant flow of oil to lubricate and cool the shaft/bearing and tooth/tooth interfaces met in internal combustion engines and vehicle gearboxes.

What paints , and how you apply them will depend upon what sort of finish you are expecting to produce.

For a purely working machine, you might decide that a plain enamel onto a clean surface will suffice.

Alternatively, you may wish to produce a car type mirror finish for show purposes. In which case you will need to apply stopper, primer, under coat and several top coats, flatting down between applications, with a final burnish of the top coat.

An unpainted machine will work just as well, but probably rust, and certainly not look so pretty. At the other extreme, you can make it to so gorgeous that you are scared to use it for fear of marking the paint , unless it is intended purely as a showpiece.

You must decide where you want to be, between the two extremes.

One plea, please do not paint it some hideous odd colour, such as purple, pink or pistachio green!

My preference would be to replicate the original colour, if possible.

Myfords used Grey for early 7s, then Turquoise, and then Industrial Green.

In Industry, machines were usually some shade of Gray, Industrial Green, or Powder Blue (used by Rolls Royce Aero Engine Division at one time). In my experience, Centre, Capstan and Turret lathes tended to be Grey, whilst Milling Machines were Industrial Green. Grinders were Grey or Dark Blue as I recall.

Probably the aim was to use a colour that did not cause eye strain.

Howard

[Mike TeamanParticipant @miketeaman64279]

Many thanks for your advice. much appreciated. I have plenty of car engine oil and gear oil so that's a saving. The lathe is cleaning up very well and much of the paint is fine under the dirt, so a quick clean and touch up will be the order of the day. I'm not into "showing"! I used to have a classic truck and a classic bike and got fed up of cleaning them! I sold the truck after some nice fellow decided to plonk his child on the bonnet for a photo and then just dragged her off, leaving scratches all over my paintwork!

Mike

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

I'm sure I have said this before in another thread but I will repeat, do not use motor engine oils in a splash lubricated gearbox.

Vehicle engine oils have addatives designed to keep solids and contaminants in suspension. A vehicle pub system is run under pressure and is cycled through filter, which is where the contaminants are removed.

This is not what you want in a splash lube gearbox, you want any contaminants to drop out of solution and settle in the sump.

A suitable oil for splash lubrication is an ISO 68 hydraulic oil such as shell tellus 68.

Also beware of EP type oils as they can have a detrimental effect on bronze bearings.

I've used ISO68 in my headstock and gearbox for several years and the gears still look like new and run very quietly

Edited By CoalBurner on 09/11/2013 20:48:04

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Hi there, all,

Why is there so much mystique associated with H32 oil (e.g. Esso Nuto)?

Just about all the major oil companies make H32 oil. It's a hydraulic oil and is what farmers use in the hydraulic systems that power the gizmos on the back of their tractors. Farmers don't like paying over the odds for anything (no disrespect intended – neither do I) so the best place to buy H32 is from your local agricultural engineers (see the Yellow Pages).

That's what I did and I got 4½ litres for the same price as many eBay suppliers charge for ½ a litre.

Don't let its being a hydraulic oil put you off using it in your lathe where Beeston Myford specified its use – Myford knew what they were doing!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

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