Forced lubrication

[Lawrie Alush-JaggsParticipant @lawriealush-jaggs50843]

Hi

I have the Australian branded equivalent of the Warco 3024MW/3003MW mill drill.  It is an excellent machine and I have no real

gripes with it except for the lubrication system.
It has those dicky little brass inserts with a spring loaded ball bearing against which you are supposed to press a high pressure

plunger/pump.
ON these machines there is only one of the little buggers per side and it is in the middle of the table.  To get to it you have to

wind the table almost to its extent, remove the way protector and then hold said plunger at exactly ninety degrees and press.  It does not work.  The oil gallery has a capacity of less than two millilitres and because the table is wound so far out, any oil that does make it into the hole is liable to end up directly on the floor.
Thus far I have taken to winding the table to full extent in both directions with the gib loosened off as far as possible, rubbing

oil on the ways by hand, then lifting the table from the rear as I wind it back in.  This allows more oil to be

carried in but it is a pain.
I have read the articles on adding forced lube to both the Myford and an X3(2?) with interest and a pair of glasses.  I have

thought about a similar system myself but am at a slight loss as to how to approach the rear slide.
Does anyone have any ideas please?

Thanks, Lawrie

[Lawrie Alush-JaggsParticipant @lawriealush-jaggs50843]

Lubricating machine ways

[egaParticipant @ega]

I have just come across your post. I couldn’t see the particular Warco mill you mention in their current catalogue but I believe this lubrication method is very common. The corresponding oilers on my own Warco machine are located on the long *vertical* faces of the table and I have never actually attempted to use them, preferring to oil the ways directly. There is in any event no provision on the Y axis so these ways have to be lubricated in this way. I don’t find it necessary to loosen the setting of the taper gibs and would regard this as something to be avoided if at all possible.

Pumped lubrication seems more appropriate for a machine in constant use and my thought for an improvement would be the incorporation of accessible hydraulic nipples; if you know where to get an affordable *non-leaking* oil gun to feed these then please let me know!

[Lawrie Alush-JaggsParticipant @lawriealush-jaggs50843]

Thank you to both EGA and Graham, your comments are appreciated.

As I mentioned, I have had to manually oil the ways and it has been a rather frequent task because of using gear oil which as said on other posts in this forum, does not have much in the way of adhesives.

I just bought a 20lt drum of a German equivalent of Vactra 2 from a helpful company here in Melbourne. I have yet to apply it to the mill but it will be interesting to see how oftern I have to oil it now.

 

Ps if anyone in Melbourne want 1 to 5 litre quantities of the oil, let me know and I’ll help you out. I don’t know what the shelf life of the stuff is but it probably isn’t quite as long as I plan to live.

[110octaneParticipant @110octane]

I am looking for a small hand plunger oil pump to install on my Taiwan 14 inch lathe. For some odd reason the apron on my lathe does not have an oil reservoir like every other similar model offered. My Chinese knee mill has a central oil system utilizing a small piston pump. I am thinking about sealing up the bottom of the apron on my lathe and fitting a small piston pump. I can scale down the mill pump although it might be less trouble to adapt a design from a model marine engine, etc. I ran across this dated post but I thought I might enquire. The small 1/16 pipe/tubing fittings available for models might work well as distribution lines. I am open for any suggestions, help, experience, you name it. I know this is a little on the lazy side, but if someone has a successful design, why re-invent the wheel. Thanks to anyone taking the time to read this. Regards, Geoff Morgan, USA

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