oil

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

I have a Myford super 7 without the front gearbox.As i am new to this could some one tell me which oil to use on it ..It came with a black grease gun type container so what oil should i use and where is the place to buy it ? i take it this oil is for the grease nipple type things. And will car engine oil be OK on the gears<One last question in the manuell page 22 lever no 4( back gear lever) Whats this suppose to do as when i move the lever from its nomall drive postion  i lift the lever and i then put drive on and its like a brake is on it, i then move lever back put drive on and all is ok so what does it do

I hope i have not just posted this twice if i have then appoliges ..

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

What oil

[Roger VaneParticipant @rogervane67137]

Hi Allen,

 

Your backgear problem – have you disengaged the back gear key – item 3 in the diagram page 22?  If you haven’t then everything will jam up as you describe.  Simply rotate to disengage and then the backgear should work ok.

 

Regards

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

Ok Roger i see the key 3  do i have to disengage that back gear key to allow me to put the drive into reverse i bought the myford 2 weeks ago and the previous guy looked after it really well ,but i was so excited in getting it that i forgot a lot of what he told me.and the book is ok but leves alot for me to work out.

[Roger VaneParticipant @rogervane67137]

Yes – you rotate the key 3 to disengage it and lift the lever 4 as you were doing previously (to engage the backgear gear train).  The resulting drive will still be forwards though – to reverse spindle direction you must reverse the motor.

 

Good luck.

[Rob ManleyParticipant @robmanley79788]

I wouldn’t try and reverse the spindle as the chucks are screwed on and any sharp take up if you did manage to reverse the motor would unscrew the chuck.  If you wanted to reverse the spindle for various slow speed operations (cant quite think of any at the moment) you can make a handle to fit in the end of the spindle to rotate it by hand – also very handy for screwcutting! 

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

Oil – my Myford manual says  Esso Nuto H32 which replaces H44. Possibly there is something newer and better since.

 

I use SAE 30 horticultural engine oil, which is a non multigrade, no additive, not too thick oil, with good cling capabilities which copes with headstock bearings being  pretty closely adjusted. The lathe seems to have lasted 23 or so years from new without appreciable wear, 

 

If there are better suggestions, I’m very willing to take advice.

 

You need to buy Ian Bradleys book on the Myford. It isn’t just a manual, its a how to do almost everything on a lathe. It would be an investment.

Edited By meyrick griffith-jones on 23/10/2009 04:14:25

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

Thanks for all the replies and yes i now see that you don’t want to put the lathe in reverse under power as you say the chuck would undo and come off ,,Its been 30 years since i was a maintenance fitter in a factory at Stratford on Avon so it will take time for me to get back into the swing of using a lathe again.But i must buy some of that Esso Nuto H32 before i do some turning and rather than sending to Myfords for some i will have to look round and see if i can buy some local .Warwick / Leamington Spa / Stratford area.Thanks.

[Robert HarperParticipant @robertharper69190]

I have often heard the warning about using a reversing switch on a lathe motor and I can quite understand the reasoning behind it, but in fifty years of using many lathes with reversible motors, I have never once experienced a problem of the chuck comming loose. I presently use a 5″ Atlas lathe which used to belong to my father and which dates back to the second World War when it was used for munition production. – Nothing more demanding than that.  Of course I am not recommending the use of reversing switches. I just say “Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice!” Bob Harper.

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

I had a brand new super 7 back in 1973,i have always used castrol GTX motor oil with absolutely no problems ,the spindle has never been adjusted ,do not use the cheap motor oils.

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

Thanks for that Nigel i was thinking down that line myself  as to try and get that Esso Nuto oil will be a job unless you have to buy it on line..And if you have been using GTX for the last 30 odd years with no problem then it cant be to bad. Do you use it on the gears as well or do you use the 30 grade on them.

[Frank DolmanParticipant @frankdolman72357]

  Must be 8 or 9 years since we had a letter to ME from David Everitt explaining what went  wrong using multigrade oil for ordinary lube.  I didn’t quite follow because it seems to me that eg 10W50 is about SAE 10 at the ordinary temperature and if SAE 10 is what you want, then 10W50 will do quite nicely.  If David is still about, perhaps he could put me (and us) right about this?                                                                                              ust

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

OK after reading what Meyrick said i nipped into the agriculture shop and bought some sae 30 so that’s what they said in the Myford book  SAE30 i will keep that in one oil can and i will get the other oil for the nipples now do i use GTX as what Nigel said or do i hang on and try and get some Nuto oil . Then ime ready to have a go at making some bushes i need…If i use the GTX all i need to do is nip up to Halfords but for the other i will have to send off for some on the net..Ime getting there.

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

Esso Nuto is a thin Hydraulic oil.

An equivalent is possibly automatic gearbox oil.

 

The slideway oil was a two stroke engine oil I think from Memory.

 

Use the slideway oil on the change gears.

Do not use grease.

 

To stop swarf going down the spindle onto the gears, stuff a cork up the back end of the mandrel.

regards David

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

 I’m with David on this. 20/50 is very thick and it isn’t going to get hot enough to thin. Also I don’t fancy paying for all the additives and carbon  carriers and fuel dispersants and multigrading when they aren’t necessary.. We need something quite bit thinner, and SAE 30 is about as thick as youd want ot go.

 

The army uses Esso Nuto in gun buffers and for oiling main armaments on tanks. Its not much thicker than 3 in 1. It is in fact, but you know what I mean.

 

I did use 20/50 and I had oil starvation on the headstock bearing – though mine is pretty closely adjusted. That may have a “bearing”.  (awful pun)

 

So SAE 30 does for everything, as being a good medium grade oil, without additives desined for IC engines, because it is such a good clingy oil and does the bedways so well. A plain 5W or 10W would probalby be better. Still the machine has lasted from 1984 without self destructing, so 30 it is!!

 

For preservation I think I’d use horticultural chainsaw chain oil. That really sticks! (and no additives)

 

 

.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Why not just use the products Myford recommends? The lathe is a valuable long term investment for precision work, so why take risks with lubrication? I find that very little oil is needed anyway, and on that basis it is really cheap stuff.

 

The manual does have a lubrication chart (the one for my ML7 recommends a moly type grease for certain parts), whilst the original oils may not be available Myford will be able to advise the right alternative, and supply it.

http://www.myford.com

 

If in doubt about lubrication, or other things, I would recommend contacting Myford, the staff are really helpfull and informative. As an aside they can even tell you when the machine was made from the serial number.

 

As suggested, do get a copy of Ian Bradley’s Series 7 Manual, it is very useful.

 

 

Edited By V8Eng on 26/10/2009 19:31:23

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

Indeed it does- I knew there was a reason to use SAE 30 oil.  If you look at the lubrication chart, it recommends SAE 30 motor oil for a whole chunk of bits. (VG68 as an alternative – whatever that is!)

 

I feel really good about that. No wonder my lathe has lasted so well!

[Allen PaddockParticipant @allenpaddock42703]

OK here we go i have just come off the phone from Myfords talking about lubrication on the super 7 and so this is straight from the horses mouth..Do not use motor oil ! Do not use the sae 30 oil i bought yesterday..Now For all oil cups and nipples use Esso Nuto H32..Or a good hydraulic oil.. For all slides Mobil Vactra no 2 so i ordered some of both to get me going although they said that you should be able to buy it from quite a few places so until i find any for sale anywhere.?oh yes they said use plenty don’t be mean with it ..PS he did explain why not to use motor oil something to do with the detergent washing out then if you don’t use the lathe for a while rust will be encouraged .

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

Allen  –

 

Frankly if you aren’t going to use the lathe then you are most unwise to just leave it. You wipe it down, get rid of all the soluble oil tarnish, which is a feature of some of the soluble oils like Rocol (which the detergents in motor oil are quite superb at doing) and then coat it specifically with a preservative  oil.

 

If I may actually quote from my Myford manual “Where oil of viscosity SAE30 is specified any good motor oil of this number will be satisfactory”.

 

 

Detergent oil was certainly around when that was written in the 80s, because the bulk drums of  oil for military vehicles were all maked Burmah Castrol, Shell etc, then all the multigrade spec – to spec OMD110. And OMD stands for Oil Mineral Detergent. And I didn’t notice stuff wiped with that rusting too much  – not even in the tropic!. Nor when acidic oils  have been left in car sumps, or externally on steel parts, does there appear to be much degradation after long periods at the scrapppys -(for those who were into F750 racing.)

 

 I mean, its not like one is applying Fairy Liquid!! FFS – the detergent is designed to stop clumping and to carry away carbon and maintain an even high cling film Not for washing up in. Isn’t it a bit alkaline, which is a bit of a bonus? When rusting is generally an electolytic reaction between dissimilar metals ( at the microscopic leve) in an acid environment?

 

I can only express extreme astonishment that My Super 7 B, given the abuse caused by the almost sole use of SAE 30 oil,   despite having been laid up in a damp shed for a while when we moved house, has after 24 years or so, still not managed to rust.  (nor wear either)

 

Perhaps it will get round to it.

 

if you felt charitable, you could always post me that can of SAE 30. I’m sure I could find a use for it.

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Guys,

Oil, what a slippery subject to pin down. (could not resist the pun, but I am seeking help for it.)

Modern motor oil is usually high detergent, which is there to wash the crud about and keep it suspension till the “micronic” filter removes it.

Older engines with only gauze filters have to use a low or non detergent oil, so that the crud can settle in the sump, until it is washed out with a flushing oil. Well that is the case in an ideal world. Multi grades are almost exclusively high detergent, and are great in modern car engines, older bikes and cars it is not so good unless a modern filter can be put in circuit. 

Mono grade oil is available as a high or low detergent, depending on application. Some modernish bikes, like my seventies BMW, if used at high speed in a hot climate use a straight 40 grade HD oil. (Although I had a big argument with a pump attendant in Italy over the matter, he would not let me buy any, well to start with that is!!!)

Low detergent  mono grades are used in older machines, be it bikes, cars, boats, tractors etc. where an oil with a bit of “body” is needed.

So if you are going to pick 30 weight oil for your lathe, choose one with low or no detergent. These are most likely to be found at an old motor bike shop, an agricultural suppliers or a boat centre, where they are still in vogue. Modern car shops usually only sell modern multi grades, which is perhaps not what you want.

There is a good case for saying any oil (with in reason) is better than none, but the right stuff should always be sought.

It should be remembered that the point of a multi grade oil is that you can use the same stuff all year round, Although the engine temperature is regulated by the thermostat when running, you need a thin oil to let the poor old starter motor work and let the oil pump do its job on a cold morning. The “long chain molecules ” of a multi grade are to provide the protection from metal to metal contact that wears an engine, but the stuff is as thin as p*ss water, when hot. On old air cooled engines using a straight oil of the right grade can make a notable difference to the rattles!!

Before some oil company chappy chimes in, I know there is a lot more to modern oils, but we are talking about lathe use here, not turbo charged Vee12’s.

chris stephens

[Frank DolmanParticipant @frankdolman72357]

     I googled “Castrol”, followed “classic oils” and found how to get gallon ( yes

gallon, none of yer funny French quantities ) containers of Castrol XL and XXL

by mail order for £22 + £6 p&p.  Sprogs, who don’t remember real oil may care

to know that these are monograde low detergent oils, 30 and 40 SAE respect-

ively.

     I was interested in Meyric’s information on buffer oil. We used OM 13 which

had no civilian markings.

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

OM 13 – so did we. Nice light, additive free hydraulic oil.

 

If you were a Myford owner at the time you should have taken some home!.

 

Some of those oils were really quite special – like the winter specials for ACE mobile force north of the arctic circle or the Challenger gearboxbox oil.  Some of the specs were just written around a commonly available and suitable oil like bog standard 20/50 multigrade for  engines in temperate zones, or “ordinary”  hydraulics, and what you actually got depended on who  had that contract. Shell, Esso Castrol etc.

 

I always thought they were military specials, but I learned otherwise when policing some of those contracts in DQA. 

[Major DisasterParticipant @majordisaster]

Google ‘Hallett Oils’ of Wolverhampton.  Friendly and helpful.  He is used to model engineers who usually want small quantities, down to 1 lt. if you want.  He will sell a direct equivalent to that recommended by manufacturer and is quite familiar with Myford’s requirements.  He does mail order and doesn’t bleed you for the oil or the post.

 

I add that I am not connected, other than a satisfied customer for the requirements of a 254s

[Jens Eirik Skogstad 1Participant @jenseirikskogstad1]

The oil Shell Tellus T37 are often used as lathe oil. Motoroil are ok as lubricant for lathe.

 

I personally using motoroil 5W-30 to my Sieg 250×500 lathe since i get oil free from car shop where i am working as carmechanic, works well as lubricant for lathe.

 

Important to keep the lathe bed, slides etc cleaned periodical free for swarf, grinding dust etc.. and lubricate before and after work. Use magnetic disc below cutting tool  to catch swarf/dust when working with cast iron because the cast iron dust + oil works well as lapping paste at bed and slides.

 

A messy lathe will not last forever!

[charadamParticipant @charadam]

Just to echo Major Disaster’s comments on Hallett OIls.

 

They quote alternatives to most if not all of the oils & lubricants needed for our (in my case) elderly machines.

 

Website here:

 

http://www.hallettoil.co.uk/modelengineering.html

 

 

And I too am only a satisfied customer with no axe to grind and nothing to gain from this recommendation.

[Author]

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