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Searching for oil: Shell Tellus 27 or equivalent.

Richard Rogers

Titanium
Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Location
Bentley, Louisiana
My Google searches aren't what I quite had in mind. Maybe someone on here can just tell me an easy place to get this oil. It's for the headstock on a Colchester lathe (the recommended oil.)

Thanks,

Richard
 
Here's what Mobil recommended to me as replacements for the Shell lubes originally specified for a Clausing 5900-series lathe:

Tonna 33 - Vactra Oil No. 2
Tellus 27 - Hydraulic Oil AW 32, DTE 24, DTE 13M (in that order) Tellus 33 - Hydraulic Oil AW 68, DTE 26 (in that order) Alvania 2 - this is an ISO VG 100 base oil lithium soap non-EP grease - Mobilith SHC 100 is the closest product (Mobilux EP 2 is the closest mineral oil based lithium soap product but contains EP - extreme pressure additives).
 
Richard,

Shell Tellus 27 was an odd ball. It was something that Shell made that was in between spindle oils and general purpose hydraulic oils. Your best substitute now would be an ISO 32 or 32AW.

Mobil DTE light or DTE 24
Shell Turbo Y 32 or Tellus Plus 32
Texaco Regal R&O 32 or Rando HD 32
Conoco Hydroclear R&O 32 or Hydroclear AW 32

Hope this helps

JR
 
Richard,

I have also gone into the Mobil website, then into Industrial Products and eventually you come to "Ask Mobil".

I have asked them several times about crossing over mystery lubes like this to Mobil products and each time they replied the next day via email.

I usually throw in what kind of machine it is just in case that helps.

Seems like Tellus crosses to Mobil DTE Heavy/Medium and Tonna crosses to Mobil Vactra but don't quote me on this.

-Matt
 
Is hydraulic oil really a true lubricant? I mean it's better than water, but I was always under the impression that it was not something you wanted sloshing around your headstock gears, spindle bearings, etc., when there were correct alternatives.
 
Ferrous,

For spindle speeds below 3k rpm, hydraulic oil is hard to beat. I doesn't foam, has an EP additive, and rejects moisture. What more could you want?

For speeds above 3K rpm, you should go to a spindle lube. For the really fast stuff, you almost need to go to a miss lube or oil refrigeration.
 
Funny, I was just looking this up the day before yesterday and had several of the same questions. The best cross reference I've found so far is at:
http://www.manufacturing.net/ple/contents/pdf/lubricants2001.pdf

I just dropped a 1955 Colchester Dominion 12x2" into my workshop and am tracking down info and bits an pieces. It'a ugly as sin, but still feels pretty tight. I was able to run it and everything works. Came with a follow rest and a six jaw Buck chuck. It'll be a definite step up from the SB 9".

-Mike
 
Mike,

Somebody took that from the Plant Engineering website. That's a 2001 version. I've got one that go's back to the '70s.

Back in one of my other lives, I used to work for a DX distributor. That was back before the ISO days and you carried around a big cross reference book. We also had a heated tank and the 2 Saybolt drip cups. If you look on those charts, they also give viscosity as SUS @ 100F. That stand for Saybolt Universal Seconds. There's also an SUS @ 220F. You had to heat the oil up to temp and then time how long it took for this cup to empty. You had to buy the cups from Saybolt Labs and they weren't cheap.

I just remember Shell Tellus 27 because we had a customer that we had to cross a DX product to it. It was a real oddball. You could either call it a heavy spindle oil or a light hydraulic oil. That's were the RPM comes in at.

BTW, Shell and the other European oil companies used "Kinematic Viscosity Centistokes @40C" as their standard. That is what has translated to the ISO standards that everybody uses now.

JR
 
Richard,

I have a 13" Clausing- Colchester. About 20 years ago I checked into the oil issue. I have been using the following Mobil oils:
Tellus 27--DTE Light or DTE 24 (Headstock)
Tellus 32--DTE Hvy/Med or DTE 26 (QC Box)

Joe
 
You fellas have been so helpful. As hard as I try, I hardly ever can give as much back to this board as I get.

Thanks, D Thomas, JimK, Mr. Addy, and all of you who moderate it (I really don't know exactly how many moderators there are!)

Richard
 








 
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