Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web
Stay Connected:
What oil for horizontal mill
- Thread starter drcoelho
- Start date
- Replies 3
- Views 1,543
plastikdreams
Diamond
- Joined
- May 31, 2011
- Location
- upstate nj
Mobil vactra 2...the life blood of machines world wide
Joe Michaels
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Location
- Shandaken, NY, USA
The Burke number 4 milling machines were made in 2 versions: the earlier version had plain bronze spindle bearings, and these were oil lubricated. The later-and most common-version of the Number 4 Burke mill has roller bearings for the spindle. These are grease lubricated.
The spec for the grease was pretty loose, as I recall. The spindle bearings, if the roller bearing version, are located behind shields held in place with some round-head machine screws. These shields may be aluminum, and there may be a phenolic or plastic bushing on the spindle where it passes thru the aluminum shield. This plastic bushing slides on the spindle. The end shields are removed, the old grease is removed as best you can, and then bearings flushed with a solvent (I use aerosol cans of automotive brake parts cleaner for these sorts of jobs) to remove remaining grease. A grease such as is used to pack automotive wheel bearings and for chassis lubrication is fine to use in the spindle bearings. You pack the grease in with your fingers and leave some extra in the surrounding housing. Do not fill the housing full with grease as it will only expand in service and work its way out around the spindle.
The only gears I can think of on a Burke number 4 are the bevel gears on the knee screw, and the worm/worm gear on the power feed for the table. A dab of something like "white lithium grease" would be fine on those gears.
A light-duty way lube is all that is needed on the other parts of the Burke mill. I "cheat" and use Husqvarna bar and chain oil as it has about the right weight and has "tackifiers" to make it cling and maintain a film. It's what I have around my home and use in my chain saw, and for light duty machine tools, has worked fine for many years. The bar-and-chain oil will cling to the feed screws, dovetails, and other sliding/rotating surfaces. I use an ISO 46 oil for things like plain bearings in old machine tools, and it is what I use on the power feed shaft and parts on my Burke number 4. I buy "Tractor Hydraulic Oil" in 2 gallon jugs as this is an ISO 46 oil. It is what is known as a "DTE" series oil, DTE = "Dynamo, Turbine, Engine"- an old oil designation predating the arrival of automobiles. DTE rated oils are still used in powerplants and industrial applications. DTE oils are mineral based, usually a straight weight, and have no additives other than anti-corrosion and anti-foaming additives. I've run Tractor Hydraulic Oil in the headstock of my geared head LeBlond lathe and in every plain bearing on machine tools and all else in my shop for the past 30 years without problems. ISO 46 is equivalent to an SAE 20 weight oil, but today's automotive oils have too many additives in them for use in older machine tools.
Another trick I do is to mix Lucas Oil Extender with the Tractor Hydraulic Oil, maybe 3 parts oil to 1 part Oil Extender. The Lucas Oil Extender has no harmful additives, and is mainly a "tackifier" that "increases film strength" and makes oil "cling". "Tackifier" is a term used in the lubrication industry. Adding the Lucas Oil Extender to the ISO 46 oil makes a good mix that stays a little longer in plain bearings which are "total loss oiling".
The spec for the grease was pretty loose, as I recall. The spindle bearings, if the roller bearing version, are located behind shields held in place with some round-head machine screws. These shields may be aluminum, and there may be a phenolic or plastic bushing on the spindle where it passes thru the aluminum shield. This plastic bushing slides on the spindle. The end shields are removed, the old grease is removed as best you can, and then bearings flushed with a solvent (I use aerosol cans of automotive brake parts cleaner for these sorts of jobs) to remove remaining grease. A grease such as is used to pack automotive wheel bearings and for chassis lubrication is fine to use in the spindle bearings. You pack the grease in with your fingers and leave some extra in the surrounding housing. Do not fill the housing full with grease as it will only expand in service and work its way out around the spindle.
The only gears I can think of on a Burke number 4 are the bevel gears on the knee screw, and the worm/worm gear on the power feed for the table. A dab of something like "white lithium grease" would be fine on those gears.
A light-duty way lube is all that is needed on the other parts of the Burke mill. I "cheat" and use Husqvarna bar and chain oil as it has about the right weight and has "tackifiers" to make it cling and maintain a film. It's what I have around my home and use in my chain saw, and for light duty machine tools, has worked fine for many years. The bar-and-chain oil will cling to the feed screws, dovetails, and other sliding/rotating surfaces. I use an ISO 46 oil for things like plain bearings in old machine tools, and it is what I use on the power feed shaft and parts on my Burke number 4. I buy "Tractor Hydraulic Oil" in 2 gallon jugs as this is an ISO 46 oil. It is what is known as a "DTE" series oil, DTE = "Dynamo, Turbine, Engine"- an old oil designation predating the arrival of automobiles. DTE rated oils are still used in powerplants and industrial applications. DTE oils are mineral based, usually a straight weight, and have no additives other than anti-corrosion and anti-foaming additives. I've run Tractor Hydraulic Oil in the headstock of my geared head LeBlond lathe and in every plain bearing on machine tools and all else in my shop for the past 30 years without problems. ISO 46 is equivalent to an SAE 20 weight oil, but today's automotive oils have too many additives in them for use in older machine tools.
Another trick I do is to mix Lucas Oil Extender with the Tractor Hydraulic Oil, maybe 3 parts oil to 1 part Oil Extender. The Lucas Oil Extender has no harmful additives, and is mainly a "tackifier" that "increases film strength" and makes oil "cling". "Tackifier" is a term used in the lubrication industry. Adding the Lucas Oil Extender to the ISO 46 oil makes a good mix that stays a little longer in plain bearings which are "total loss oiling".