Need some Hendey info

I recently bought a Hendy 16x70 lathe. I am going through it and trying to bring it up to snuff. I cant seem to find any info on the correct lubricants to use. There is a main gear box and a front and rear spindle bearing oil sight glass. I asume since these are seperated the spindle bearings take a different oil than the headstock gear box. The apron was completly out of oil so I guessed and put some 85w90 gear oil in there so as not to run it dry till I could figure out what to use. The serial No.28678. Any info yall can provide would be greatly appricated.

Early thirties. Likely has Hendey Standard plain spindle bearings and threaded spindle nose. I would run ISO 68 in Head stock (such as DTE Heavy Medium) and one of the Vactra numbered series in the apron (like Vactra 2, 3 or 4). If it came with apron pump and is intended to oil the ways and slides automatically, this won't be happening if lines and metering plugs are plugged up, which would be normal for a past eighty year old lathe

Those spindle bearings need Velocite #10 spindle oil

Here is '40 manual scan - thanks to Greg Menke for hosting this for me

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/hendey/1940-Hendey-Op-Man.pdf

feller1554:

Hendey lathe #28678, a 16x70, 12 Speed, Geared Head model, was ordered on April 24, 1935 and completed on June 15, 1935. It was shipped with a Compound Rest, an Oil Pan and a Taper Attachment. It has a V Belt Motor Drive and is an RS (Raised Swing) model swing 18-12" over the bed. the original owner was the Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, New York. There are still a few Patterns, Castings and Repair Parts left in inventory for this lathe. All of the original drawings are still in the files, so parts can be made as required.

Your lathe is a transitional model bridging the design changes introduced in the late twenties through the design changes of the late
thirties. It should be equipped with lever type Clutch Handles, which were used for about five years. Your Apron is equipped with an
Oil Pump that is located near the centerline of the Apron and is only serviced by removing the Apron and the Apron Back Plate. Because
of the location of the inlet stainer and the oil galleys supplying the shafts and the Frictions, heavy oil will not flow and all the
moving parts get starved for lubrication. I would suggest that you do not operated this lathe until you drain out all of the gear oil
and flush the Apron with Diesel or Kerosene before putting in a 32 hydraulic oil. If you have the time, remove the Apron and open it
up and give it a good cleaning, paying attention the pump suction screen.

You may think that I am being a bit of an alarmist, but I base this on first hand experience. Our local cannery has a 16x54 Hendey
that is the same vintage as yours. I got a call from the plant saying that the machinist couldn't get the apron to function. I found
the apron full of 90w Gear Lube and asked who lubed the machine tools? It seems that during the Christmas shut down a group of Mexican
mechanics was hired to change all of the oil and grease in the plant. They were not told that the machine shop was off limits and that
all of the shop equipment was taken care of by the machinist. The machinists were not told of the oil and grease changes and ran the
machines for the next four months. Because the oil was so heavy and not being used, all of the sight glasses showed the proper oil
level. The damage included shafts, gear journals, frictions and worm gears. Since these were no longer stock items, everything had to be made new, time consuming and expensive. I use ISO, GST 32 or 46 Hydraulic Oil in my Headstocks, Gear Boxes and Aprons. Hendey Apron
Oil Pumps seem to handle this very well. John Oder, uses a different type of oil which has given him excellent results. I am sure that
he will post that information when he gets a chance.

Hendeyman

Thanks for all the great info! I have a 5 gal. pail of Moble DTE oil lite witch is an ISO 32. Would that be ok to use? when I drain and flush should I run it a bit with the diesel, or just let it sit? Also my tailstock is badly scored in the 4 mt socket. Did those tailstock rams not have a provision for a tang? I haven't ever saw a machine that didn't either have a tang slot or a draw bar, but then agin I am no expert in older machinery.

Extend the ram and you should see two set screws. The screws lock the tang in vertical position.

I checked the ram out and no set screws. I guess I will have to make a modification to the ram so it will grab a tang. After I ream the taper.

See photo in post #7 - shows the brass dust cap to left of chuck, indicating Hendey Standard (plain) spindle bearings. Let us know if yours has the brass dust cap

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...history/hendey-lathe-335056/?highlight=Hendey

Yes mine looks identical to the one in the picture. So that being said would that info lean you more toward vesolite for the spindle bearings instead of ISO 32 like Hendyman suggested? I think I will run the Mobile dte lite ISO 32 in the headstock gearbox and apron like Hendyman suggested especially since I have a 5 gal pail of it on hand.

I have wondered if the plain bearing headstocks used the "GEAR OIL" for the spindle bearings or did they have separate and distinct reservoirs for the spindle bearings - like all the thousands of preceding cone heads?

The answer would be useful in deciding about the oil

Mine has separate reservoirs for the front and rear spindle bearings. The headstock gearbox is separated. There are three oil sight glasses one for each reservoir.

feller1554 said:

Mine has separate reservoirs for the front and rear spindle bearings. The headstock gearbox is separated. There are three oil sight glasses one for each reservoir.

Click to expand...

I'll repeat what's posted in Post #2. Optimizes the slow speed head stock gearing with 68 (or 46 if it comes to hand - that's DTE Medium) and the very close spindle bearing fits with the Velocite

Does anyone have pictures of a Nardini MS1440S E3.kcl.052 feed gear box breakdown.

tschroder, you'll need to start your own thread to get much of response. Make sure you say what you are looking for in the subject line.

Good luck,

Craig