What's new
What's new

Lubriplate 105 alternative?

Jonan

Plastic
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Hello,

I'm setting up a small RnD workshop attached to a startup in Finland. I've got a TOS SN-40 engine lathe, and a Bridgebort Series 1 Adcock Shipley version with a J head with a jammed one shot lubrication and fidgety X/Y motors.

Should a go with all manufacter recommended lubricants, I'd be buying 8 different kinds of oils, all available here in 5 Gallon pails ranging from 100 to 200 $ a pop, so I have to do some streamlining.

One issue I have is that I'm not sure I know what Lubriplate 105 (for the bull gear shift mechanism) is made of. I think it's Calsium soap. I can get Ca, Li and Mo based installation/general purpose greases in the NLGI 2 range from everyhwere. NLGI 0 not so much, but that's possibly because we don't really go by that spec here.

The machine will see maybe 40 hours a month at most.

I have some zerk fitted bearings on the lathe, so I'd really just like to load the grease gun with the best compromise (white lithium grease)

Any thoughts?

- jon
 
I have similar age machines including the same model Bridgeport. I keep 3 lubricants in stock: a general purpose lithium grease for low speed bearings and gears; a 10W synthetic oil (often sold as fork oil in the UK) for Bridgeport spindle and other higher speed bearings; an ISO68 slideway oil for application in the Bridgeport one-shot oiler or via brush.


Mal
AKA The Felsted Skiver
 
I have similar age machines including the same model Bridgeport. I keep 3 lubricants in stock: a general purpose lithium grease for low speed bearings and gears; a 10W synthetic oil (often sold as fork oil in the UK) for Bridgeport spindle and other higher speed bearings; an ISO68 slideway oil for application in the Bridgeport one-shot oiler or via brush.


Mal
AKA The Felsted Skiver

Thanks. I suspected I won't break anything with a bit thicker lithium, but I'm not well versed in greasology or these machines. May I ask what's the functional overlap between fork oil and spindle oil? I was thinking of going for parrafin or sewing machine oil for the spindle, but they're woefully thin.

My lathe takes DTE heavy medium, so I'll have that by the gallon for the one place the Bridgeport takes it. Also the way oil is ISO 68 even though my manual says the verticals should be oiled with ISO 220 way oil.
 
Honestly, i use the ISO68 rolco way lube as i can get it in 5ltrs over here. Spindle gets that or ISO32 hydraulic when that oil can has that in it, its low speed as thoes bearings go, so long as it gets something clean and regular i will let others worry about ideal oil weights! I have only replaced the spindle bearings once in my owner ship and i belive what i swapped out are the originals. Honestly if i need to change them again in 20 years instead of 28 im fine with that!

Auto lube for all the ways gets the rolco way lube. Again i keep it cleaned out and went through the auto lube and confirm its getting every were at least once a year, auto lubes are great at plugging a metering unit - have a line damaged and let a point run dry!

Yeah thicker is ideal for the verticals on the knee, but again, the saddle on a bridgport will wear out far faster, so little point sweating the knee thing being less than optimal oil when normally thats the last way surface to wear out. Spindle Lubricate crap, well post disassembly and clean out she now has a nipple and gets moly rich - grey grease out the grease gun. Its available, its to hand and im not going to run out any time soon!

Rather than sweat the perfect lube, my advice would be use your nearest - best match, put the real effort into a couple of simple shields - ensuring the wipers are good will do far more to prevent harm than worrying if iso 32 or 68 or 220 weight matters most!
 
Yeah,

I ended up using hudraulic oil for everything but the bull gear. The next owner can fret the correct oils.

BTW I think I have a clogged one shot oiler. I have to put my weight (240 lbs) to it for the oump to go down. I don't want to get sidetracked with this. How much of work will it be to go over it for the first time? I'm afraid of spares availability here.
 
May I ask what's the functional overlap between fork oil and spindle oil? I was thinking of going for parrafin or sewing machine oil for the spindle, but they're woefully thin.

My lathe takes DTE heavy medium, so I'll have that by the gallon for the one place the Bridgeport takes it. Also the way oil is ISO 68 even though my manual says the verticals should be oiled with ISO 220 way oil.

The major difference is that the fork oil is synthetic - a manufactured chemical, rather than a regular petroleum distillate. Synthetic oil is more stable and less likely to break down under pressure and temperature. The Web will give more details.

Way oil has a lot of long-chain sticky molecules in it. Dip you finger in it and you’ll see the stringiness as you pull your finger out. The precise viscosity is less important than having this sticky property, though the thicker the oil the less likely it is to run off vertical surfaces. My preference is for a thinner oil and apply more frequently but this is a detail. Just as long as you use an oil designed for slideways!



Mal
AKA The Felsted Skiver
 
Yeah,

I ended up using hudraulic oil for everything but the bull gear. The next owner can fret the correct oils.

BTW I think I have a clogged one shot oiler. I have to put my weight (240 lbs) to it for the oump to go down. I don't want to get sidetracked with this. How much of work will it be to go over it for the first time? I'm afraid of spares availability here.

Mine its lifted by a cam and then slowly drops under spring tension, if i want to pump it it goes through slow, Best advice i can give, if the tube off the pump is clear nylon tubing, just undo it and get a small air bubble in it, then try the pump once more, you will soon see if its flowing and doing the same at the metering units will show this also.

Spares for the oilers are globally available, there used on a massive range of different machinery, Heidelberg litho presses out of germany are full of em, there really common, the tube normally used on the bridgeports is imperial, but its within - near enough that 4mm nylon pnematic tube fits and functions fine in the range of the olives the fittings used (you technically get different crimp limiting olives for use with nylon not copper lines, but with care its not a issues, but again all the bits are available. You want it working if you don't want your mill to become a boat anchor in short order. All the bits are light weight enough international postage won't even be much, the only expensive bit is the lube pump its self, but even there rebuild-able - pretty dang easy to fix.
 
On a lightly used Bridgeport its not a bad idea to give the one-shot system a pump at least every couple of weeks. Theoretically wastes a bit of oil but keeps things clear.

The flow restrictors in the one shot lines look as if they can be dismembered and cleaned up if blocked. Seems to be no better than 50-50 chance of them working long term after cleaning. Fit new, life is too short to mess around.

Clive
 
Ok,thanks for the info.

I'll rebuild the oiler. I get oil from some passages, but haven't checked the hidden ones. This machine still has nearly all of its frosting left on the ways, I'll try to keep it thus.

This bridgeport is metric, at least to a degree. Would that make the oiler metric too, or are these universally imperial? It's built in UK.

I've got pneumatic tube coming out of my ears here. I'd need to order all of the metering thingies and what else for a rebuild?
 
This bridgeport is metric, at least to a degree. Would that make the oiler metric too, or are these universally imperial? It's built in UK

I’ve got a metric Adcock & Shipley Bridgeport UK built. It’s got a mixture of threads. Unified threads seem to be used for core interchangeability with US design but metric thread are used for bolt-ons like lube and DRO system. I even found a BA thread in the quill feed engagement!
 
I’ve got a metric Adcock & Shipley Bridgeport UK built. It’s got a mixture of threads. Unified threads seem to be used for core interchangeability with US design but metric thread are used for bolt-ons like lube and DRO system. I even found a BA thread in the quill feed engagement!

My 1986 Bridgeport Textron who i believe took it over from adcock and shiply over here in the uk is a complete miss mash of fasteners. Plenty of BA stuff in the electrical cabinet on it, the rest of the machine seams to have used damn near any and everything, as was pretty typical of 1970-80's uk manufacture.
 
I streamlined our maintenance lubes a few years back. For us it helped because we have 30 or so different machines built between 2017 and 1898 and each one specified different lubes.

IMO, the brand of oil you use and even a lot of the additives they add are not as important as the kind of lube and grade/weight of libe. Way oil, spindle oil, and hydraulic fluid all have things in common, but each has it's own task that the others can't do. You have to address it machine by machine.

We keep Lubriplate 105 on hand for a few things, but given that the bull gear doesn't need to be greased very often I'd just buy a small tube of it and keep it in the cabinet. Add a jug of spindle oil and a jug of way oil and you're covered.

There probably are other greases that could take 105's place. Over here it would be classed as an NLGI #0 grade grease. (NLGI consistency number - Wikipedia) Simuilar grade as is used for way grease in CNC machinery. Most of your off the shelf automotive axle grease's are a thicker NLGI #2.

I wouldn't supplement 105 with standard white lithium grease though. I've had several cases where I've been burned buy that stuff because it gets hard over time. Lubriplate can and does separate, but I haven't had it harden like generic white lithium grease does.
 
I wouldn't supplement 105 with standard white lithium grease though. I've had several cases where I've been burned buy that stuff because it gets hard over time. Lubriplate can and does separate, but I haven't had it harden like generic white lithium grease does.

Thanks for this. Didn't know lithium does that. I used calsium based NLGI 0.5 grease that I use for tractor stuff, but this was by accident. Had it loaded in the grease gun, and was too lazy to switch to the lithium grease I had bought for this.
 








 
Back
Top