Album with more photos: Cincinnati No. 4 Milling Machine circa 1916 - Album on Imgur
I'm working on understanding the oiling system of my new old mill. It has a couple dozen threaded holes that were once filled with drip or ball oilers, but all but one have been lost. I've been squirting a mixture of gear oil & kerosene in them daily, as well as opening the access hatch and liberally hosing it around the gearboxes. This has worked well to dissolve some of the old gummy oil and get things moving smoothly, but there's plenty of gunk yet to go.
There is a reservoir in the column, into which the gearboxes can drain, and a reservoir in the base (presumably cutting oil). However, there have been many modifications to the machine over the years, parts removed, new holes drilled, and so on.
The closest thing I've found to a manual is the 1916 edition of Cincinnati's "Treatise on Milling & Milling Machines", which includes diagrams and instructions for machines that look identical to mine (the 1897 and 1922 editions show different machines). However, the section on oiling is largely unhelpful, little more than "keep it all oiled so it doesn't break".
I'm happy to keep hosing gear oil around, but I'd like to understand how the system was SUPPOSED to work.
I'm working on understanding the oiling system of my new old mill. It has a couple dozen threaded holes that were once filled with drip or ball oilers, but all but one have been lost. I've been squirting a mixture of gear oil & kerosene in them daily, as well as opening the access hatch and liberally hosing it around the gearboxes. This has worked well to dissolve some of the old gummy oil and get things moving smoothly, but there's plenty of gunk yet to go.
There is a reservoir in the column, into which the gearboxes can drain, and a reservoir in the base (presumably cutting oil). However, there have been many modifications to the machine over the years, parts removed, new holes drilled, and so on.
The closest thing I've found to a manual is the 1916 edition of Cincinnati's "Treatise on Milling & Milling Machines", which includes diagrams and instructions for machines that look identical to mine (the 1897 and 1922 editions show different machines). However, the section on oiling is largely unhelpful, little more than "keep it all oiled so it doesn't break".
I'm happy to keep hosing gear oil around, but I'd like to understand how the system was SUPPOSED to work.