Question about K&T 2H high speed universal milling head

So I have a 2H with the high speed universal head. I recently learned that those zerk fittings are for oil... Anyway the manuals I found online say to use a high quality oil but what kind would be good for the head? Would bridgeport spindle oil work? I put transmission oil in for the time being (had a job that needed to be done fast) and ive noticed that the brass retaining ring where the spindle exits the head (working end of the spindle) will drip thin grease (the remaining grease I couldnt remove from the head that was thinned by the oil) but only on startup and stop of the spindle. is it supposed to do this? I assume once I get oil in it will only leak out more right? even with the transmission fluid that I had in it I noticed it would heat up alot as well. After about 30 minutes running the spindle area would be around 110 deg F. Is that normal?

Sorry for all the questions. I spent 6 months tearing the machine apart and rebuilding it between work and school and I really dont want to break something because every replacement part ive seen online is insanely expensive. Thanks in advance!

I have a 2h plain with std hi speed universal head.. I use #2 grease in the drive bracket and machine oil in the head....They do tend to run a bit warm after extende periods and they do leak from the spindle...When I got mine, it was packed full of heavy grease and nothing was damaged from it....I think the heat depends to a great extent upon how tight the spindle bearings are set up.. Cheers; Ramsay 1

any advice on proper torquing of the spindle bearings? ive never adjusted preload before but I loosened it during disassembly and dont know how much I should tighten it now

May be useful

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/2098/3446.pdf

As far as "torquing" things - I'll bet when your machine was made that the only place you would find a torque wrench was in the lab. It is the same as Mike posted - too tight and they let you know with too much heat being generated

Lucas (great horizontal boring mills) had something to say about "preloading" Timken spindle bearings - never tighter than a quarter thousandth loose

I have 2, k-2 high speed universal milling heads, one came out of a shop that had it for years and used it relatively often.
As far as I can tell in all the time they used it was always packed with high temp grease. I have left it that way and in the 6 years I have had it has not been a problem, I am not claiming that anyone should deviate from K&T recommendations however.
The other K-2 high speed head I have is one I have had over 40 years and it is oil filled but tends to weep during use.
Like Mike states they all tend to run warm during extended usage. In both heads the spindles are dead true absolutely no run out So as near as I can tell the head packed with hi temp grease has not been detrimental to the head all these years.
Probably why I never cleaned it out and went back to oil in the head.

marino1310 said:

any advice on proper torquing of the spindle bearings? ive never adjusted preload before but I loosened it during disassembly and dont know how much I should tighten it now

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A good rule of thumb: Heavy slower work with larger cutters, adjust for slight drag....Lighter high speed work with small cutters, slack off on the preload...Higher rpm will cause bearings to warm...Cheers; Ramsay 1

dana gear said:

I have 2, k-2 high speed universal milling heads, one came out of a shop that had it for years and used it relatively often.
As far as I can tell in all the time they used it was always packed with high temp grease. I have left it that way and in the 6 years I have had it has not been a problem, I am not claiming that anyone should deviate from K&T recommendations however.
The other K-2 high speed head I have is one I have had over 40 years and it is oil filled but tends to weep during use.
Like Mike states they all tend to run warm during extended usage. In both heads the spindles are dead true absolutely no run out So as near as I can tell the head packed with hi temp grease has not been detrimental to the head all these years.
Probably why I never cleaned it out and went back to oil in the head.

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The strange thing I have found is that even though the old grease had dried to the consistency of Johnson's paste wax, there was no damage found to the gears upon inspection of any of my units .. There could not have been much if any lubrication between the gear teeth and still no damage.. One would have thought that gears running with little or no lubrication would have been totally destroyed...I guess that those gears are so well made and heat treated that they survived the situation....No telling over the years WHAT KIND of grease was added though K&T says to use "Sovarex#1" in some parts and oil in others.....Cheers; Ramsay 1

It would seem that most if not all of the high speed heads tend to weep around the spindle after heating up through usage.
I have the two and a friend has one they all weep a little bit ,not a lot just enough to notice.
Been this way forever, so I cannot say I am going to worry about it now. I just keep then lubed and greased.

This one was purchased by me from the original owner . It came out of a very large lumber processing company that has been in business over 85 years. Management in another part of the state decided to replace it with a newer unit, go figure. There were 5 full time machinist in there shop thought a couple were going to cry when we loaded on to our trailer.

dana gear said:

This one was purchased by me from the original owner . It came out of a very large lumber processing company that has been in business over 85 years. Management in another part of the state decided to replace it with a newer unit, go figure. There were 5 full time machinist in there shop thought a couple were going to cry when we loaded on to our trailer.

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Its certainly one of the best built mills ive ever used. If I could find a bridgeport style head to retrofit on it (higher speeds + quill) it would be the perfect mill