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what kind of ball oilers are these and where can I get them?

metalmagpie

Titanium
Joined
May 22, 2006
Location
Seattle
First of all, I have looked at the Gits MFG site and I have looked at McMaster-Carr. They both sell flush drive fit ball oilers. However, mine appear to be different.

Second, I apologize for my photography - I'm lousy at closeups. But I think these images convey the relevant information.

See how the ball sits down in a conical recess?
ballOilerTop.jpg


And do you see the band around the barrel and the relief above and below?
ballOilerSide.jpg


This is a Gits GB style:
147-1-195x195.jpg


and one of their metric ball oilers:
6126-1-195x195.jpg


Their metric ball oilers do have the conical recess on top, but do not have the band on the barrel.

Now here's the really crazy part. My barrel measures 7.01mm, and the upper head diameter is 0.376" i.e. M7 and 3/8"! WTF??

*Nobody* seems to sell M7 ball oilers. The holes on my compound (Nardini) are too big for 1/4" oilers or M6 oilers.

Up on top of the compound is pretty easy - I could just use small conical rubber plugs to keep the swarf and dirt out. I'd just pull the plug to oil, then immediately replace it. But my lathe has flush mount ball oilers underneath the cross-slide, where they lubricate the longitudinal ways under the apron. There is very little clearance above those ball oilers, so using little rubber plugs won't work.

I'm starting to think maybe the raised boss on the barrel is actually a pressed-on bushing to convert it from 1/4" to 7mm.

What do you think?

metalmagpie
 
And do you see the band around the barrel and the relief above and below?
ballOilerSide.jpg

I'm starting to think maybe the raised boss on the barrel is actually a pressed-on bushing to convert it from 1/4" to 7mm.

What do you think?

metalmagpie

Given what appears to be two different colored materials I agree that there is a sleeve on that to fit the machine. The oiler appears to be brass, Is the sleeve magnetic?
 
Given what appears to be two different colored materials I agree that there is a sleeve on that to fit the machine. The oiler appears to be brass, Is the sleeve magnetic?

The whole thing is magnetic. To me it looks like chromated steel.

metalmagpie
 
does it really matter, just get a ball oiler.
Make a sleeve to fit.

Does it matter if it's proud or recessed?

All that is important is that it works, and does not collect dirt. Which I tend to think a recessed one would.
 
I'm inclined to agree with the OP, the oiler had a sleeve pressed on to match the hole in the lathe. Should be a simple matter to make sleeves to adapt what's available. I'd convert to standard flip top oilers where possible. Where not, a drive in zerk (may have to adapt as well) and a oil type greaser.
 
I am lazy. I would you some rubber tube or even heat shrink tube for the sleeve if I could find the correct thicknesss. Diametrs can be reduced by slitting lengthwise.
Bill D
 
Memory is hazy from more than a decade ago, but pretty sure Victors use 7mm oilers - at least in the older Taiwanese variety. Maybe easier to fix the top of the drilling rather than attempt sleeving a thin wall oiler?
 
Maybe easier to fix the top of the drilling rather than attempt sleeving a thin wall oiler?

In other words, why not just bore it to the next largest size and be done with it? It may come to that.

I ordered 5-packs of 1/4, 5/16" and M6 oilers. They're cheap enough to try. We'll see what actually happens.

As to using flip-top oilers or even oilers that sit at all proud of the surface, in the following picture you can see the flat oiler underneath my cross-slide. There is a small amount of clearance, but certainly less than the thickness of a dime.

flatOilerUnderCrossSlide.jpg


Yes, I know there are scratches under the cross-slide. I'm going to deal with those but haven't gotten to it yet.

metalmagpie
 
The part you posted looks an awfully lot like the McMaster link digger posted. I doubt if it cares if oil or grease is pushed through.
 
The part you posted looks an awfully lot like the McMaster link digger posted. I doubt if it cares if oil or grease is pushed through.

That picture does look like my part. However, if you click on some individual part numbers and download the CAD, why, they don't look like that at all.

Like I said, I did look at McM. Anyway, I ordered some sizes and will have them tomorrow and then I will know for sure.
 
That picture does look like my part. However, if you click on some individual part numbers and download the CAD, why, they don't look like that at all.

Like I said, I did look at McM. Anyway, I ordered some sizes and will have them tomorrow and then I will know for sure.

I don't agree, the 6mm and 8mm look exactly like your part.
I would order 2 of the 8mm and turn them down to your needs. 20 thou on the head and 1mm on the barrel... easy peasy.
 
Looks like the sleeve is a compression part.Maybe with enough compression to fit rough hole sizes. The one piece compress when installed but need a more accurate size hole. For a once in a lifetime job on a few fittings get the closest and ream /drill to fit.
 
My Nardini has those and they always puke oil back when I pull the oiler point away. One could wonder if the oil pump isn't pumping air before the first rush of oil but after the first hole's been oiled the rest have no air with the first pumps.
Not Nardini specific though, all the ball oilers on all the lathes do the same thing.
Every time I use them I wonder what percentage of oil is getting to the bearings relative to what spreads out on top and drips off.

One thing also I've noticed is that employees don't seem to be as concerned about it, I guess they figure that's my job.
 
My Nardini has those and they always puke oil back when I pull the oiler point away. One could wonder if the oil pump isn't pumping air before the first rush of oil but after the first hole's been oiled the rest have no air with the first pumps.
Not Nardini specific though, all the ball oilers on all the lathes do the same thing.
Every time I use them I wonder what percentage of oil is getting to the bearings relative to what spreads out on top and drips off.

That makes it sound like it's the oil can's fault, not the oiler. Makes me wonder if dripping oil through a .093" passage would even work very well without pressure.
 
Top one in the picture is also known as a Bowden oiler. They are all Jelly Bean parts. Measure the ID of the hole it came out of, decide what style you want, order it and jam it in. Not rocket science. I personally don't like the ones with a concave top; it just allows more schmoo to accumulate and be injected in if not cleaned prior to oil application.
 
I think the euro style ball oilers are called LUB oilers. I found this in the operator's manual for my Cazeneuve HBY590.

lub fittting.jpg

Here is a place that sell 6 and 8mm, but I didn't see 7mm. They have the concave type and the nipple type.


With two different sources, and since "LUB" is capitalized in both sources, LUB may be an eponym like zerk. I searched for the origin of LUB but no luck. I did find this interesting bit about zerks.

 








 
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