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Properly oiling through ball oilers

I have never liked them on the tops of lathe saddles as I have removed them and they had chips inside them and the chips work down to the ways. The cheaper lathes have them. I would suggest to always wipe them off before squirting oil in them. I like the squirt can with a flexible spout and a pointed end like the one shown. Myford grinders and the old Bridgeport mills used a Oil zerk fitting that you used a special grease gun converted to oil. That keeps the crud and coolant out of the way system. Rich
Metal High Pressure Oil Can Gun Pump Grease Squirt Spout Tools $15 00 Value Sale | eBay

PS: I love it when you blow off the chips on your machines. Turn up the pressure and blow the chips into the ball oilers...I am a machine rebuilder and wish more would use air to clean the ways and oilers. Blow that crud in there deeper :-) (jk)
 
So how do you convert a Grease Gun to Oil ?
I've got a Burgmaster Turret Drill that has zerks on the dovetail ways.
Right now I just squirt some way oil above and below the way wipers to
get it lubed. The manual calls for grease. Doesn't sound right to me
for the long term and Burgmaster has been out of business for a long time.

Larry S
 
So how do you convert a Grease Gun to Oil ?
I've got a Burgmaster Turret Drill that has zerks on the dovetail ways.
Right now I just squirt some way oil above and below the way wipers to
get it lubed. The manual calls for grease. Doesn't sound right to me
for the long term and Burgmaster has been out of business for a long time.

Larry S

There are Oil Guns available, they look almost like a suction gun.. They have a female conical tip to fit over the fitting, and you push a handle to inject way lube.
BTW, I do the same thing on a Burgmaster, way lube at the top and bottom, as I move the ram up and down..
 
I use a foam earplug.

Poke a hole in the earplug and put it over the tip of the spout on a standard pump oil can.

Put the oil can tip into the ball covered oil hole and use your fingers to create a seal with the ear plug.

If done correctly , you can create a "field expedient" pressurized lubrication system.
 
"There are two ends on a toothpick."

And knowing my luck, I know EXACTLY what would happen!

I just use a rag, same as the earplug above to create a seal. Mash down to push in the ball, squeeze the rag and shoot. Also agree with Rich on the air hose... I have a shop vac on hand at all my machines. Vac the chips, wipe off the dust with a rag.
 
My oil cans have a little tip on them that looks like a Pennsylvania style "key stone" when viewed from the side. It is small enough to push it into the hole,pressing the ball to one side so I can squirt oil in. Definitely keep the crud from getting on your ball oilers before oiling. Wipe them nice and clean first.
 
I want to add that some ball oilers, or their installation, are just crap, and won't accept oil no matter what you do.

I've got a 16x40 import lathe with ball oilers on the compound and cross slides. About half of them have never accepted any significant amount of oil, even when I hold the ball down with an awl tip and use a hypodermic nozzle on a squeeze bottle into the crack between ball and surround. Some just don't depress very far, others depress but still don't accept any oil. I recently got a nice Reilang double-pump oiler and cross-slit the stock nozzle with a 0.025" slotting saw so it could seal against the ball oiler surround, depress the ball and deliver oil under pressure directly into the opening. Two of those :angry: ball oilers actually spat back.

Someday I will pull all those oilers (probably with a very theraputic drywall screw), re-ream their holes for replacements (and ensure they actually connect with some oil passage!) and put in ones that work.
 
I use a standard pump oil can. I made a tip that presses the ball down and seats against the hole. Tip has a fine saw cut across it to let out oil, so the ball does not block it. Been working for years.

Some I converted to flip top Gits oilers.
 
i use a bar nose oiler.these can be bought at any chainsaw retailer.
cheap.
 
We use standard 10ml medical syringes, no needle, just the plastic body for lubing at oil balls.

If you look where the needle attaches there a short, slightly flared tube inside. In use that little tube helps seat the needle and form a liquid tight fitting. That same tube also fits a variety of oil ball sizes and makes a nice, drip free coupling. If you’ve got uncommonly large balls you can get bigger syringes from your local agricultural supply store. But don’t get the metal ones, they have a different needle seat and don’t work any better than the other suggestions here.

Not only are the syringes dirt cheap, they are, unlike oil cans, designed to be dropped without damage or loss of contents. Perhaps most exciting is the fact they don’t drip and it’s true! Not just printed on the box.
 








 
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