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Blind bearing oil holes, no oil gets thru

A

Alterego

Plastic
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Hello, I’ve been lurking for a while and this is my first post.

I’m recondioning a 1959 Rockwell 11x36, it has seen a easy life, used as a prop for Hollywood and turning only wood. There was so much wood pulp and sap everywhere and zero metal chips where you would expect to see them.

On the quick change gear box I have torn apart for cleaning and painting. I noticed the oil holes for the brass bearings are blind, meaning the bearings do not have any oil passages or holes to flow oil from the oil port cap into the bearings and shafts. So I think I need to drill a little hole for oil to flow. Has anyone seen this before? Is possible mistake from the factory? Or am I missing something.
 
It's possible that the bearings have an annular groove in their OD, with holes from that groove into the ID, where you can't see them by looking through the oil port.

Can you see or feel any holes in the ID of the bearings?

Better yet, fill the oil port with oil, and see if it drains, and if so, to where.

BTW, the bearings are certainly bronze, not brass.
 
I've certainly seen passages that were not machined correctly if that's what you mean. I can think of two cases, both involving Blanchard grinders.

On the first the drain holes for the labyrinth seal around the chuck were only drilled half way through the saddle. They looked fine from the top, but when I tried to clear them out I hit solid cast iron! We drilled them out with a radial drill.

On the second, the oil from the down feed gear box would over run and spill on the floor periodically. I messed around and thought for sure there was some kind of blockage in the return tube. Well, there was, but not quite what I expected. The tube slips into a vertical hole which was clear. But there is a second horizontal hole that should intersect with the vertical. They had drilled it in the wrong place and there was only a small pin hole for the oil to pass through. How they had run it that way for 40+ years is beyond me. I used a carbide burr to open up the passage and allow full flow.
 
look at the ID of the bearing or bushings. Do they look like the are speckled? Those bearings are also called "oil light" and are porous and as Dumpster D says oil drains thought them. You can check this by filling the oil hole from the top with WD 40 and see if it leaks through (if your in a rush charge it with air). If it doesn't drill a hole trough the bushing and use a round file like a chain saw file and grind a sharp front edge and reach in and cut a grove long ways in the center 1/3 or the bushing. Be careful not to cut the grove out to the edges. You may want to dull the sharp edge of your drill bit so it doesn't break. (ask if you need more info on that) if you want to play it safe too cut a small thing piece of white felt and put it above the bearing so it lets the oil out slowly. If you still need help PM me and we can talk on the phone. Rich
 
Especially with older equipment that has spent most of its life sitting around and not making chips, the problem is mainly congealed oil. If time is not an issue, I like to clean oil holes with kerosene (WD40 is okay, if you follow it fairly quickly with good oil and don't allow it to dry out and deposit its own varnish.
If you find the parts manual for your machine, most likely you will see the bearing described as "oilite" or "oil-impregnated" bearing, like Dumpster_diving and Richard pointed out.

Paolo
 
I do remember putting oil in the oilers and noticed the oil level not going down after a few weeks, so now I know the oil will flow.
How do you post pictures on this forum?
 
Last edited:
oil holes especially deep ones always need checking even when first made if small hole full of chips chips can rust solid and block anything getting through the hole.
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literally if part made the day before and holes not blown out we will noticed the holes are blocked when we test for blocked holes with a air nozzle and see if air coming out the other end of the hole.
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i test for blocked holes when part made and i assume person putting machine together also test for blocked holes too. obviously if it has a threaded fitting at one end and you connect to 80 psi compressed air you also should hear it gushing out the other end of the oil hole. obviously if holes not blown out and if full of chips and the chips get on a bearing surface that would not be good.
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oil holes in theory should be checked many times. also if 2 oil holes at 90 degrees are suppose to meet or connect sometimes drilled holes wandered out of position so the holes did not meet at the far ends. another reason oil holes are checked
 
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