Lathe Oil?

£134.54 -ish?

C'mon... it's me, cheapskate Del... you cannot be serious....lower, lower.
(Bear in mind it disn't look that pretty when I got it)

Oh and BTW it sounds better with some lawnmower engine oil in the lube cups (well some of it went in the cups) and I adjusted the headstock bearings for minimum noise.
Del

That was the only one I found on e-bay :-D

Cheers Lyn, ta for the quick reponse. (My searches didn't seem to find much... maybe too specific?)

Looks like I can use something thicker.
This is all a bit out of my comfort zone hence the Q.
Del

Cute little pencil sharpener you got there but are you sure you dont need to step up to a bigger motor though?

For oiling my Smithy 1340i I prefer SAE 40 full synthetic engine oil. Seems to hang on real well and so far has yet to ever cause any lubrication dry out related issues I can see.

(Other than forgetting to put it on when I should.)

I do have a bigger motor, but I prob' need to find out WTF I'm doing before unleashing more power.
I've found a topslide for a Unimat 3-4 £36, I've E-maile the company to ask about the fixing arrangement, hoping that it might fit without too much trouble.
then I'll be able to turn tapers for arrow heads etc.
Del

I think that you have plenty of motor for that rubber sewing machine drive.

You will find that proper tool grinding is the secret of a successful machinist.

Well form personal experience I can assure you that sharpening a common pencil at 15,000+ RPM will leave you a point like no other!

A little experiment a few of us naughty kids did back in college machining class one unsupervised evening with the high speed precision micro lathe thing.

What you need is a bigger motor...

Or something with a PTO..

If it's cheap you want, this is hard to beat....$46

You ain't gonna turn brass on that.
Del

You could substitute an angle grinder for the drill, might work....I myself am a big believer in quality tools though, and would probably go with something like this....

That being said it looks like you got a good deal.., but the proof is in the pudding as they say....good luck with it in any case...will be curious to see some arrow head designs....

I use 30 W non detergent in my lathe spindle, Vactra way lube for the ways and it's held up fine. I also have a couple of milling machines and a surface grinder that I use Vactra way lubricant on. You might check with a petroleum sales company for specifics. The selection and brands are endless. It's around $8/gallon. if you can find that small of a container, usually sells in 5 gallon pails.You might be able to talk a machine shop out of a quart for a couple of brewski's!!!

Cheers, good idea on the brewski... I might pop down to the place I used to work, they had a great modelshop and machine shop.
Del

Well done, I am green with envy!!!

Hi Del, so you have installed arrow making factory?,

Well, it would do for miniature arrows.

Del

Tsk, Tsk, are those inches I see? I thought UK was metric, but I recall you weren't happy with that.

The bearings on my lathe (Sheldon 11") used to heat up when I was using a non-detergent 30 weight oil. I switched to a high detergent 10-30 oil and the bearings now run cool. Each machine manufacturer had their own oil recommendation, so it is difficult to tell you what oil to use. As another respondent stated, try to get some "way" oil from a machine shop and use an oil for the bearings that results in cool running.

There's a history of the make here if you're interested.

Nice find.

If no-one else has said I would recommend reducing the spindle rpm via a layshaft, those lathes weren't meant to spin that fast.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/adept/index.html

Also in case no one else has said, the link above is pretty informative. Enjoy.

Ah! It did have a lay shaft, but I thought fast was good.
Mind, it was a pretty naff arrangement of lay shaft and the final drive was string!
(There was a broken belt in with the odds n ends).

While we're discussing it, is the round rubber belt ok or should I try to find a small V belt.
I can reinstate the layshaft. (Maybe I could use a pair of stockings from a Barbie doll... Kris made me say that)
I've just ordered a topslide for a Unimat 3 of the interweb, I think it will fit, with maybe a little work. (£36, but it still keeps me under a £100 total, so I reckon that's ok)
All the advice and help is greatly appreciated.
Del

My Dad used a good quality 10w30 motor oil in an old South Bend 21" lathe. 1920's.

This lathe had worn out bronze bushings in the headstock when he purchased it so he bored them out and made a special setup to pour lead/babbit bushings. This worked great for many years with the motor oil. The bushings never seemed to wear as long as we kept it lubed.

I would think a good V-belt would slip less if you needed more torque to drive a bigger project.

You paid £10, (five of those silly looking coins). And I am extremely envious of you. Know where I can get one?

Nope £51 but still a bargain.
Del