just looked at them, they are straight cylinders without the top flange I need.
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Best ball oilers
- Thread starter yota
- Start date
That’s unfortunate. Usually the precision Matthew’s stuff is pretty decent stuff
They may not be the best but after ordering some from Grizzly after first trying some from Amazon. The descriptions (surprise, surprise) on Amazon are completely inadequate and I didn't find any that mentioned the size of the ball. The difference in price says the Grizzly oilers "should" be better but they all look about the same to me. The big difference was that the Amazon ball oilers had tiny little balls that didn't work as well with my oil squirter. The Grizzly balls were much larger and fit the tip of the oil squirter just like the OEM ball oilers. They are not flanged. They are also not "push in" as Amazon describes. "Tap in" with a plastic hammer would be more accurate. Everything I needed at the time was 6mm.
Having or not having a flange is a style difference; not a quality issue.
Having or not having a flange is a style difference; not a quality issue.
when you have a flange machined into your lathe around each oiler, not having a flange on the oiler just creates a moat of grunge around each oiler. not a style issue. yes, I could make little flanges to seat around them but why, when you can get them with flanges?
I understand the need for flanges in your application. I wouldn't want those little moats collecting swarf and cast iron dust either.
Would you rather have a flanged oiler made in a third world dirt floored shop with a drill press and a file or a flanged oiler made in an instrument grade CNC facility? THAT is QUALITY.
Would you rather have a flanged oiler made in the CNC facility or a straight sided oiler made in the CNC facility? THAT is STYLE.
It's just unfair to say that the Precision Matthews oilers are are poor quality. They are simply the wrong style of oiler to fit your machine.
Would you rather have a flanged oiler made in a third world dirt floored shop with a drill press and a file or a flanged oiler made in an instrument grade CNC facility? THAT is QUALITY.
Would you rather have a flanged oiler made in the CNC facility or a straight sided oiler made in the CNC facility? THAT is STYLE.
It's just unfair to say that the Precision Matthews oilers are are poor quality. They are simply the wrong style of oiler to fit your machine.
It was in reference to posts #22 and #23. Later in post #24 you said that it was "not a style issue" when it clearly is a difference in style.
I confused the conversation by not quoting each individual comment. I was generally responding to the conversation as a whole. Apologies!
my general criticism of chinese made ball oilers is from my personal experience and reading other users' comments. many have thin, weak springs and under sized balls (no joke intended). not a fan of chinese quality control, or lack of it I should say. some importers have success in getting better results from them than others.
That's exactly what I encountered with the oilers I got through Amazon. The hole for oil is about 1mm. The Grizzly ones were what i would consider "standard" but still no flanges. They're still Chinese and $2.30 each. The Amazon oilers were $0.55 each in a pack of 10 and not a great deal at that price because of the undersized ball. I have not had success in finding "better" quality ball oilers in metric sizes. It's tempting to ream holes to Imperial sized as the oilers have to be replaced.
I ended up buying 12 NOS GITS oilers (3 sizes, 4 of each size) from a guy on ebay. 12 for 44.00 free shipping. GITS oilers have big balls 
, and use music wire for the springs. not brass though but I coat everything in Boeshield and these will live in oil anyway.
, and use music wire for the springs. not brass though but I coat everything in Boeshield and these will live in oil anyway.