Anyone ever use the round glass/brass oilers

[Michaelp631]

I really like the way the old hit/miss oilers look. And it's a lot easier to check your level than that round glass window they have on the gearbox.
Has anyone ever bushed the glass window and installed one of these oilers instead?

 

[Dredb]

I've used these on vintage machines. There are a lot of Indian and Asian imports, quality varies a lot but even the better ones need some tinkering. It can take a while to get the drip rate right. Some are OK, some leak when they are turned off because they are poorly designed and made. Prices vary a lot, the most expensive are not necessarily the best. The trouble is, they all look the same.

 

[benmychree]

If you want to waste a lot of (expensive) oil, then drip oilers are the way to go, especially if you forget to turn them off; generally, machine tools do not require very much oil, a squirt with an oil can does the job, a few drips here and there a couple of times per day's work is pretty much all that is necessary; an exception might be high speed plain bearings, such as grinder spindles.

 

[brino]

@Michaelp631

Yes I have installed those on my old 1916 Cincinnati mill, mostly out of nostalgia and not finding a good, cheap alternative.
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/gallery/img_3548.94580/
(that picture was before I installed them...the duct tape covers the oil holes and was for keeping the wasps out!)

The first one I bought were junk! Thin stamped metal and clear plastic tube.
They were from Wholesale Tool and were so bad that I never even installed them!

The next one I bought were much better. I got them at McMaster-Carr and they are still in use.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#gravity-feed-oilers/=1bau7mx
more specifically one of these:
https://www.mcmaster.com/#gravity-feed-oilers/=1bau7y8
They are easily adjustable for flow rate.

I don't worry about a little lost oil....I buy ISO46 in 19L buckets from the local tractor supply store:
http://www.tscstores.com/Valvoline-AW-Hydraulic-Oil---ISO-46-19L-P29527.aspx
(it goes on sale regularly for ~$50)

-brino

EDIT:
Ooops, I was wrong, I just found the receipt....I bought mine from Reid Supply, but they are now:
http://www.essentracomponents.com/e...-fittings-brushes-oilers-oil/oilers/tmc-37013
and they were $36.50 a piece back in 2006.

 

[benmychree]

I see a Marvel power hacksaw peeking around the corner behind the mill; I had on in my shop; they are the very best power hacksaw ever made in my opinion. I wonder if the oil holes in your mill originally had stopper pins in the oil holed like the Brown & Sharpe mill I used to have, it was about 1906 vintage; the pins had a shoulder and a ball end to grip to pull out to oil the spindle bearings; they did not need frequent oiling because they had an oil absorbing wicking in a recess in the bearing.

 

[Michaelp631]

The Van Norman #12 has a lube sight glass on the gearbox. It's much bigger than the stems of the oilers. I assume I'd have to bush it with some metal then tap a hole for the oiler?

 

[benmychree]

How about just remove it and clean it so you can see the oil level and reinstall it? It does not need a constant oil feed, just a maintained oil level.

 

[Chuck K]

How about just remove it and clean it so you can see the oil level and reinstall it? It does not need a constant oil feed, just a maintained oil level.

Or remove it and replace the plexaglass.

 

[brino]

Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead.
I responded more to your title than your details about replacing the oil view "ports".
I did NOT replace a sight port like yours with a drip oiler......in fact, I bet that would not be a good idea.

The sight port is there to help guarantee the level to an oil bath.
The gravity-feed drip oilers only provide a calibrated drip rate.
Those really are NOT the same thing.

Sorry if I added any confusion.
-brino

 

[cjtoombs]

Dito the above comments about not replacing the sight glass. Those drip oilers were for total loss systems, it sounds like that is not what you have. I have 4 of them on an old G&E shaper for the ram, and they do a good job of keeping the ram ways adequately oiled. Of the 4, 2 will shut off completely, the other two leak down, so I don't fill them all the way up. They work well for ensuring you don't get caught up and let the ram ways run dry and gall the ways.