One shot lubricator PM1340GT quick change gears (photo heavy)

[szenieh]

I am thinking that the holes allow the oil to drip, thereby increasing the time frame between refill. If the tubes were placed in the holes, the oil would just squirt down onto the gears and shortly thereafter you would have to do it again.
I am just thinking out loud here. I don't own that particular lathe.

I agree with you. When I was testing the oiling ports, the oil drips through them really fast requiring frequent refills. The piece of cloth on top of the gearbox helps slow this down- sort of a "metering" effect.

Salah

 

[szenieh]

Lots of people smarter and more skilled than me have designed and shown their solutions, but I still have to ask this...

Given most folks are going through the effort of making manifolds with multiple tubes, and bending and aligning tubes to optimize oil distribution in the tray, why not just make one tube off the manifold per tray hole, insert the tubes into the holes to guarantee distribution down into the gears and bearings below?

Please see my reply to 7milesup on the rate of oil discharge through these holes. When I was testing my gearbox, I put it on the milling machine and drilled 5 more holes on that top side of the housing. If you watch closely, you'll find that some gears won't get oil in certain positions with the current holes' arrangement. I will post photos once I complete the "pluming" of the manifold.

 

[szenieh]

You would need a lot more tubes and metering valves, in addition one could not bend the tubes to go into the holes as there is a cover plate that goes on top and then the switch panel. A couple of other things to note, the standard oil port is on the right (chuck) side, you need to pump a large volume to flood the plate so all the holes would get oil. The lathe comes with heavy packing grease on the gears and also may cover the exit of some of the drip holes, so clean off the packing grease and also use an oil can to pump oil through each of the holes to make sure they are clear. A few of the oil holes lubricate the bearings, make sure they are getting the oil. There is is a cloth mesh over the holes, this helps in slowing the flow of oil through the holes and also distribution, do not remove it.

The design with a rear manifold and a bunch of segment tubes is easy and quick to make, as opposed to making a large plate style replacement manifold. I have used 4mm bejur tubing because it was what I had, but an easier solution may be to use a brass tube or square manifold with small copper tubing feed tubes and just solder each feeder tube to the brass manifold. Tapping each feeder tube would be a real PTA. I had a metal drip pan under the gears to collect the oil that dripped down off the gears.

Manifold with feeder tubes gives very even oil distribution with about 8 cc of oil, I typically used two lever pumps.

Top cover plate limits size and height placement of the tubes, so it fits back in and separates the switch compartment.

Fully agree with Mark on all his points. It was a PITA to die-thread copper tubing. I have 4mm OD tubing that are too soft to cut a thread into. I was able to thread them #8-32 instead of M4. I did this by running a #10-32 die first and followed it up with #8-32. I did use a nail through the ID to act as a mandrel and clamped the tube in a vice with a V-shaped jaws. It is too much hassle and the threaded tube is too weak to withstand articulation as one manipulates the tubes into position even if you sweat them with solder. I abandoned this approach. Here's what I am trying--

This is a one-port mock-up just to test it. The holes are tapped #8-32. The polyurethane 4mm OD tube self-taps into threads quite easily. What I need to test next is how well I can position these tubes into the orientation I want. It avoids the mess with the epoxy and makes for a nicely sealed joint.

If you look closely at the above photo, you will see the tube slightly protruding past the internal wall. One can run a long aircraft drill to trim the tubes flush with the ID once all are installed.

I closed off the end of the manifold with 1/8" NPT plug. The feed end is using a 1/8" NPT to a 3/8" OD pneumatic tube. The same connector is used at the pump end. Here's the McMaster-CARR component I ordered for that connection- 7397N55.

Salah

 

[szenieh]

Lots of people smarter and more skilled than me have designed and shown their solutions, but I still have to ask this...

Given most folks are going through the effort of making manifolds with multiple tubes, and bending and aligning tubes to optimize oil distribution in the tray, why not just make one tube off the manifold per tray hole, insert the tubes into the holes to guarantee distribution down into the gears and bearings below?

As a follow up to your question, there are two holes that are connected to tubes running inside the gearbox to oil-feed two shaft bushings inside the gearbox. There is one in the far corner towards the chuck supplying the carriage feed shaft and another one in the front middle of the tray feeding another bushing. These are in tight corner and the internal tubing nearly reaches the top preventing the insertion of another tube into both holes (this may be not clear as it is wordy). But the main reason is "metering" as Mark mentioned. As I added 5 more holes on mine, the total number of holes is 21. That's just too many tubes

 

[davidpbest]

Thanks for chiming in David. Yours is a work of art, but I am not sure I would call it "easier"

My original question was related to deep hole drilling of 8.5", in my case, of a round 3/4" C360 brass. It is a challenging machining task. The best guideline I found on YouTube was this:

Joe Pieczynski is a talented machinist and he gives nice tips in this video. He's only drilling 4" (granted in stainless steel), but still, the measures he goes to in order to ensure straightness and concentricity of the drilled hole are noteworthy. You can skip to minute 17:00 if you wish to avoid the board explanation; it is a bit convoluted but informative none the less should you choose to watch that also.

Joe is just copying the same technique I've used for years when deep drilling stainless. He does make some informative videos if you can tolerate his pedantic and misogynistic nature. I still think a new drip tray is a lot easier to make than some of the plumbing manifolds I've seen posted on here (sorry Mark). To each their own.

Alan was originally thinking he would copy my design, so I sent him the attached. Like others here, I guess he figured he was better at plumbing than machining. LOL

 

[szenieh]

Joe is just copying the same technique I've used for years when deep drilling stainless. He does make some informative videos if you can tolerate his pedantic and misogynistic nature. I still think a new drip tray is a lot easier to make than some of the plumbing manifolds I've seen posted on here (sorry Mark). To each their own.

Alan was originally thinking he would copy my design, so I sent him the attached. Like others here, I guess he figured he was better at plumbing than machining. LOL

Thanks for sharing the attachment. You got me thinking about your approach more seriously. I may reconsider.

As for your comment on Joe's videos, I generally try to only focus on the techniques that he's sharing. I see what you mean about Joe's pedantic approach especially when he's on the white board. None the less, it is a blessing that we have this positive aspect to the internet where this level of sharing is even possible.

 

[Larry$]

Given some of the dumb comments Joe gets, I can understand why he goes into very long explanations. He does seem to have a lot of ego, deservedly I think. He spends quite a lot of effort to pass along his knowledge. You can see that he has thought through his presentation ahead of time. There are other channels out there for people that dislike his approach. Steffan G. & Robin have excellent presentations.

 

[davidpbest]

I get a lot more out of Stefan Gotteswinter and Robin Renzetti than I do from Joe. Also Keith Fenner and Peter Stanton.

 

[mksj]

David we agree to disagree. Not sure why one would want to spend so much time and money making a complicated manifold out of a solid block of aluminum with all that machining, drilling and tapping, I see no reason to waste so much time when all you need is something functional and inexpensive. I have made several 1340GT oil distribution systems with tube manifolds, you can buy 0.5" 0.065" wall brass tubing for about $10, and some 1/8 brass or copper tubing for about $5. Tap one end of the manifold tube with an 1/8" NPT thread, cap the other, drill a few holes and solder the distribution pipes in and you are done. You do not need a distribution tube for each hole in the drip plate, you can easily see that a single distribution pipes provide oil to several drip holes. Alan's video shows the oil distribution with the tube manifold with the distribution pipes and it worked very well. I believe in the KISS approach to things that need to be functional.

 

[xr650rRider]

KISS, my PM-1340GT which has seen near daily use for > 1 year, still works fine with 2 or 3 squirts of way oil from oil can once per day into the original port. I am going to put a 1 shot oiler on it (lipstick) with "plumbing" distribution manifold for perceived convenience.