Help with gearbox oil

Hi all

I need some help deciding which oil to use in my Warco GH1330 which I was hoping to buy locally.

After some quick research I came to the conclusion I needed ISO 32 hydraulic oil for the gearbox(es)? and ISO 68 for the apron.

It is mainly the apron I am concerned with right now as I have it stripped down for a rebuild. I could only buy ISO 68 in a 25l drum which was too expensive. I bought 5l of ISO 32.

Whilst trying to decide wether I could use the ISO 32 in the apron I chanced upon the nearest equivalent manual - the Grizzly G9036 (1340). I was surprised that this manual recommends ISO 68 for Headstock, Gearbox and Apron.

I know ISO 32 is quite a thin runny oil and ISO 68 is more like treacle. Is it because America has a warmer climate perhaps?

Or should I wait until Friday and buy some at the ME exhibition Warwick?

Your thoughts please

Graham

Edited By Graham Williams 12 on 14/10/2019 19:43:51

I've been using Warco's 32 weight "head oil" in my WM280's apron for 10years without issue, also use it in the feed gearbox

There must be a dozen threads on this subject on the forum. Hydraulic oil is a non rusting substitute for water. There is a clue in the name. It is used for rams and cooling 'cos it flows easily. Automatic gearboxes use ATF, a thin oil that provides the lubrication for gears while being thin enough to work the hydraulic cylinders for changing gear, and being pumped around a lot for cooling though they don't get to engine heat. Engines use a thicker oil 'cos they get much hotter by which time it is thin enough to be pumped around easily. The apron situation is about as stressful as a day on the beach so anything oily will do.

The bit that needs good machine oil is the leadscrew.

Don't get the idea that a hobby lathe specified a special oil as a result of years of careful research. Forty years ago a technical writer with a degree in poetry had to fill in a whole sheet of paper and had heard about oil. So he rang up BP who misunderstood the marketing opportunities and sent round a salesman. The salesman took the poet out to lunch and told him to use Goo No23 because it was the most expensive and would help offset the embarrassment of the contract only being two drums a month. After the poet had left for a hippie commune the next manual was written by a secretary who just copied the old one with pictures of the new lathe.

Westway Oils in Wombourne are very competatively priced and supply in 1 and 5litre in both specs, I'm close to them so collect when needed but they do sell on Ebay/ No connection to them just happy with items and service/

Cheers

GW

Thanks guys, I will confidently use the ISO 32 oil I bought today. Thanks Bazyle for a whole new perspective on lubrication, and sorry for asking the same old question. You obviously know abit about it, for someone who doesn’t the hard thing is knowing what is important and what’s not - such as the lead screw as you say. Easy to get too hung up on it though 😊

Graham Williams 11, thanks for the supplier recommend. Does that mean there are 12 of us Graham Williams’s on this forum?

Thanks Graham

The manufacturer of my industrial lathe recommends an ISO68 hydraulic oil for the geared headstock, an ISO68 oil for the apron and slideways (I use a slideway specific oil) and an ISO220 oil for the feed gearbox.

I expect that the maker of my lathe did know what they were doing with regards to lubrication, based on years of making machine tools.

Andrew

Local agri engineer stocks ISO 32 and 46 (so a compromise?). They tell me that their oil won't contaminate land when a hose splits (true or not?) If you have a local chappie like that then you can probably go down and beg a cup or two - there are drums of the stuff...

**LINK**

i would talk to / buy oil from Morris lubricants they are very helpful on the phone also do an online service

www.morrislubricants.co.uk

Nick

Thanks for all the advice and the supplier links. I started to look at the difference between ISO 68 hydraulic oil and ISO 68 gear oil. I must admit I have been thinking ISO 68 is a hydraulic oil. I gather it is more of a viscosity grading system. I ended up on a lubricant manufacturer’s website. A young lady adviser asked if I needed help. I asked her wether it was okay to use hydraulic oil in a lathe gearbox. She stated hydraulic...oil is for hydraulic’s and gear oil is for gearboxes!

Armed with this new knowledge I had a rethink!

As far as I can tell the ISO 32 I already bought will be okay for the auto oiler on the Gate mill, so will use that for that purpose and possibly the lathe headstock. I bought 20 litres of ISO 68 locally this morning which I will use for the lathe gearboxes and will have plenty to flush the sludge from the gearboxes first (there was plenty of sludge in the apron gearbox).

Thanks for the links to suppliers of smaller quantities but needed to buy locally as holding up the lathe rebuild.

I was encouraged to see your industrial machine specified ISO 68 hydraulic oil Andrew. In the Grizzly Lathe manual it just says ISO 68 oil so I am not sure wether they are referring to hydraulic oil?

Thanks again to all who took the time to reply, great help as always.

Graham