Spray oil?

Hi all, and Happy New Year! 😊

The maintenance section of my Axminter SX-1 Micro Mill manual says I need to use 'spray oil' on various parts of the machine to keep it in good working order.

Googling for such a product turns up dozens of different options, all of which seem to have very specific applications ... either that or they're general purpose like 3-in-1 or WD-40.

What would you recommend I use and where can I purchase a small spray bottle from?

This is the closest I thought would be correct, but I could be wrong:

https://www.totallybelts.com/products/ambersil-40-wd40-general-purpose-lubricant-400ml-aerosol

Many thanks for your help!

David

Edited By David Hogg on 03/01/2023 12:00:27

Edited By David Hogg on 03/01/2023 12:00:43

What parts does it say to spray this magical oil on?

Sounds like it is for anti-corrosion purposes, in which case WD40 is OK.

Or is it for some other purpose?

You would be better off with some 32weight oil which will do for all the places they say spray oil, other makes are available

FWIW

My bandsaw , through lack of space in the workshop, has to live outside, under a box shaped cover of curtainsider material

At regular intervals, to keep rust at bay, the bare metal is sprayed with ordinary engine oil.

The oil is dispensed from a repurposed spray bottle from the kitchen..

The oil protects from moisture, and lubricates anything that moves.

Howard

Thanks for your quick replies everyone!

This is the text from the manual where it mentions spray oil.

Thanks again!

David

Your Mill is a precision tool. In order to maintain this precision and prolong its useful life, it is advised that you follow the recommended daily and periodic maintenance tables printed below.

Daily and Periodic Maintenance Daily

Carry out a visual inspection. Repair any damage immediately. Minor damage to the beds should be taken out with an oilstone.
Move the worktable and the traverse feed back and forth by hand, check that the movement is smooth.

Spread a light film of oil over the worktable and the traverse slide bed.
Oil the end bearings of the drive shafts. Squirt oil onto the slide faces of mating components.
Exercise the components to ensure the oil is spread over both visible and obscure surfaces.

Daily after-use

1. Clean all swarf and chips away from the machine bed, slide surfaces,
and the tool post.
2. Exercise the slides and ensure no swarf etc., is lodged in the drive shaft tunnels. If you have been using a coolant make sure the machine is thoroughly dried off. 3. Check the tool, ensure it is usable the next time, if not re-sharpen or replace the tool tip.
4. Lightly oil spray all the machine beds and surfaces.
5. Clean and lightly oil any tools you may have been using (drill chucks, spanners, chuck keys etc), and put them away.
6. Switch off the power supply. Disconnect the plug.
7. Cover the machine over with a dust cloth.

Weekly

1. Move the traverse slide fully back to give access to the tunnel, blow out to makesure all swarf is cleared away and heavily spray oil the tunnel, exercise the slide to work the oil into the drive thread and to lubricate the dog.
2. Spray oil the slide and the worktable bed, exercise the worktable to spread the oil to all surfaces, both hidden and visible.
3. Spray oil the underside of the machine onto the drive screws, exercise to ensure the oil is coating all components.
4. Clean and spray oil the rise and fall drive screw, exercise to ensure all parts are coated.
5. Check the movement of the worktable, the traverse slide and the head, check they are smooth and ‘tight’, if necessary reset the gybe strips until the movements are smooth and tight.
6. Wipe the quill outer sleeve clean and lightly oil, exercise the quill to spread the
oil in the sleeve bushes.

Monthly

a) Give the motor a good ‘blow through’ to remove any dust, dirt etc, b) Check all the interlocks function correctly.

Sounds from the destructions that it is a combination of lubrication for the slideways and bed and some corrosion inhibition after use. Probably best to use Jason's suggested ISO32 oil and I like Howard Lewis's repurposing of a kitchen product spray bottle. I usually pull the spring out of them to keep for stock and throw the rest away. Never thought of spraying oil with one. A new toy!

Most of our redundant spray bottles are stripped, the springs stored against the day when they might "Come in handy" and the plastic bits put in for recycling.

Originally, the mixture include WD40 as well as the engine oil, but undiluted it works well.. Since "It ain't broke", it does not merit fixing

Howard

It is worth remembering that most kitchen spray bottles are designed for very thin liquids rather that, say 20-30 oil. I bought a spray bottle from Amazon which is designed for spraying cooking/olive oil. Only about £6 when I bought mine and it works perfectly with thin oil.

Does it not say spread not spray. The old wipe over with the oily rag type of thing.

regards Martin

No I does say spray, I would still wipe it on.

Edited By Martin Kyte on 03/01/2023 13:08:09

I read it as "spry with oil", but apart from the occasional, quick wipe down I never use WD-40 on a machine-tool's working surfaces.

It is Water Dispersant, whatever its label also claims; a weal dilution of some sort of oil in white spirt. It is good at that, but is also very effective for washing real lubricants off, or even out of, mechanisms. So it is useful for cleaning surfaces and giving short-term protection to bare steel, but that's about all.

There is though no reason why you cannot spray a thin lubricating oil on, then wipe it gently over.

.

Those soap-dispenser pumps are also useful for dispensing very runny liquids like wood-preservative from bulk cans, relatively easily and cleanly.

For the filthy rich I guess Rocol Ultraglide spray at £30 ish for 400 ml is quite the thing as it penetrates well, hangs on decently and stands high pressures. As it darn well ought to for that money.

Ambersil machine oil at £20 odd and Wurth HHS2000 at around £13 will probably do for the merely rich.

Bein normally impecunious I wipe or squirt on Castrol Magna BD56 from my way oil pump can finding it hangs around much better than ISO32 due to the tackifiers. Very much my preferred oil for household and "Honey-Doo" jobs. A bit more effort to work in than thinner oils on adequately fitted pivots but it lasts far longer, especally on floppy hinges.

Hate the thin household oils, 3 in 1 et al, due to their varnishing tendencies if left to dry out.

If I had a penny for every time I've told someone that WD40, or its knock offs, isn't a proper lubricant oil I could afford Rocol. By the case!

Clive

Deleted

(Beaten to it by Clives post)

Edited By Nick Hughes on 03/01/2023 13:34:47

The rather pleasant smelling GT85 (with PTFE!) seems quite good to me for this purpose, and is often on offer at Aldi - bought a box full last time around, which should last me a while. And, as I've mentioned before, it seems identical - at leastt in smell - to the more expensive Wurth product.

Rob

Thanks again for all the help and discussion! 🙂

I've gone for this oil:

**LINK**

and this pump:

**LINK**

Hopefully will do the trick and should last me a long time.

Thanks again!

David