Oils for use on my small lathe

In my workshop I have three bottles of oil, all supplied by C Bennis Supplies and Services (who I can no longer find any trace of). The labels show the following descriptions:

"H32 Hydraulic Oil - Premium Quality solvest refined base oils, with four fold additive treatment". I think I have been using this to lubricate the plain bearings of my lathe. Is it suitable for this task? What is this oil intended for? Is there a better oil for my lathe bearings?

"1758 Neat Cutting Oil". I hoped that this oil would be usable to create suds as a coolant and lubricant for my lathe. But it doesn't seem to dissolve in water. How is this oil meant to be used? What is the best soluble oil to create suds?

"Slideway Oil 46". I suppose this oil is to be used to lubricate the slideways on my lathe. What is the best oil to use for this purpose?

Thank you - Rowan

I think the answers are a) Yes H32 if fine for this, b) No, use it neat (clue is in the name) with a brush and c) Yes, it sounds ideal.

I purchased a large container of H32 a while go and use it on all my machines now (Myford/Atlas etc) - a little usually also gets into my Tea, so it probably keeps me moving too...

Regards,

IanT

Hi Rowan, The H32 as it says is a hydraulic oil deigned to operate and lubricate at considerable pressures and is fine for your lathe bearings. An idea oil for the workshop oil can !

Neat cutting oil is used neat, put it in a squeezy bottle with a fine nozzle and use for drilling and tapping, metal cutting. For most small jobs just the tinyest drop is all that is needed. It costs £50+ for 5L so use it sparingly. It is not a soluable oil which is what you want if you have a flood suds system ? In industry suds are used to cool and lubricate but most hobby lathes do not have or need this and there are down sides to this as there is a risk of staining or corrosion when used intermitently.

Slideway oil as it says ! It is the right oil for that job.

Good luck. Noel.

Rowan

H32 Hydraulic Oil - General lubrication of bearings bushes etc - nothing better.

1758 Neat Cutting Oil - Used neat for cutting (without water) - cutting oils and coolants have been much discussed on this forum. Whether you use neat oil or suds is up to you.

Slideway Oil 46 - Lubrication of slideways - nothing better.

Buy locally or on the internet and be prepared to buy quite a bit (long term saving). These oils are not expensive. I could recommend actual suppliers and manufacturers but there is little point. Do not use engine oil which is expensive and contains additives that are of not use to your lathe.

All the best

JA

Beaten by IanT & Noel

Edited By JA on 01/05/2023 15:57:21

Thank you for those answers - just what I needed.

Rowan

All from "C Bennis Supplies & Services":

Hydraulic oil.

Slideway oil.

Neat Cutting oil.

I've used several of their greases, and they were good quality and value.

Arc Euro sell all these oils, and H32 Hydraulic Oil is widely available - car factors etc..

Way Oil (aka Slideway Oil) is sticky and resists being wiped off. However, I normally use ordinary 20/80 motor oil on the lathe because I prefer to wipe swarf off as I go and put another dollop on.

I always use Neat Cutting Oil in small quantities. You don't add water to it. A soluble oil is needed to make suds, which has a lot of added water in it. I don't care for suds, prejudice in case it causes rust, but mainly it's messy and unnecessary unless a lot of heavy cutting requiring flood cooling is to be done. I don't do much of that, so dab neat cutting fluid on with a brush, squirt it from a can, or maybe dribbling it through a tube from above depending on how much is needed (not much). I can flood cool with neat oil with a tank and pump, but they weren't a smart buy - rarely used because of the mess. Swarf soaked in cutting fluid is extra horrible.

Not recommended: full-fat milk is an excellent substitute for suds. Two reasons to avoid it; stinks to high heaven when is goes off (quickly), and is a serious biohazard. In the good old days before antibiotics, suds infections picked up through tiny cuts often resulted in amputations. Modern suds are disinfected, but are meant to be replaced fairly often, not left to fester in a tank since 1967! Neat Oil in industrial quantities can be a problem too - I seem to remember it caused inflamed testicles because real men never clean their overalls...

Dave

I use Way Oil also as cutting oil. It has the advantage that being sticky it doesn't decorate my walls due to centrifugal force.

A related question: I also have a Qualters and Smith power hacksaw. Will the Slideway Oil 46 work well on the bowslide of the hacksaw? A label on the side of the hacksaw says to use "Mobil Vactra Oil Heavy Medium" for this Wiil the Slideway Oil 46 be OK for the slide, or do I need something different? They seem to have modified the design of the hacksaw mid life. Later versions have an oil reservoir and oilways feeding the slide, but mine is the earlier type that just has grease nipples.

Thank you - Rowan

H32 or ordinary engine oil will work just fine, straight 30, 20/50, 15/40, just feed with an oil can. For hobby use almost any oil will be better than none ! If you come from an engineering background oiling is simple but otherwise people get far too fussy about the right oil ! EP 90 is a bit thick and takes days to get the smell off your hands. Grease nipples or are they for oil ? Noel.

They look just like grease nipples, but since the label on the machine says " Mobil Vactra Oil Heavy Medium" presumably they are intended to be used for oil. I suppose there is no reason not to put oil into a grease gun that will clip onto the nipples?

I know any oil will be better than none, but surely it is better to use the correct sort of oil? Otherwise people would not make so many different types of oil...

Rowan

A lot of the variety is to cope with very stringent industrial and transport applications that can subject the fluid to much heavier working conditions for much longer times than we give it. Such applications tend to be enclosed, unlike oiling an open lathe bed and saddle, so the oil needs last a long time.

A warning that does appear from time to time on this forum and relevant here, is to avoid Extreme Pressure oils designed for automotive gear-boxes and differentials. Or rather, be very careful where you use them. Though excellent for such gearboxes, they contain additives that can attack bearing bronzes. (Their intended applications use ball or roller bearings.)

Machine-tools should not be lubricated with grease except if and where specified.

By all means use a grease gun filled with oil though.

I don't have one, but my machines don't seem to suffer from having the sliding surfaces cleaned with old paint-brushes and paper towels, then spread with generous films oil I work in by operating the slides a few times. A bit messy, but more paper towels clean up the surplus.

It's worth oiling the ways under the tailstock too, to aid moving that but also to keep rust at bay.