early myford super 7

hello,this is my first post on the forum and was hoping some kind person will give me some advice.

i own a very early myford super 7 no sk1453 and it has the headstock oil cup with sight glass.

the problem is the amount of oil flowing through the cup, as i am constantly filling it up when the lathe is running.i do know it is a drip feed but the amount of oil coming from the lathe to the drip tray is excessive and i am wondering if there is a problem. any advice is much appreciated.

john hunter

Hi John,

There should be a screw pin above the glass window that controls the drip feed from the oil reservoir. As you say, if it is constantly feeding the bearing with oil it will come out the holes for the gear speed select (did on mine anyway). Is the knob for the screw pin there? Is it fully tight?

Many thanks for the reply Thomas.I have just noticed the oil is coming through the sight glass.i don't know if they had an o ring on them so i have jest used ptfe tape but that did not work.Any suggestions as to stopping it leaking are welcome.

CHEERS

Hi John & Guys These photo's may help . one with adjusting screw in place and photo of the screw
Nobby

As Thomas says after using lathe after setting drip feed for use . To stop it keep dripping make sure its turned of tight . If that fails it my need reseating. look under the head of the screw it may be muck or bottoming
Nobby

any thoughts on sealng the leak from the sight glass.i was thinking of gasket cement.

John, it's been a while but I think on my S7, I just removed the sight glass and cleaned it but I may have put a gasket in behind it too (the thin orange type).

I routinely set the 'drip' to a pretty slow rate (about one per minute) but only while the lathe mandrel is actually running. So most of the oil dripping "in" just goes straight into the hole at the back and doesn't get that much chance to leak out the front window. If I turn the lathe off and don't shut off the oil too, it does build up in the sight glass (but it still doesn't seem to leak that much). It's almost a reflex now to turn off the drip after I hit the clutch and visa versa.

The oil does of course find it's way through the front bearing and down onto the tray beneath, so you must expect to use a bit. I don't attempt to re-use this oil again (it's OK with a rag for wiping down though). On balance though, Nuto oil is cheaper than a new front bearing.

Regards,

IanT

Many thanks for the replies.i will not have as much of a mess now i am better informed,cheers