Lathe Gear lube ?

[BillK]

I am sure this has been beat to death in the past, and a search showed a couple of threads, but no definite answer. What lubricant are you guys using on the change gears etc on your lathes ? CRC has an "Open gear and chain" lube that looks like it might be the right thing, but I am not sure. Just finished going through all of the gears on my Craftsman 12". Cleaned everything immaculate and need to lube the gears up. I imagine that as little as I use the geared part of the lathe, almost anything would work, but I would prefer to use something designed for the job. The manual calls for Keystone 122 gear lube, but who knows what the modern equivelant is ?

Any suggestions ?

[kurt w]

Try this link. I did not look at it so don't know if it will help or not.
http://www.atlas-press.com/tb_10lube.htm

[Al Messer]

I use White Lithium Grease or STP Oil trreatment on my 1943 Logan. Works O.K. for me.

[kurt w]

Ok I looked at the link, should have done that first, and see it tells you nothing you don't already know. So will try again, acording to my charts.

Gear Oil
(ISO VG 68) Mobilgear 626 Esso-Spartan EP68 Shell-Omala Oil 68 Sunoco-Sunep 1050 Texaco-Meropa 68

[Paul Alciatore]

The most important thing is to actually lubricate them. Even if you are not using the gears fro thread cutting or auto feed, they probably still turn and wear so keeping them lubricated is important for long life. This includes the hubs. I have seen a great amount of wear on gear hubs that were apparently not properly lubricated by the former owners. The teeth looked great but the center bore had excessive wear. Probably from a lot of idling without lubricating them.

Open gears need something that will stick to the teeth and not just drain off. I have been using way oil but it requires frequent applications. I have seen those demo gears in a clear plastic case at auto supply stores. They demonstrate an oil that sticks to the teeth instead of easily flowing off. That may be worth looking into. I am going to check for my gears. I guess grease would be good for a fixed, enclosed gear chain, but for change gears it could get messy when you store them. Excess oil just wipes off with a rag.

[oldtiffie]

Lubricating the gear teeth and bearings/spindles is as said by others.

A big problem with many change gears is that they are not sufficiently enclosed to separate them from the grit and grime in a work-shop. Same will/may apply to the mechanisms under the apron of the saddle if you have power feed. Open lead-screws and feed shafts gather a surprising amount of grime etc.

Open gears are only part of a potentially larger problem.