Thinning way oil

[Sparky_NY]

I was given a couple gallons of way oil a while back which I use on my lathe and bridgeport. My bridgeport is retrofitted to cnc and I am finding the way oil is very heavy and creates a lot of sticktion. The mill has a one shot oiler which I use very frequently when running. Its also way too heavy for my surface grinder compared and made it hard to crank compared to the straight 30w non-det motor oil it had been using since I got it.

What would be good to use to thin the way oil out? I also got a couple gals of lightweight spindle oil from the same guy.

[spope14]

What is the oil spec for the Bridgeport? If there is a lot of stick from the way oil, it may not be the right type, or you may be running some gunk out of the ways, or you may have a bit of gib adjusting to do.

I try not to thin oil out, but mixing does work a bit. However, how you keep a consistent mix forever becomes your issue.

Check your specs, buy a quart of the right spec from MSC if necessary, less concern about "did I do this right"?

[Sparky_NY]

What is the oil spec for the Bridgeport? If there is a lot of stick from the way oil, it may not be the right type, or you may be running some gunk out of the ways, or you may have a bit of gib adjusting to do.

I try not to thin oil out, but mixing does work a bit. However, how you keep a consistent mix forever becomes your issue.

Check your specs, buy a quart of the right spec from MSC if necessary, less concern about "did I do this right"?

I had the table/saddle etc all off the mill when I converted it to cnc last year and cleaned everything and all the oil lines. The gibs are set nicely.

This way oil is very heavy, I would guess 50-70 weight.

I am in the process of putting another motor on the knee for cnc control and this is when I noticed the sticktion. I put a pair of 250lb gas springs on the knee to counterbalance the majority of the weight and reduce the required motor power. There is about .040 backlash in the knee now. I manually oiled the knee ways with lighter weight oil and the backlash goes away. There is a lot of area on the knee ways and apparently a pretty fair amount of increased friction with heavier oils. The knee still has about 100-150 lbs of weight remaining with the gas springs. The required force on the crank went from 10lbs down to about 2.5 with the gas springs. I could work around the issue with software, going 1/2 inch lower first then raising the knee to the required height.

I experienced a similar thing on my boyar shultz 612 grinder when I tried this way oil. The table became much harder to move. Straight 30 weight works much better.

[toastydeath]

Does it say "Vactra <some number> Equivalent" somewhere on the bottle? If it's three or four, that's way too heavy.

Just for reference, we use Vactra 2 equivalent oil in our bridgeports.

[Sparky_NY]

Does it say "Vactra <some number> Equivalent" somewhere on the bottle? If it's three or four, that's way too heavy.

Just for reference, we use Vactra 2 equivalent oil in our bridgeports.

No, it was a partial 5 gallon can, the label was oil soaked well beyond reading. The cans were also marked with a marker as "way oil", "spindle oil" etc for those in that shop that could not read. I got it from a friend who sold his mold shop and was cleaning up. Unfortunately, he didn't know the exact type either. He had big cnc mills as well as manual bridgeports in his shop.

Being the manual bridgeport was not intended to be driven at cnc speeds and frequency, I pump the oiler very frequently. The oiler also oils the ballscrews.

Oh yea, this is a hobby machine at home and does not see a lot of operating hours.

What I am really tempted to do is cut it with some 5w30 mobil one.

[JoeFin]

If the Ways and the wicks of the 1 shot are gunked up try running a fill-up of ATF. The ATF will clear the wicks and flush all the grud out of your ways.

Then go to the proper way oil specified for your machine. Way too expensive to play a guessing game with

[BobWarfield]

FWIW, my Vactra way oil is similar to the touch or thinner than 30 weight motor oil. Makes me wonder what you really have there if it "feels" thick compared to the 30 weight.

I would've thought most any lubricant would be reducing your stiction, but it's interesting to see that is not true.

Cheers,

BW

[Sparky_NY]

FWIW, my Vactra way oil is similar to the touch or thinner than 30 weight motor oil. Makes me wonder what you really have there if it "feels" thick compared to the 30 weight.

I would've thought most any lubricant would be reducing your stiction, but it's interesting to see that is not true.

Cheers,

BW

If I had to guess.... I recall seeing way oil in light, med and heavy. I recall heavy was ISO68. I am betting that is about right.

[Langanobob]

What I am really tempted to do is cut it with some 5w30 mobil one.

Sparky, I thought the purpose of this mixing exercise was to save money by using oil you got for free? If you're gonna mix Mobil 1 into it that premise goes straight out the window. The price of the Mobil 1 will go a long way towards buying the correct way oil.

It seems to me that a lot of overthinking goes on when it comes to oil for hobby machines, mine included. If it were mine and my irreversible course was to use the free oil, I think I'd try thinning it with some of the spindle oil. Maybe in a very small batch first to get an idea of the results.

[Sparky_NY]

Sparky, I thought the purpose of this mixing exercise was to save money by using oil you got for free? If you're gonna mix Mobil 1 into it that premise goes straight out the window. The price of the Mobil 1 will go a long way towards buying the correct way oil.

It seems to me that a lot of overthinking goes on when it comes to oil for hobby machines, mine included. If it were mine and my irreversible course was to use the free oil, I think I'd try thinning it with some of the spindle oil. Maybe in a very small batch first to get an idea of the results.

LOL Your right on. Last year I sold my Porsche and still have a few quarts of Mobil One that I used in it. So, the mobil one is sort of another freebie. Thats what prompted the idea.

And... the other question, Is the "right" oil as specified for a bridgeport still the "right" oil when its retrofitted to cnc and its non stop fast movements?