Which oils to use in gearbox on lathes.

[Newton]

Well, I'm reading the manual of my lathe and they state Shell Tellus oil 27
in the gearbox and Shell Tonna 33 in the carriage apron.

I have a sneaking feeling that these are really old types and a web search has
shown that these are hydraulic oils..

What's wrong with a modern gear oil aka ISO68 or something?

Some have mentioned that if there is brass parts in the gearbox, these might
take damage due to corrosion with modern gearbox oils.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Kent

 

[conetip]

Hi Newton,
For the slides and ways, I recomend a way oil like Vactra 2 or 4.
Often easy to find.
But myself, I use Car engine oil and add to it about 20% of the volume Lucas oil stabilizer.
The oil stableiser is a sticky stringy stuff and coates gears very well.
If there is a wet clutch in the gearbox, they recomend no more than 10% stabilizer.
You can use it with mineral or synthetic oils.
My car oil is sythetic. Just 1 less oil to keep track of.
A friend of mine uses chainsaw bar lube oil for the slides and ways on his lathes,and the ways look like new. He has been using it for 15 years now.
Neil

 

[Newton]

Hi Newton,
For the slides and ways, I recomend a way oil like Vactra 2 or 4.
Often easy to find.
But myself, I use Car engine oil and add to it about 20% of the volume Lucas oil stabilizer.
The oil stableiser is a sticky stringy stuff and coates gears very well.
If there is a wet clutch in the gearbox, they recomend no more than 10% stabilizer.
You can use it with mineral or synthetic oils.
My car oil is sythetic. Just 1 less oil to keep track of.
A friend of mine uses chainsaw bar lube oil for the slides and ways on his lathes,and the ways look like new. He has been using it for 15 years now.
Neil

Thank you Neil for the info.

It's good to gear that my idea is not way out.
I'm not sure how the viscosity is compared to the one supplied with the
machine, but have you done any thoughts about the gaskets inside VS viscosity?
I'm not sure what the stabilizer is but I would do some investigation on the
subject the next couple of days.
I did read in the manual library that Grizzly have that they recommend gear
oil which also is a comfort.

Thanks
Kent