Dean smith + Grace lathe - cleaning and maintenance

[knighty]

hi

picked up a 12hp Dean Smith and Grace 17x72 last week (works 17inch diam by 72long)

much bigger than anything I'm used to (grew up with a myford ML7)

got it into position, checked oil level in top gearbox and it was empty so filled that up with gear oil, there's an oil pump in there to pump oil over the gears/bearings which didn't want to work at first but just as I was trying to figure out what was wrong it started to pump (yay)

cleaned out the sump for the coolant, was full of gunk, cleaned down the coolant try and a few nooks and crannies

cleaned up all the slides/bed etc a bit but just used an old oily rag - I'm not sure what I should be using ?

I'd like to give it a good clean up and oil all the slides etc... any advice on what to use to clean it, I'm worried most of the stuff I'd normally use to clean up metal work will leave it bare / open to rust (break cleaner etc..) what about Swarfega Jizer Degreaser ? - it's the only name I recognised when looking for degreaser
(need something for the slides etc.. but the rest of the lathe too)

also, oiling... what I thought were worn down grease nipples are really oil nipples, I've ordered an oiler for them (fingers crossed it fits) - what kind of oil should I use, or is it a case of anything will do?

ordered some Rocol soluble cutting fluid / coolant - rocol is the only name I recognised so went with them

I need new pipes/nozzles for the coolant, bought these for now but now sure how good they'll be ? don;t look very industrial http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181731342537

I could do with a light too, this is the best I can find right now (I'll put an LEd bulb in it) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Machine-light-task-21-/182070911845?hash=item2a6445a365:g:obsAAOSwX~dWqSlD unless anyone has a recommendation for something better ? - £105 for a bulb on a stick rubs me the wrong way

lots of pictures (click for bigger)

inside top gearbox checking oil flow


after a bit of clean up












(p.s. I'm dyslexic since I was a kid plus fell 20ft and landed on my head 8 months ago so if I type gibberish just nod and smile)

 

[ford34/2]

Manual::Type 15 &17
Not very good though

Stan

 

[Ton-up]

As I said in your other thread, I used to use these when I did my apprentiship. We used to have six of these and I remembered they had oil nipples as it was my job to do them! I would use something like duck oil to clean it up. If I remember right we used to use Shell Tellus 68 but any slideway oil will do.

The Rocol stuff is excellent, but I use Cromwell products at work and find they are good for the money.

If you do not use the lathe very often, the soluble stuff is not such a good idea, it will deteriorate rapidly. Better to use a neat cutting oil. ( but you will need good gaurds to stop getting covered in it!)

 

[Pete.]

Believe it or not WD40 is an excellent cleaner and degreaser but it's a bit expensive at £15 a gallon. Brake cleaner won't hurt the metal or make it rust but it might melt the paint, in fact if you get most of the dirt off and set to with brake cleaner and a clean rag it can bring the colour right out.

For oil, you should use slideway oil. That's what it's designed for.

 

[brightspark]

where u buying wd for 15 quid 20 the cheapest ive seen it

 

[Pete.]

Homeandworkshop were selling it for £16 I think a gallon but my step-daughter works for a motor factors so I get her to pick up a gallon every now and again. must be discounted for staff.

 

[bletchmonster]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151678599627?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I recently had a drum of this for degreasing in the workshop and I'm well chuffed with it for the money. It will work away at that goo that has built up over decades and set. Get rid of the filth then wd40 or similat to protect

 

[graffian]

Believe it or not WD40 is an excellent cleaner and degreaser

But you need to oil the surfaces after cleaning them. Isn't it mostly paraffin?

I have the oil nipples on a few things, I use a squirty oil can with way oil in on them.

If it has way oiling check to see if it has valves on the oil lines, if so clean them all; my mill and lathe have them and if a valve is sticky,
you either don't get any oil out of it, or all the oil comes out of it. The underside of my saddle has a manifold with ten or so pipes coming
out of it, every one has valve on.

 

[penfold]

I'd be cautious about using gear oil in the gearbox(and carriage gearbox too on this machine), both to protect yellow metal and because of viscosity; most lathe gearbox lubrication is ordinary lube oil of sae 20-30(often hydraulic oil is specified but motor oil is generally fine) you'd need to get a look at a manual to check. Tony at Lathes.co.uk will sort you a manual if you don't have one.

 

[Turbo]

That's a nice lathe, the DSG lathes are said to be the Rolls Royce of lathes!
I'm in the process of cleaning up an Myford ML7 so I can offer some tips I've learned on cleaning them.

Plain heating oil or a 50/50 mix with petrol for something more aggressive will clean most things. You could fill up your coolant tank with it and use the nozzle to apply it, saves messing around with containers and cleans out your coolant system at the same time.
Another good cleaner is 2-stroke mixture. Once the petrol evaporates it leaves behind a light coat of oil which gives you some protection from surface rust.
Use a short bristled brush, a toothbrush and some green scotch pads to do your cleaning.

If you can't find proper way oil a light gear oil will do. Something like Shell Omala 68 would be suitable. As for oiling the nipples, what kind of nipples are fitted? Are they the push on type or clip on type. I modified mine by fitting clip on type and modified a standard grease gun so I can fill it with oil and use it to oil the lathe.

 

[graffian]

I'd be cautious about using gear oil in the gearbox both to protect yellow metal and because of viscosity

You also want the correct[ish] oil for the bearings. A DSG I looked at had had the spindle bearings re-done, they were white metal.

 

[ford34/2]

I'd be cautious about using gear oil in the gearbox(and carriage gearbox too on this machine), both to protect yellow metal and because of viscosity; most lathe gearbox lubrication is ordinary lube oil of sae 20-30(often hydraulic oil is specified but motor oil is generally fine) you'd need to get a look at a manual to check. Tony at Lathes.co.uk will sort you a manual if you don't have one.

A manual::Theres a free one in the second post of this thread

Stan

 

[penfold]

Doh! Need eyes checked.

That chart is:

FIRST LINE - ISO32 hydraulic oil
2ND & 3RD LINE - Slideway oil, probably ISO68
4TH - ISO32 hydraulic oil
5TH - slideway ISO68
6TH - general purpose grease
7TH - ISO68 hydraulic oil
8TH - slideway ISO68

All are available from decent farm supplies, agri engineers or via ebay for reasonable prices; on ebay Smith&Allen or Westway oils would be where I'd look first.

 

[penfold]

Free PDF manuals from this DSG dealer.

 

[ford34/2]

Free PDF manuals from this DSG dealer.

Exact same manual as in second post above
Stan

 

[hareng]

AWS is anti wear hydraulic oil so only need AWS32 and AWS68, might be around £17 for 5/ltrs from Smith and Allen.

How you going to power that.
Bit of a step up from an ML7

 

[Keith 66]

I was just thinking that, what do you want to make, artillery?

 

[knighty]

Sorry for slow replies, I was trying to wait till I had some news or photos of it nice and clean but I've been working too much so no time for lathe yet :-(

I'll drain out the gear oil I put in and get some of the proper oil, thanks for that info, you just saved my gearbox!

Cooland/cutting fluid but I bought the water soluble type so I'll get some of the non water stuff, won't use it regularly enough to stop it going off.

(Glad I joined here, just those 2 bits will save me a lot of hassle)

I've got a workshop at work and I'm keeping it in there so 3 phase is no problem

I make dog food for a living but do all the maintenance etc. myself. Planning to build a new machine, a copy of an old (pre WW2) tripe washing machine with a few changes. 30hp motor spins 1.5ton of tripe so its pretty chunky.

Plus there's a few times in the past I've been stuck without a bigger lathe and not been able to find a local company interested in small one off jobs. I needed a band saw wgeen turning down slightly and it took the place I used 6 months to do it.... It was probably an hour of work tops :-(

Thanks for the manual too, I'll read it carefully :-)