# Beginner machinist question??



## Gunguy (Dec 7, 2021)

Which Machine to learn on Craftex cs706 or king 10x22 !! Just need some advice with the intention of gunsmithing and hobby work!


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2021)

You planning to do any bbl chambering?


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 7, 2021)

Yes I hope to, If I can find some Reimers out here somewhere in Canada


----------



## Tom Kitta (Dec 7, 2021)

Both come in new at the same price, both are light weight machines with similar capabilities.

Craftex plus:
- infinite speeds
- more thread choices (or so it seams)

King plus
- heavier build
- no prone to break electronics
- bit heavier tailstock
- higher top max speed


----------



## Darren (Dec 7, 2021)

For 3k+ i'd be looking for a used heavier lathe with a larger spindle bore, separate feedshaft and larger overall capacity. Just my 10c


----------



## CalgaryPT (Dec 7, 2021)

Tom Kitta said:


> Both come in new at the same price, both are light weight machines with similar capabilities.
> 
> Craftex plus:
> - infinite speeds
> ...


Also plus for the King: Parts availability. Big warehouse in Quebec.


----------



## Susquatch (Dec 7, 2021)

Welcome to the group. 

Just a heads up, you best be thinking about tooling cost not lathe cost if you want to do any serious smithing. Tooling will easily be double the lathe cost. 

For chambering, you want low speeds not high. Biggest issue you will find with any of the smaller lathes is the spindle bore size. You need at least 1.5" to fit most blanks. You will also want a rear spider. 

The reamer guy in BC can get most brands of Reamers for you but almost all the reamer makers in the US will also ship to Canada.


----------



## YotaBota (Dec 7, 2021)

Gunguy - what part of the country are you in?


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 7, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> Welcome to the group.
> 
> Just a heads up, you best be thinking about tooling cost not lathe cost if you want to do any serious smithing. Tooling will easily be double the lathe cost.
> 
> ...


I was hoping for a 1.5 spindle bore but I’ve only found that size in an 8x16 ! I hope I can put a spider on the back of the king lathe but … 
I just need to start somewhere hopefully I will find some used tooling over the next !!


----------



## Susquatch (Dec 7, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> I was hoping for a 1.5 spindle bore but I’ve only found that size in an 8x16 ! I hope I can put a spider on the back of the king lathe but …
> I just need to start somewhere hopefully I will find some used tooling over the next !!



That doesn't make sense to me @Gunguy .  I wouldn't expect to find a 1.5 bore in anything less than 10" and prolly 30" bed. Most likely, you will want something like a 12or14 x 36or40 or bigger.

You can find lots of used tooling at great prices on line. But it will very difficult to find smithing tooling used. It just isn't out there.

I'm not trying to dissuade you. I think smithing can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. But it will be very disappointing if you start with something you can't use. I'd aim a bit higher if I were you so the trajectory gets you to your goals. It may take longer to realize your goals, but at least you will get there. That's way better than spending less and not making it.

Take your time, start slow, and have fun.


----------



## Darren (Dec 7, 2021)

Even my 13x40" Emco only has a 1.4" bore. Just to give you some perspective.

 I've also had a 7x12 Warco, a 10x26 Emco V10p, a 13x24 Colchester Student, my 16x60 SM, and if I could only have one lathe, or if I was doing it over, I'd definitly go older/bigger before newer smaller. Further, I paid just about 5k for my 16x60 from my local college and its in just about new condition. (I did spend another 1k wiring it with a vfd, etc) It has a 2.06" bore and is heavy and accurate. If I could only have one lathe it would be my first choice. I realize we are probably getting away from your wants and needs here, but its something to think about.

If you go the route of an older industrial machine, it'll probably be 3 phase, but with VFD's thats a non issue and adds to the functionality of the machine.


----------



## DPittman (Dec 7, 2021)

The conundrum of choosing a lathe "to learn on" and a lathe "to do some gunsmithing on" often are two divergent roads, but not NECESSARILY if you look down the road before you start the trip (as you appear to be doing)


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 7, 2021)

Thank you all for your input! I will have more questions, I just can’t wait to start to learn this craft


----------



## Darren (Dec 7, 2021)

where are you located?


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 7, 2021)

dfloen said:


> where are you located?


Mapleridge


----------



## Dabbler (Dec 8, 2021)

@Gunguy, I was in your shoes - well a long time ago.  My gunsmith mentor said 36" on the bed is minimum, so I went with a 12X37.  It was absolutely the right choice.  I does have a large, bore, but I never hand a barrel through the headstock anyway, so that is immaterial.  For crowning and threading the ends of barrels, you just cannot beat a 36 inch bed.

There's always a trade-off:  cost, real estate in the shop, rigidity, etc.  At 750 lbs, it is the lightest lathe that I'd work on a barrel, especially to ream a chamber. [I'm in the 'bore first, ream later' school of chambering a barrel BTW].

Cost can be helped by buying a quality used lathe.  The most popular gunsmith size these days seems to be 14X40, so the 10X36 and 12X36 lathes can be had for less money. One of my friends has done great work on a South Bend 9A.

You really need both 3 and 4 jaw chucks, steady rest, and follow rest.  The rest of the tooling can be acquired as needed.


----------



## 6.5 Fan (Dec 8, 2021)

Welcome to the group. Some good advise already, it boils down to space for machines and money. A small bore isn't a disadvantage but then you need more bed length. Either machine will get you started to learn machining on, you can always upgrade as your skills improve.


----------



## Susquatch (Dec 8, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> Thank you all for your input! I will have more questions, I just can’t wait to start to learn this craft



At the risk of beating the horse, and as anyone who has been intimately involved in almost any profession will know, there are factions that passionately defend their chosen approach to things. 

And even with smithing there are various levels of precision that smith's attempt to achieve and more than one way to skin the cat. Ya gotta know your goals, ya gotta know your competitors, you gotta know your friends, and you gotta know your options. 

As someone on this forum once said to me, it is also important to avoid setting expectations unreasonably high for others new to our "hobby". 

All this is just to set the stage for me to say that I am VERY FIRMLY in the camp of those who advocate chambering through the headstock. But I am a precision Smith and I used to compete in Benchrest (the one hole clan). I'm too old and shaky to compete now. But my expectations and my goals are still at the outer edge of what most people think is even reasonable. Even so, there are still a few of my Clan who are competitive chambering in the steady rest. Although their numbers are dwindling quickly, they have my complete respect and admiration for what they do. 

For the world of custom smithing, which is a huge leap above factory, I would be happy doing it either way. But to be honest with you, why limit your options when you can have it both ways at relatively low or no extra cost? 

I think your plan to assess your needs and set goals before buying is the only way to go. Nobody likes surprises when the final price tag has 4 or 5 digits. 

One last suggestion and a caution. The internet and YouTube are full of videos and how-to's on this subject. A select few are excellent - but the vast majority are just plain horrible. In fact, many are just blatant ads masquerading as experts appealing to the gullible to drum up business. Try to be critical with an open mind as you explore what is out there. 

There are also a few books out there written by the best of the best in many smithing specialties. They are well worth buying and reading too. I can PM you with a few benchrest recommendations if you want, but I can't really help with Palma or F-Class or etc etc. 


Gunguy said:


> Mapleridge



Seems there are quite a few Mapleridge areas out there. Which province?


----------



## YotaBota (Dec 8, 2021)

If you're in the lower mainland MapleRidge (my old stomping grounds) here is a 1340 in Victoria. It sounds like it will need a tune up but should future proof you. Do you have the room and power for this size of machine?








						Lathe (Brand-Advance) Model -TY1340GHE
					

We are upgrading our lathe. It can be seen running until our new one arrives. Does not include tooling. The bed is in good condition, however, it will occasionally pop out of gear.




					www.usedvictoria.com
				



I believe it to be a Taiwanese machine, not top of the line but not on the bottom either.


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 8, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> At the risk of beating the horse, and as anyone who has been intimately involved in almost any profession will know, there are factions that passionately defend their chosen approach to things.
> 
> And even with smithing there are various levels of precision that smith's attempt to achieve and more than one way to skin the cat. Ya gotta know your goals, ya gotta know your competitors, you gotta know your friends, and you gotta know your options.
> 
> ...


Bc


----------



## Susquatch (Dec 8, 2021)

YotaBota said:


> If you're in the lower mainland MapleRidge (my old stomping grounds) here is a 1340 in Victoria. It sounds like it will need a tune up but should future proof you. Do you have the room and power for this size of machine?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Nice looking lathe but I cannot get my head around why anyone would post 3 pictures all the same..... How much trouble would a few closeups or other angles have been?


----------



## PeterT (Dec 8, 2021)

There are larger ID spindle bore lathes loosely called 'gunsmith' lathes for that feature & possibly other reasons. What they typically do is incorporate a D1-5 spindle, which therefore becomes the backplate system you require to mount chucks & accessories. I haven't seen many D1-5 on smaller (say sub-13" swing) lathes, but maybe they exist. Whereas D1-4 spindles are more predominant & can be seen on smaller swing/bed lathes. So what I'm saying is the spindle itself largely controls the maximum through bore ID dimension.

14x40 D1-5 ID=2.0"


			https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1440gs/
		


14x40 D1-4 ID=1.56"


			https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1340gt/


----------



## Tom Kitta (Dec 8, 2021)

The


YotaBota said:


> If you're in the lower mainland MapleRidge (my old stomping grounds) here is a 1340 in Victoria. It sounds like it will need a tune up but should future proof you. Do you have the room and power for this size of machine?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Same machine went on auction in Edmonton for around 3600 with fees. I almost got it but someone wanted it more. Bell machinery sells them new for 13000 which I think is total overkill.


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 8, 2021)

Tom Kitta said:


> The
> 
> 
> Same machine went on auction in Edmonton for around 3600 with fees. I almost got it but someone wanted it more. Bell machinery sells them new for 13000 which I think is total overkill.


As Awsome as that would be I don’t have that kind of room!!


----------



## Susquatch (Dec 8, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> As Awsome as that would be I don’t have that kind of room!!



I think you will find that it doesn't matter how much room you have. You will never have enough and there is no such thing as too much!

So how much room do you have?

And, can you help us a bit with what your goals are?


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 10, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> I think you will find that it doesn't matter how much room you have. You will never have enough and there is no such thing as too much!
> 
> So how much room do you have?
> 
> And, can you help us a bit with what your goals are?


As a beginner I don’t know all the ins and outs I’ve got about 100 square feet !  And I don’t have a concrete floor ! So I am really limited on size and space


----------



## justindavidow (Dec 10, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> I’ve got about 100 square feet ! And I don’t have a concrete floor


I feel this;  my "workshop" area in the basement is about the same size.   I DO have concrete,  but it's far from level needs to be flattened.


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 10, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> And I don’t have a concrete floor !


Wood floor?


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 10, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Wood floor?


Yes I’m gonna double up the 3/4 ply and hope for the best


----------



## Darren (Dec 10, 2021)

before i built my big shop, I had a 20x20 wood floor shop. So i know how you feel. I had an Emco V10P lathe in there on a cabinet base. It was a great light lathe. If you can find one, they are very nice.


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 10, 2021)

dfloen said:


> before i built my big shop, I had a 20x20 wood floor shop. So i know how you feel. I had an Emco V10P lathe in there on a cabinet base. It was a great light lathe. If you can find one, they are very nice.


That is a nice machine!!!


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 10, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> Yes I’m gonna double up the 3/4 ply and hope for the best



What's under it for floor joists?


----------



## Darren (Dec 10, 2021)

Even better would be an Emco Super 11, or a V13, which i replaced the V10P with, but good luck finding one. Emco is much better than your typical import. They are made in Austria. Vey good light machines, very accurate and smooth. Emco, with an M, not Enco.


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 10, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> What's under it for floor joists?


Steel we have a bylaw in my town no cans so I bought an inclosed trailer!!
I will block it up to..


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 10, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> Steel we have a bylaw in my town no cans so I bought an inclosed trailer!!
> I will block it up to..



Need some pics... Are we talking a sea can here?


----------



## Gunguy (Dec 10, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Need some pics... Are talking a sea can here?


That’s what we are not aloud so I got an enclosed trailer!!!


----------



## Dabbler (Dec 11, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> That’s what we are not aloud so I got an enclosed trailer!!!


smart.


----------



## DHHok (Dec 11, 2021)

Gunguy said:


> Which Machine to learn on Craftex cs706 or king 10x22 !! Just need some advice with the intention of gunsmithing and hobby work!


I just went through this.  Although I can't help you as to which one is better suited for your needs, (because I am a complete newb myself), I can say I decided to go CX because it had variable speed and auto cross feed.  Both of which the King does not have.  I didn't (and don't) know if I was going to even care about those options once I start getting into it, but non-the-less, that was my deciding factor.  The one big thing the King has in its favour is you can get it at KMS, and their service/warranty is top notch.  Not too sure about the New Westminster Busy Bee, but I haven't heard too many good things about Busy Bee in general.
As it turns out, I ended up getting the CX709, only because I got it for the same price as the 706.

I also saw the lathe YotaBota posted, but it says it skips out of gear, and I didn't what to get into having to rip apart and rebuild something.  Also, although I'm very mechanically inclined, the trouble with being a newbie is you don't know good from bad and what it would cost to fix one up.

The one thing about being in BC, is people pay stupid prices for used tools and machinery.  If you decide to upgrade in a couple years, I would not be surprised if you sold it for within $500~600 of what you paid for it.


----------



## Tom Kitta (Dec 11, 2021)

DHHok said:


> The one thing about being in BC, is people pay stupid prices for used tools and machinery.  If you decide to upgrade in a couple years, I would not be surprised if you sold it for within $500~600 of what you paid for it.



Yeah I just seen that at auction at work - multiple items sold for just under new price with other multiple items selling for more then new. People do not realize that the auction fee and tax adds 1/3 to the price. Fee is 18% and tax is on top of the fee.


----------



## Fermic (Dec 20, 2021)

dfloen said:


> Even better would be an Emco Super 11, or a V13, which i replaced the V10P with, but good luck finding one. Emco is much better than your typical import. They are made in Austria. Vey good light machines, very accurate and smooth. Emco, with an M, not Enco.



I can confirm that my first lathe is Emco Compact 8 is just straight up better than any typical import and I have gotten lucky getting it from a rarely seen listing being sold for less than 1500.
The V10P is the step-up size compared to mine, but I still search for any used metric Super 11 or V13.


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 15, 2022)

@DHHok @PeterT - does a back plate look something like this?




This was included w/ the CX709


----------



## Brent H (Jan 15, 2022)

@ThirtyOneDriver - that is a nice looking  face plate.  Looks like you will need a mounting back plate that will fit it to your lathe

Edit:  My bad - just checked the manual and you loosen the three bolts and re-attach the chuck or face plate straight to the spindle.  Backing is integral with the spindle.


----------



## Tom O (Jan 15, 2022)

Maybe not there are 3 bolt holes there.


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 15, 2022)

I feel like a child in my Dad's shop - "What's this do?"

Back plate? The one the chuck is bolted to?





Side note: Brake clean destroys the paint on this lathe but not the milling machine... (see primer behind chuck)


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 15, 2022)

ThirtyOneDriver said:


> I feel like a child in my Dad's shop - "What's this do?"
> 
> Back plate? The one the chuck is bolted to?
> View attachment 19821
> ...



That's not a back plate that's your spindle nose.  Your chucks and face plate bolt to the spindle nose and have an alignment recess.  Post a pic of the back side of your 4J and face plate.


----------



## PeterT (Jan 15, 2022)

Well I beg to differ, but according to the manufacturer, it appears to be the 'Localing sleeve' LOL. Just kidding. I'm not familiar with the machine but I'd agree that spindle face seems like a good name to me. 
Guessing the 3 screw configuration is just like the chuck. Yes, lets see the other side.



			https://www.busybeetools.com/content/product_manuals/CX709.pdf


----------



## Susquatch (Jan 15, 2022)

The best way for me to say this is as follows. 

A chuck attaches to the lathe spindle with some kind of attaching interface. The interface can be integral to the chuck or they can be adapted to the spindle with a backplate. You can get chucks that fit your lathe directly or that need a backplate to adapt the chuck to the spindle. 

What the heck is that in your chuck jaws? It looks like a morse taper dead center. It's too small to fit your spindle so it is prolly for your tailstock. In any event, if it's what it looks like, it should not be chucked in the head. It could get ruined that way. It should only be used in a female MT hole.


----------



## Susquatch (Jan 15, 2022)

The big plate with slots in it is called a face plate. It's sort of like a rotating bed plate that large parts are attached to  for turning. 

Many lathes come with:
1. a scrolling 3 jaw chuck for parts that are already round. 
2. a non-scrolling 4 jaw chuck for non round parts or precision centering of round parts. 
3. A face plate for other kinds of parts that cannot be held in a 3 or 4 jaw chuck.


----------



## Susquatch (Jan 15, 2022)

ThirtyOneDriver said:


> @DHHok @PeterT - does a back plate look something like this?
> View attachment 19818
> This was included w/ the CX709



Are you in Cambridge?

I am thinking that a trip to your place while my bride visits her mom would be very useful to you. I could run through what you have with you and show you what it does. I'll prolly be going on Friday the 25th.

I'll be the guy who looks like he could be your dad......


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 15, 2022)

I need supervision *hangs head*....

Yes, Cambridge, I'll make myself available for the 25th - I'll send you a message shortly @Susquatch.

Pictures of the lathe (took the center thingy out of the chuck jaws and put it where it belongs, in the tailstock).



 




Four-way chuck as mentioned and I think the spindle may have a M4 taper, possibly... I wouldn't trust my memory in this case.



 




Sidenote: EVERYTIME you guys are shaking your heads going "what the 'h'", I'm already laughing at myself because, well it's funny... I have some experience with some things, but machining (and everything related outside of welding/fabricating) is not one of them - someone once showed me how to turn on a lathe, no other familiarity, not something that Dad was into or anyone else that I got to be around or anything... I haven't been hurt yet, so I see the humor in it.


----------



## Susquatch (Jan 15, 2022)

ThirtyOneDriver said:


> I need supervision *hangs head*....
> 
> Yes, Cambridge, I'll make myself available for the 25th - I'll send you a message shortly @Susquatch.
> 
> ...



No worries. I laugh at myself all the time. And I love it when I can be the source of laughter for others too. 

I'll look for your PM, and look forward to the visit on the 25th.


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 15, 2022)

Put some grease on those gears please


----------



## justindavidow (Jan 15, 2022)

Susquatch said:


> I laugh at myself all the time. And I love it when I can be the source of laughter for others too.



This is the way!

Seriously;   I cannot think of better life advice.


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 15, 2022)

@YYCHM Craig! - good buddy!  what type of grease?  On hand I have wheel bearing grease (Lucas Oil, green, yucky) for packing wheel bearings; Tacky Red for packing racecar wheel bearings using a needle and syringe; lithium white grease (Lucas Oil) that I'd love to throw in the garbage can; standard tractor grease for the John Deere's grease fittings; the silver grease to put on your friend's truck door handles while they're pissing behind the shop... any of those work?  Is any of it going to fly off and make a mess anywhere?  (I work on racecars because you can eat off of them - goal is to keep my hands clean as much as possible.

@Tom Kitta - since it looks like the elders have spoken and I'm getting ready to buy grease, what oil am I buying for the CX709 lathe? Happen to know how much I should need?  Same oil can be used for oiling points on the lathe and mill?


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 15, 2022)

ThirtyOneDriver said:


> @YYCHM Craig! - good buddy!  what type of grease?  On hand I have wheel bearing grease (Lucas Oil, green, yucky) for packing wheel bearings; Tacky Red for packing racecar wheel bearings using a needle and syringe; lithium white grease (Lucas Oil) that I'd love to throw in the garbage can; standard tractor grease for the John Deere's grease fittings; the silver grease to put on your friend's truck door handles while they're pissing behind the shop... any of those work?  Is any of it going to fly off and make a mess anywhere?  (I work on racecars because you can eat off of them - goal is to keep my hands clean as much as possible.



Any thing is better than nothing.  Your manual states machine oil what ever that is?  That lithium white grease (Lucas Oil) that I'd love to throw in the garbage can would suffice and ya it's going to sling.


----------



## DPittman (Jan 15, 2022)

YYCHM said:


> Any thing is better than nothing.  Your manual states machine oil what ever that is?  That lithium white grease (Lucas Oil) that I'd love to throw in the garbage can would suffice and ya it's going to sling.


I agree with @YYCHM
I'll add my two cents worth , of all the choices of grease you have on hand I think the last one I would use would be the lithium but it's  uch better than nothing.  I'd use the stickiest thickest stuff you have and it doesn't take much as the excess definitely get flung off anyhow.  Id use any 80/90 weight gear oil in the gearbox......and with that said you will now have many different opinions being thrown at you telling us that we are wrong.


----------



## Susquatch (Jan 15, 2022)

DPittman said:


> I agree with @YYCHM
> I'll add my two cents worth , of all the choices of grease you have on hand I think the last one I would use would be the lithium but it's  uch better than nothing.  I'd use the stickies thickest stuff you have and it doesn't take much as the excess definitely get flung off anyhow.  Id use any 80/90 weight gear oil in the gearbox......and with that said you will now have many different opinions being thrown at you telling us that we are wrong.



Ya, that about sums it up. No matter what you choose there will be arguments about it. 

But @YYCHM is right, anything is better than nothing. 

I like "Red and Tacky" (it's a brand of grease) for places where slinging is a potential problem. It is stickier than most other grease.

When you first apply any grease on the gears, put or hold a cardboard gaurd between the greased location and the belt system. Keep the grease off of that belt and it's pulleys. You won't be 100% effective but you do need to try. 

I also agree on the oil with one caveat. As an automotive guy, my advice is to always follow the manufacturers recommendations for the warranty period. You never want to give them an excuse to turn down a warranty claim. 

Just in case there is a misunderstanding or a terminology gap, you need:

Cutting oil for ferrous metals
Cutting oil for aluminium 
Light Oil for small parts
Heavy oil for bigger parts
Gear oil for gear cases
Way oil for the ways
Grease for the gears
Honing oil for sharpening

You also need Corrosion protection for tools and surfaces. 

And I'm prolly forgetting something cuz I have a few dozen other oils and greases I use around the farm.


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 16, 2022)

Interesting... "Red Tacky" it is for the gears - good reminder about the belts - no warranty (the CX709"x" that came heavily discounted w/ no BB support) - I have an excess of 70w90 and regularly have "lightly used" (20 minutes in a rearend) 70w90 that I'm disposing of (I've been using this as a cutting lubricant w/ a little spray bottle).


----------



## Susquatch (Jan 16, 2022)

ThirtyOneDriver said:


> Interesting... "Red Tacky" it is for the gears - good reminder about the belts - no warranty (the CX709"x" that came heavily discounted w/ no BB support) - I have an excess of 70w90 and regularly have "lightly used" (20 minutes in a rearend) 70w90 that I'm disposing of (I've been using this as a cutting lubricant w/ a little spray bottle).



Well..... I dunno about using an actual lubricating oil as a cutting fluid..... It might work but I really don't think it will work very well. For that matter, lots of stuff will work, but not very well. Machinists have spent a lifetime developing good cutting fluids. There are hundreds on the market.  I'd bet a week's worth of coffee or a case of beer that NONE OF THEM are gear oil...... 

I use Vipers Venom because it is highly popular and recommended by many machinery and tooling companies. It is very popular with the smithing industry. I used to buy it in bulk from "The Reamer Guy" in BC who got it directly from Viper Machining. But you can get it on Amazon now. 

I like it because it works great on all ferrous metals and is quite sticky so it will follow the cutting point and last several passes. 

Some others use a spray bottle on the lathe, some use a brush, but I use a dropper bottle. I have used a pump with continuous flow but even with a tray, it's too messy for my liking. 

Anyway, my advice is to lose the gear oil for cutting and buy some dedicated cutting oil.


----------



## Dabbler (Jan 16, 2022)

Susquatch said:


> Anyway, my advice is to lose the gear oil for cutting and buy some dedicated cutting oil.


Besides cutting oil is cheap cheap...


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 16, 2022)

Yeah.. gear oil hasn't been great as a cutting oil in the past   lol

We change the 9" pumpkins in the rearends of our racecars so that we turn the RPM we want our engine builder/wallet wants at tracks w/ different lengths/straightaway speeds (ideally, we want to run the transmission in the 1:1 ratio so energy isn't wasted turning gears unnecessarily; rule books don't always allow this) so I end up w/ a lot of hardly used gear oil by the end of an entire season (looking at the schedule for this season if I were to run, at least 32 litres that have maybe 30 minutes of use on them w/o testing/practice days). 

In that context, gear oil to use as a lubricant is way cheaper than cutting oil   (forget that not using the proper oil dulls bits, wastes time, etc.)

Is there anything that I CAN reuse the gear oil for?


----------



## Tom Kitta (Jan 16, 2022)

Well, cutting oil also last forever if you use it to say add to a tap or when drilling or stuff like that. Very little use. Generally you use the best you have as going cheap and breaking a tap can get expensive really quick. 

As for almost like new gear oil it depends on "how new is it" really. I would use it for say some lubrication, maybe lathe gear train (not head-stock) or lathe ways. There simply is not that much use for rather heavy oil in the shop. Light oil, yes more use. Also the oil is a bit used so I am unsure about content of metal flakes in it. 

Also 32L of oil is quite a lot, if that is all heavy oil. If it was say ISO 32 it would not be that bad - my surface grinder takes more then 20L of oil for example. A lot of other tools also can use ISO 32. But heavy gear oil? Fuel for melting metal? 

I guess you could try to dilute it a bit with ISO 22 oil or something. Equal parts ISO 22 and say ISO 90 gear oil will make ISO 56. 

Conservation oil? I.e. for oiling of machines in storage? Again 32L would cover... a lot of machines. 

Maybe you could formulate your own cutting oil, i.e. add to this ISO 90 gear oil additives found in cutting fluid. 32L of cutting fluid would last for a while.


----------



## ThirtyOneDriver (Jan 16, 2022)

I've taken this off track far enough - thanks Tom for the response.

Original post was 


Gunguy said:


> Which Machine to learn on Craftex cs706 or king 10x22 !! Just need some advice with the intention of gunsmithing and hobby work!


----------

