Brian Lawson wrote:

Tellus 32 is a (if not THE) standard for use in hydraulic elevators as
the power transmitter. I doubt it is available retail in smaller
quantities, but is readily available in 20 litre (about 5 US gallon)
at anyplace from a Shell Distributor to a tractor supply or a good
hardware store. For a quart or two, ask any elevator company.


I have followed this thread for its educational value and potential
relevance to me in the future. I have also found a few discussions on the
topic on several different fora. I was kind of surprised that the whole
issue is akin to black magic.

I had a look at a manual of one of the potential acquisitions (a gear-head
lathe) made in China. The instructions were to fill the gear box with "10#
or 20# machine oil". A Google search reveals no such beast. I took it to
mean SAE 10 or 20. From the various discussions it became clear that this
oil must:
1) Not have detergent
2) Not foam
3) Not have additives that attack copper/brass/bronze

A trip around town quickly established that such oil is apparently hard to
find in auto shops or tool shops. An enquiry about presence of detergent
leads to the shop staff's eyes glazing over. An internet search revealed
some helpful comparison charts like the one in this thread:

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=27108

Further searches for *Canadian* sources of such industry standards as Mobil
Vactra suggested that this stuff is simply not available here (if you wish
further information from Mobil you can either read and accept a yard-long
disclaimer before e-mailing them or phone the 1-800 number which has a modem
on the other end!) The high end tool supplier (KBC Tools) sells EEZ way oil
but nothing specifically for gears. I did find a Shell dealer in town with
extremely helpful staff but the minimum quantities of their Tellus
(hydraulic) and Tonna (way oil) they sell were 20 litres.

I was wondering:
1) What are the usual quantities of oil needed to fill a gear box in a
lathe?
2) How often do you need to change the oil?
3) What is wrong with just grabbing a bottle of 75W-90 or higher gear oil
off the automotive shelf? Do any of those have detergents? I could find no
evidence that this is the case. Most product informations sheet contain
results of the copper strip test.
4) What is the downside of using a single type of oil for both ways and the
gearbox.

There is some anecdotal evidence that some of the Chinese machinery that
actually comes pre-filled with oil contains inferior product that needs to
be got rid of more or less right away. Thus it would seem to me that
provided the above principles are adhered to one should get a good result
with almost anything commonly available.

BTW I noticed one of the manuals recommending calcium-based grease (for
greasing, not in the gear box). Does anyone use that anymore?

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC