On Sun, 03 Jul 2011 16:10:25 -0500, Ignoramus16406
wrote:

My 6913 lathe is missing a ball chain. Its job is to pick up oil from
the bottom of the headstock towards the spindle gears and such.

My question is what ball chain to get at McMaster-Carr as a
replacement. Thanks


Hey Iggy,

Just try something from a hardware store. It's not an "engineering"
thing. In use, the "dry shaft" will pull the chain around, and as
soon as there is enough oil the chain will slip and stop delivering
oil. Something with a 1/8" ball, like about the size used on a
commercial bathtub plug.

I've also seen what I call brass "flat chain" used. Harder to
install, but the advantage to that is that it has no "joiner" point,
and carries much more oil. Needs to be solid brass (solid, not a
coating or finish).

We used a lot of same principle oilers that are a solid brass ring.
Advantage to those is that if the oil reservoir gets low, the ring has
no oil to the shaft and it starts to "tinkle" like a bell, warning
that it requires attention. Disadvantage is that the shaft has to be
removed to place the ring on, and the reservoir has to be of a size to
accommodate the diameter.

Take care.

Brian Lawson.