"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I was just reading the manual (thank you Carl) for the new to me (ancient)
HF lathe and it says to fill the head stock with heavy weight motor oil.
I would think something like 80-90 gear oil would be better rather than a
motor oil. What do you think?

P.S. There is about an inch of oil in the bottom of the gear case.
Probably hasn't been full in a very long time.


Ok... How full to fill... Some simple observation answered this problem.
After setting up and starting a job on the Taig I was drawn over to the
31316 lathe again. I pulled the spindle gear box cover off and looked at
it. Turns out what I originally though was a drain is actually a sight
glass. Problem solved I think. Fill to the middle of the sight glass.
Can't see through it anymore, but you have to have the top open to fill it
anyway, and the manual recommends changing the oil regularly anyway. I
filled it with 30W motor oil for now. I'll see what it looks like after its
had some hours on it.