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CanTek CT 1440 lathe Norton gearbox lube modification

John Conroy

John Conroy

member
Premium Member
I've always disliked the lube provision for the quick change gear box on my lathe. It required removing a plastic plug and squirting oil into a blind hole which soaked a felt pad which then dripped oil onto the gears and shaft below through some holes drilled in the casting above the gearbox. I was never really sure that all the gears were getting lubed. I did a little plumbing today with some 1/2"copper pipe and fittings and made up an oil manifold that sits in the housing above the gear box and drips oil evenly along the entire length of the gear box. Now I just have to remove a copper cap and give a few squirts of oil and I can be sure the oil is going to all the gearbox components. I have a bunch of pics I'll post later but here is a video link showing the finished product.

 
Fantastic! Your Canadian heritage pays off big time - watching the ass end of a Zamboni going around the rink countless times. LOL
 
If the nylon part I'm having 3D printed looks half decent when it gets here, I was thinking of making replacement carriage way wipers ala Keith Fenner. I'll have to watch his vid again, but I think the new one encapsulates a felt wiper wick that similarly distributes oil to the Vee way & keeps the scratchy swarf out from under the carriage. I'll draw something up & show you, see if its worth pursuing.
 
It would àlso be nice to have a wiper on the the cross slide ways. If your doing plans maybe you could do one for that piece too? :rolleyes:
 
Visible evidence of why Johns oil distributer tube is such a good idea. I' using gear oil which slightly more viscous but also not super thick. Instead of giving it a squirt & assume its good, now I've been putting a paper towel down to observe. You can see the oil doesn't saturate the foam equally so its not drip feeding to the left side gears properly. If you saturate it so the left is lubricated, you get a puddle on the right side.
 

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I had one more option to try before I revert to Johns copper Zamboni oil drip bar idea. My el-cheapo oiler from AliExpress arrived. It has this crazy long flex hose. I'm still evaluating if the plastic nozzle fits my machines oiler nipples, the seal seems hit & miss. Anyway, by extending the flex hose I can poke through the oil fill hole & touch the opposite wall. So I saturated that side of the foam & judging by the new puddle looks like at least I have lubrication over the left side gears now. Its better but still not optimal.

The other FYI flag in case your lathe is similar to ours - this entire chamber has the back side of the electric lights & switches peeking out & exposed. So you never want to squirt oil in there. The low brow plan is to drip into the hole & theoretically supposed to saturate the foam evenly & drip over the gears (which evidently is wishful thinking).
 

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Has anyone lopped off the typical metal oiler can flex hose? It kind of looks like gasket seal or epoxy. I want to machine a better nipple. That's easy enough, but hoping I don't shoot it off if its not bonded properly. Was thinking of cutting with Dremel thin disc cutter to get through the hose, sidecutters would probably bugger up the OD. Will the metal flex sheathing unravel? Is there plastic or rubber inside this sheathing?
 

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John Conroy said:
I've always disliked the lube provision for the quick change gear box on my lathe. It required removing a plastic plug and squirting oil into a blind hole which soaked a felt pad which then dripped oil onto the gears and shaft below through some holes drilled in the casting above the gearbox. I was never really sure that all the gears were getting lubed. I did a little plumbing today with some 1/2"copper pipe and fittings and made up an oil manifold that sits in the housing above the gear box and drips oil evenly along the entire length of the gear box. Now I just have to remove a copper cap and give a few squirts of oil and I can be sure the oil is going to all the gearbox components. I have a bunch of pics I'll post later but here is a video link showing the finished product.

Click to expand...
It's beautifully done
 
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