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Lubrication question

Johnwa

Ultra Member
I’m currently dismantling and cleaning my Southbend shaper. The army manual for it specifies Saybolt 200 at 100F.
googling tells me this is equivalent to SAE 20. This seems to be a lighter oil than what our various lathes use.
I can get non detergent SAE 30 and SAE 10 at Canadiantire. Can I blend these together to get SAE 20? Is there an alternative source? The manual says I only need about 1 quart.
 
@Johnwa, from what little I understand on blending oils it's not just a simple process of 50 -50%, there's a formula somewhere. Consistency of the mix will be critical for accuracy in your shaper. Unsure you would gain that by blended two commercial off the shelf products together. Just saying!
 
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Just as background, we discussed viscosity a bit in this post.
https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.c...et-iso-15-or-even-iso-10-oil.1803/#post-18424
And I think more thoroughly in a gearbox oil post but cant find link right now.
Anyways check out the chart & mostly get a handle on your assumed ambient/operating temperature because that is a large influencer of viscosity.


Dusty is right, blended oil parameters can get complicated in a hurry & way outside the scope of what you are trying to achieve. But as a ballpark guess (and assuming 2 identical brand/type/families of oil, just different viscosity ratings) this will probably be sufficiently accurate.
http://www.nimacltd.co.uk/viscosity...o-known-oils-to-achieve-the-desired-viscosity
 
FWIW, I found a better selection/container size of hydraulic oils at Napa than CanTire but that may have been what I was after at the time.
 
UFA might have something too. (I always forget about these guys but they carry different stuff) I think you might need to drive to Airdre for the closest store.
 
you should be fine substituting SAE30 non detergent. no need to get complicated.

Agree with @Dabbler , after having the oilpump out of my Southbend to fix it (put in the ball bearing), the mechanism is so trivial that as long as it pumps, I wouldn't sweat it.

I have 300+ gallons of ISO220 if you want to snag 5 gals. This is what I use in my 'plain bearing' situations, and probably what I would try in the southbend once I get around to changing it.
 
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